You gotta see his auction rules!

[Kevin76]

This guy is so demanding with getting paid! you gotta read it,it reads like "I need the money,Send me the money right now"...web page

[delekkerste]

Yeah, I saw that. That's just downright rude. If you happen to just skim over his instructions and send a credit card payment or eCheck through PayPal, he'll hit you with a negative feedback before you realize what happened.

 

Gene

[greggy]

Whew, I'm glad I'm a Canuck so I don't have to deal with him. Also, having no interest in the book helps!

[Kevin76]

You get a negetive feedback for actually paying for an auction I emailed him and told him about how demanding his rules are,I said "here is some buisness advice" The more ways you offer someone to pay,the more sales you will make. I told him how demanding he was with the payment and how he wanted it NOW! I also went on to tell him that I will bid on someone else's 181 Im not going to bid on any 181's but he doesn't need to know that Kevin

[murph0]

agreed there, greggy. Not only do I not want the book but the guy has so many qualifiers on his auction rules I'd probably get negative feedback for just emailing him before he has a chance to email me..

 

Brian

[PovertyRow]

I had a similar thing happen to me. The seller stated money orders. It was amoung a few ebay "wins" (silly word) that wek and forgot myself and sent a personal check next day (speedy response).

 

He sent me back a flaming email telling me to NEVER bid on his auctions again and he would tear up my check and NOT leave me a negative or send me back my check and give me a negative.

 

My reply was simple. I told him 1) It was an honest mistake - have you ever made a mistake yourself??? 2) Let me pay you with an MO since there is still time for me to buy it and you to recieve it before the 10 day period 3) If you want to leave me a negative that is fine. My negative feedback to you will be a url where people can read what you just sent me.

 

He became apolegetic and all was worked out. But wan a bizarre experience. Some people demand more from someone GIVEING them money than they demand of themsleves sending TO the payers.

[comicartfan]

I think some people just have major control issues and they are very black and white. Thus if someone is not right there with what they want, then that person is evil in some way. I also find that if someone makes a DEMAND for MONEY ORDERS ONLY, that is a clue that it is probably a bogus auction. They might as well say, "cash only" cause that is really what it says. -

[Joanna]

I have only on rule in my auctions, and that's 'no personal checks'. I state this in several places, emphatically, but I still get them. I'll admit that it's incredibly frustrating. For one thing, they usually take their time mailing it (unlike you, Pov). So I finally get paid and then it's snatched away, because I haven't been. I can't take checks because my bank charges me for depositiing rubber checks. So I could get paid $10 for some something and end up not only without the $10, but with a charge on top of it. It's just not worth the risk.

 

When I do get a check, I send an email, then type up a polite yet firm note (I'm never rude) asking them to please either send a money order, or pay by paypal. I mail the note with the check (always bugs me when the stamp costs more than the auction) and hope for the best. If the person responds to the email promising to send a money order, I respond with understanding and everything works out great. If I get no response, I wait a bit, then file the forms with ebay.

 

The thing that bugs me the most about all this is that I have just the one rule. If you have a list of rules, it's easy to miss one. But if there's only 1, and it's repeated, bold, in large type, on the auction and on the checkout form, etc., you'd think it might be seen. It always feels like the check-sender is saying, "That rule is for everyone else, but obviously not for me. I'll pay with this check, and since you want your money, you'll just accept it."

 

I was actually happy to see your note, Pov, because it reminded me that people can just make mistakes.

 

-- Joanna

[clobberintime]

I did just about the same thing a few weeks and got tangled up with some tyrannical comic book salesman! What world do these folks live in! To get even he held the books for about 3 weeks and I was tempted to negative him - but I did get the books and they were great. The world could definitely be a better place without a few of these irrational insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

[fantastic_four]

I will not pay over $1000 to sellers who won't take credit cards. Using a credit card is the only way you get any protection at all on expensive items. I'll pay dealers cash via PayPal, check, money order, or whatever, but not individuals.

 

Does anybody know the standard yearly limit that credit cards will refund you for fraud? I think it's $3000. And that defines what I use places like Heritage for--I am never sending that much money or more than that to an individual ever again. I'll put it in their hand at a convention, but I won't send it through the mail. I haven't lost any money through E-Bay yet, but I now realize there's almost nothing stopping it from happening so I just ain't bothering with it.

 

Just paying the credit card fees would cost less than the amount lost due to turning people away from the auction who realize how risky cash-based transactions are via E-Bay and/or PayPal.

 

PS: I just sent an EBay message to this guy with a link to this thread.

[scottish]

He's lucky he lives in the Midwest - 5 days for a MO to go from WA to FL would be pushing it sometimes. I know paypal is a convenience - especially to buyers, but I'll take a personal check or MO anyday. Paypal fees are nuts - I offer it as a convenience to my buyers.

[Darthdiesel]

I'm with scottish here. Paypal is a convenience, not a necessity and I would much rather accept personal checks and money orders any day. The onus of paying fess is all on the buyer with physical payments.

 

Our seller here is obviously just trying to maintain his Paypal personal account status with the statements that he made. If any of you guys on here regularly are doing the same thing to avoid paying paypal fees, shame on you! Paypal fees are ridiculously high but no need to defraud the system and maintain personal account status when you know full well you are conducting a Business, and should upgrade to the verified Premier Business account. The reason why Paypal fees are so high is because of the guys finding shortcuts like maintaining a personal account and forcing buyers to pay them using paypal balance or bank account transfer only.

[Bugaboo-migration]

I actually contacted this guy to find out why he's being so strict with his rules. I let him know that his auction kind of makes him sound like a jerk. Turns out he had some specific reasons for putting these rules in his auction and was very polite and took the time to explain it to me in his email. He's just a collector selling one of his books to meet some unexpected expenses.

 

And I don't agree with the comments about Paypal. I just have a personal account with paypal and offer to accept payments through them when I sell things on eBay. Just because someone is selling a few items on eBay does not mean they are running a business and must upgrade their Paypal account. There is absolutely nothing wrong or shameful about doing that and does not break any rules with Paypal. Some people like the convenience of being able to pay with paypal but I refuse to pay the high prices for credit card transactions. So I just signed up for a personal account as a convenience to those who can pay without having to put it on a credit card.

 

To tell the truth, I would much rather have a money order or personal check anyway.

[OldGuy]

"I actually contacted this guy to find out why he's being so strict with his rules. I let him know that his auction kind of makes him sound like a jerk. Turns out he had some specific reasons for putting these rules in his auction and was very polite and took the time to explain it to me in his email. He's just a collector selling one of his books to meet some unexpected expenses."

 

Damn! It seems there's always someone here that insists on actually [/i]communicating[/i] with a seller that's getting lynched on these boards. That sure takes all the fun out of the trial.

[Darthdiesel]

Just because someone is selling a few items on eBay does not mean they are running a business and must upgrade their Paypal account.

 

This true. Read my comment again. "For guys that are regularly selling items..."

I beleive paypal gave their opinion of what should remain a personal account and what should be upgraded. If you sell more than $500 a month on the average over a year's span, you should be paying for a Premier Business account and all the fees along with that. No free rides here buddy...and I'm sure our friends at the IRS will agree with me as well. If you are selling things once in a while and you don't break that average $500/month threshold, then keep your personal account, as long as you play by the rules. Otherwise, guys like me that do pay the extra fees end up carrying all the frauds as well and we are made to feel like suckers doing the right thing. I wish paypal would do an audit of all their personal accounts to see how much in fees they are actually missing out on. Then I hope they crackdown on these freeloading sellers avoiding paypal fees and give the guys who do it right a break by lowering fees overall.

[Bugaboo-migration]

Sorry DARTHDIESEL......but you are wrong with regards to Paypal. Sorry Bucko.....there are free rides.....you're just bitter cause you ain't on one of them. Paypal may "suggest" or "recommend" upgrading your account once you reach a certain level, but it is NOT required or in their user agreement. Offer some proof instead of just what you "think" should be the rules, and I'll listen to your arguement.

 

The Paypal user agreement simply states:

In order to use the Service, you must register for a Personal, Premier, or Business account. If you use the Service to receive credit-card funded payments, you must register for, or upgrade to, a Premier or Business Account, or else the credit card funded payment will be returned to the sender.

 

Their help page only provides the following information to these questions:

 

What is the maximum amount I can receive with PayPal?

 

There is no limit to the amount of money you may receive with PayPal. However, if you have a Personal account, you may not receive any payments funded with a credit card.

 

Can Personal accounts receive credit card payments?

 

No. In order to reduce the cost of processing expensive credit card transactions associated with accounts that do not pay fees, the ability to receive credit card payments is reserved for Premier and Business accounts.

 

Any credit card payment will be held as "Unclaimed" until the recipient accepts it by upgrading to a Business or Premier account, or denies it (if payment is denied, the funds will be returned to the sender's PayPal account).

 

Personal accounts may still accept an UNLIMITED number of payments which are funded from the sender's PayPal account balance or bank account.

 

It's funny how your post about Paypal contradicts what Paypal itself says.

[Darthdiesel]

Just checking into it myself and thank you for pointing out the error of my ways.

The reason I had switched over was because of the need to accommodate credit card users buying from my business. And because paypal had "suggested" that I upgrade due to the volume of CC# payments I was receiving.

 

Some FAQs for personal accounts:

 

Are Personal accounts really free?

 

Yes. PayPal offers its payment service free of charge to consumers for personal use. PayPal does provide premium services at low rates for businesses.

 

IMO, selling over a certain limit per year does not constitute "personal use." while using paypal for personal use is valid and has its place, defining conducting business as such is certainly evasive and frowned upon by tax agencies. In the Paypal agreement, Paypal leaves the onus for determining the correct amount of and paying taxes on the user.

 

Thanks to your posts, I will now be opening up my new personal account with Paypal and start insisting that I be paid through that account instead so that I get to keep all the money for my own use. Because it is obvious to that I only sell on eBay for "personal" reasons and I'm by no means doing any sort of "business" at these low post CGC crash levels. Advice is much appreciated!

 

 

 

 

 

[Polyphemus]

I have to agree there. Although I have sold a slew of comics over the past 6 months or so, it is by no means a business. Unless I find another collection to flip, I am now just a buyer. I offer Paypal because I don't have the time to run to the bank every time I complete a sale. I want to get paid and get the books out as quickly as possible.

 

Also, on this auction in particular, it sounds as if the guy needs some quick money and can't screw around with the inexperienced. This seems to be supported in one of the above posts.

 

Joanna, if I had a dime for every personal check I've gotten after clearly stating no personal checks...I could buy, umm, a comic I wanted?

[Bugaboo-migration]

DARTHDIESEL.........I can totally understand where you are coming from and your reasoning behind it. And I am in total agreement with you on some of it. If a person is conducting a business with Paypal, then they should upgrade their account......no question about it.

 

What I don't agree with is your definition of a business based on a certain limit per year. Just because someone decides to sell of their childhood collection of rare comics that are worth.....let's say......ten or twenty thousand dollars, does not mean that they are a business. But you're right, they need to make a clearer way of determining a business through Paypal.

 

I would have to think that most "businesses" would want to accept credit cards to increase their sales and would then just want to naturally upgrade their account. But, I could be wrong.

 

Polyphemus said:

Also, on this auction in particular, it sounds as if the guy needs some quick money and can't screw around with the inexperienced. This seems to be supported in one of the above posts.

 

That's exactly what this guy told me. Other methods of payment through paypal, such as an e-check can take 5 days or more to clear into your paypal account and then several more days to clear into your bank account. Many people would be suprised to find out how often payment "rules" are ignored for an eBay auction unless they are stated very clearly and strictly. I just have a personal account with Paypal as well and state "no credit card payments" and I get people trying to send them to me all the time.

 

 

 

 

[Darthdiesel]

I just have a personal account with Paypal as well and state "no credit card payments" and I get people trying to send them to me all the time.

 

Inasmuch as I was oblivious to the "actual" rules, so are these payers of yours who insist on using credit cards to pay you thru paypal. When you return their payments, do you get a stink from them or do they understand? would you think that most buyers feel that they paid already and to pay again in another manner would be a hassle? I realize they did not stick to auctions rules but what if they truly believe that they were doing right because they didn't know any bettter...do you think asking them to pay again would probably cause you to be seen as a difficult seller to work with and thus lose a potential future repeat buyer?