doug2222: I'll have to keep that one in mind. Luckily, I haven't had to deal with a bad check in 10 years or so from back in the wild west days of
ebay.
As for that linked story, I was emailed that earlier by a friend. While the story is frightening, I would really like to see some hard data as to how many
ebay sellers get hit with chargebacks and also see the data by catagories of items. Like in the story, I feel that many of the chargebacks are for high profile items like cell phones, lap tops and other Apple/Computer products - more so than stamps. However, stories are not data, but getting anything quanitative out of Ebay/PayPal would be difficult.
As for anyone who has sold stamps/covers on
ebay for any length of time, 99%+ of the buyers are excellent and there's never a problem. Why let the occasional rotten egg be a conplete turn off and throw the baby out with the bathwater? You can have a scammer seller or buyer at any form of venue with it be in person or on the net, but I rather believe the majority of people are honest, while at the same time take the commonsense precautions when you deal with someone. The worst thing I ever have to deal with is inefficent and unrealible postal systems (my nemesis is the postal system of Moscow, Russia).
However, I do wish Paypal/Ebay would take some better measures to protect sellers, i.e. don't return the payment until the buyer returns the item (sounds like a commonsense solution, but alas - even
Amazon has this feature) . The feedback system needs a complete overhaul. Delcampe has a far superior feedback system that could be a working model.
Posted 12/04/2012 08:46 am
