The SCF Seller's Big Problem -- Postage

Not sure if it is coming from ebay Aust or US

They have supplied a payment number that I do not recognise
or, at least cannot find it through my emails.
ebay gives no option to search payment numbers on my account site
so I guess I'll have to wait.

I think I have figured it out.
I bought stamps from a Canadian site,
the vendor resides in Cuba,
when I attempted to paypal the vendor,
either the US or Aust blocked the payment.

There maybe sanctions perhaps on Cuban dealings
going via Canada did not assist the vendor.

The purchase was for $2

This was a good and interesting thread, but I have to admit, I was getting mightily confused at the end - probably because, at the moment, I have only purchased and never bought.

But it seems to me that if you set some kind of basic postal policy that is fair and reasonable, that all buyers will understand and accept it, even if it is somewhat different from others.

I am not sure what your selling cycle may be, but, for your own good, you simply figure to clear your books and all sales by a specific day each week. Say by Tuesday morning. If you set most of your sales to end by Thursday through Monday afternoon, that might give you enough time to work with each buyer individually. Even if new auctions are started on the next cycle, they will not be included in the current cycle sales. I don't think that is unreasonable (and you could always make an exception privately if you wanted to for a special deal or regular buyer, etc.)

Also, if it's just stamps you are selling, I would think you could set a reasonable fee up front based on the number of stamps (as opposed to lots) ...

I have not weighed them - but - say first 50 is maybe basic first class postage.

Adding another 100 puts you at second ounce rate, etc.

Good luck with it all.

Rod,


PayPal will supply payment numbers to ebay. Even though PayPal is owned by ebay, they are considered separate companies.



That may be. It could also be the Cuban banks.
Could be you paid be PayPal cheque, or that the seller should really have an account I the USA and it would be up to him to get the money out of it.

An Argentinian seller does this.

I have a number of normal ebay searches I do. Some of them are based on origin of the seller. For listings coming from Canadian sellers, I allow all searches to come through - if the seller accepts only cheques and money orders, that's fine for me since I have a Canadian bank account and can send him a cheque without a hassle. But all my ebay search templates for worldwide sellers are saved with the requirement that only sellers who accept PayPal are shown in the search results (click on "choose more" under the "Show Only" choice on the left side of the screen). That way, I don't get surprised when the invoice comes out, because I too have made that mistake in the past and then needed to adjust.

My bank account comes with a service package that allows me to get US$ International Money Orders for no charge, but it's still a bother to go and get them for trivial items so I prefer to just use PayPal. If I have something I'm really, really looking for, then I'll expand the search to show sellers who don't accept PayPal, but I don't use that too often. Note that sometimes the seller doesn't properly note that they do accept PayPal - it might be included in the text of their listings but not in the correct area that allows it to be included in searches for sellers who accept PayPal, so those listings can get lost.

Ryan

Is it just an ebay US requirement that sellers accept Paypal (or else already have their own commercial card account)? I didn't think anyone could opt out of it. These would be non-US sellers?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks Puzzler, thanks Ryan.
Duly noted, it has been a learning curve,
I was going merrily along using/assuming Paypal and things just hit the wall.

So I'll adjust the search criteria, in defence of the Cuban
he had "bank cheque" which is ridiculous for $2, then he said
"Moneybookers" which I don't use.
Basically my fault for not being more attentive, just assuming all use paypal.

I am still blocked, it's hard to get through to Paypal in times of dispute.

I don't really know what the US sellers are required to do - I've never sold, only bought. 1600+ feedback, I've bought a lot of stuff. Yikes!

But yes, I do buy quite a bit of stuff from Germany in particular. And PayPal is not nearly as difficult to find in use over there as it once was, but it's still quite a ways away from being universal.

Ryan

Unless ebay US has changed the rules again in the last few months, as a seller, you must accept Paypal (or use your merchant account, if you're that large). You cannot state that you will accept any other form of payment, including cash, check, etc. If a buyer happens to ask if you'll accept a check, etc., then you may accept it, but you can't indicate anywhere on your listing that you will.

Goodness knows what I was thinking, I sent a letter to ebay
by mistake, rather than Paypal.
I had immediate response, very friendly and uber helpful.
I cannot fault ebay as yet.

Paypal : I have sent a few letters with no response in 4 days.

a couple of things after reading the first page of this subject.

Gift method is request so a seller doesn't have to pay a paypal fee.
I have asked for it before and gotten it. That is the sole purpose of it. IF you don't trust someone on here to be able to do a "gift" transaction, then you shouldn't be buying on here.
As for postage, I either say up front whether postage is free or the person pays, a buyer can ask my zip code and weight and figure it out him/herself.

All the mint stamp sales I did recently, selling older mint stamps for face value, went very well. I sent out all the purchases ahead of time. Sometimes I would get the guys check the same day he got my stamps.

And this was selling on VSC as well.

There isn't anyone on this list that I would hesitate at sending out 20.00 worth of stamps, with them just saying the check is in the mail.

There are people here who will send me stuff before I make payment.. it's building up a trust reputation. I have never been stiffed on here or VSC on a purchase.

rod222 I am sorry you are having problems with ebay.. they are becoming a PITA more and more..
There is always the "Money Owed" method where the fee can be paid by the buyer.

Paypal only charges a fee, if you use anything other then cash in your account. If You and I have a paypal account and you send me $10.00 for a purchase, and you have a BALANCE in your account then, there is no fee. People use credit cards to fund their accounts, and that hurts..

For ebay sales you are required to accept a form of electronic payment. either paypal or one of the 2 others they accept.
I tried to get away from paypal, I have my own payment processor. But ebay would not let me do it that way. They are strict.. either payapal or one of the two others.
And they do this because they get a percentage of the two other credit card processors. I won't stop buying on ebay but I will stop selling... they nickel and dime you to death.

Even when I state actual postage will be charged, ebay still takes a cut...
So, if I am selling something on here and you buy it and pay via paypal, make it a gift, money owed or pay extra to cover the fees. I don't sell on here to make money, and when I sell something for a dollar, I sure as heck wont let paypal take .20 of it in fees.