sun818
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posted on April 24, 2002 01:34:26 AM new
I'm finding that opening letters, deciphering the buyer's writing, data entering in their mailing address, matching payment to an auction, calculating my check total, writing out the deposit slips... its all taking up valuable time that makes online payment like paypal, billpoint, or actual credit cards much easier to work with. A consistent interface helps me to know where to look for the information I need to process packages. This virtually eliminates the non paying bidder excuse of "I sent a check". I will probably lose a few sales over it, but the category I sell in ("computers" -- one would expect the buyers to be more technically savvy anyway.
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rgrem
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posted on April 24, 2002 02:43:15 AM new
While I usually cringe a bit at the fee deducted from my paypal receipts, at the same time I welcome the immediate, no problem paypal payment. I have found that the quick paypal payment represents a solid sale from a serious buyer- and quick completion of the transaction. All-in-all, I do think it is the best way to be paid, except perhaps for an almost-immediate USPS M.O. However there are many serious buyers who simply have always done business by check and will want to continue to do so.
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capolady
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posted on April 24, 2002 05:45:47 AM new
You'll probably lose more than a few sales. There are still quite a few people in the country who do not use credit cards or debit cards. I will accpet payment anyway I can get it. I've been selling for 3 years and the amount of problems I've had with checks or money orders I can count on one hand. I think limiting the way you will accept payment is the same as shooting yourself in the foot.
Just my opinion!!!!
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:13:12 AM new
I had what I thought was a brainstorm a couple of years ago. Since I planned to drive from California to New York on my vacation, I'd just take a box of listed items along with me and have auctions running while I was on the road. I could ship from whatever town I happened to stop at that night.
This scheme meant I could only use online payment. At that time, that was PayPal. Just to make sure everyone understood the rules, I plastered each auction with PAYPAL ONLY! PAYPAL ONLY! PAYPAL ONLY! ...to the extent that you could not miss it glancing at the page.
Well, guess what. 40% of the winners refused to use PayPal. Some of these people told me that they thought PAYPAL ONLY either didn't apply to them or they were sure I would make an exception for sweet little ol' them.
20% of the winners used PayPal but paid late.
There were other interesting things I found out during this trip (like, mailing from Kansas to anywhere in the country took twice as along as mailing from California to anywhere in the country), but that was my experience.
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mrfoxy76
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:16:47 AM new
the more payment options you offer the more bids you will receive....
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:16:59 AM new
Just re-read your original post. Most banks don't require you to use deposit slips for large check deposits. I don't. I run a tape on my printing calculator, then do it again to make sure the totals match. I pop both tapes in the deposit envelope and deposit it via the ATM.
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Libra63
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:17:56 AM new
I have to agree PayPal only has it's advantages. If they pay instantly you don't have to send a WBN, packages get out sooner, and your bookwork on that weeks auctions is over faster. But, no matter how they pay I will still accept any form of payment except food.
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drivingmetodrink
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:53:56 AM new
I can not believe that a seller that is receiving payments in the form of money orders or checks would complain that they have to fill out deposit slips and go to the bank. With the decline of ebays good old day (before Meg) when you received a couple of dozen payment in a the mail a day. you might have entertained that thought, but now with that cut in half. Doing a deposit slip for 12-15 payments a day is nice. Would you tell someone you will not accept cash because you have to still "I'm finding that opening letters, deciphering the buyer's writing, data entering in their mailing address, matching payment to an auction," plus actually count the bills and make sure they sent enough. I think the amount of time it would take you to do the things you complained about is worth the time. I am sure others would exchange places with you if it is too much work for you.
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piggypoosmom
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:55:39 AM new
I thought that would be the solution to my problems, too, as I have several bidders who claim they have sent money orders in March that I have not received yet. None of them want to tell me the serial number of the money orders, strangely enough. So this series of auctions had "Paypal Only" in red letters, and within 24 hours of EOA, I already have 5 people who either their Paypal password is not working, they somehow missed the fact that this is Paypal only, or flat out informed me that they have the right to pay however they choose, and if I do not accept their personal check they will neg me.
Tell me again why it is that I submit myself to this on a daily basis...
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mrfoxy76
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posted on April 24, 2002 07:56:59 AM new
I would love to have all my payments in the form of money orders and cash I can easily wait the time to receive them...means no fees to companies such as billpoint or paypal...appreciate others need paid quickly
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gina50
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posted on April 24, 2002 08:17:48 AM new
I know what you are saying about matching the checks up to the auction and all ... many ebayers just put payment in envelope without anything else.. no ebay # ... can't read their name clearly on some M Orders and take forever to get here if ever.
About 8 months ago .. I had HAD IT ! SO CHANGED MY POLICY TO SAY .. NO CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS ... only accept Paypal, etc and my sales dropped way, way off 
Soooooo NOT GOOD IDEA 
A lot of buyers are still in the dark ages ... they don't feel comfy with online payments.
When I am shopping on ebay .. if I see something I really really want to bid on .... I don't unless they take Paypal or Billpoint... who wants to bother writing a check or going to get a MO in the FAST paced world we all live in
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quickdraw29
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posted on April 24, 2002 08:28:02 AM new
There's a lot of newbies who don't even know what paypal is.
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twinsoft
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posted on April 24, 2002 08:33:56 AM new
Doing a deposit slip for 12-15 payments a day is nice.
My favorite part of the job.
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mrfoxy76
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posted on April 24, 2002 08:47:01 AM new
if its a large ticket item i can understand from a buyers point i would want to use a credit card some protection
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stopwhining
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posted on April 24, 2002 09:18:14 AM new
good old fashion buyers with oodles of cash in their bank accounts takes time to write you a check and drop it in the mail with a 34 cents stamp,or better,go to buy you a money order.
and you are complaining it is too much work for you??
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ahc3
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posted on April 24, 2002 10:00:34 AM new
I also believe limiting options will limit sales. Someone may even think since you are not taking a money order, something must be wrong. You don't want to give a bad impression to possible customers.
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stopwhining
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posted on April 24, 2002 11:05:13 AM new
dont forget customers who pay you cash,check and money order,cannot file chargeback.
when you lose in a chargeback dispute,your fees are not refundable ,there is also a chargeback fee you have to pay 10-25 dollars depending on what service you use/
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sun818
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posted on April 24, 2002 11:08:56 AM new
Thanks everyone for your input. The point of my post was to reduce the "administrative" aspect of selling. I want to devote my limited time to packing, writing tantalizing descriptions, and improving my web store. I run 200 auctions (20+ hours on top of my FT job), so time I spend on eBay is an issue.
computerboy - I read on the message boards that you take billpoint only? did you take checks/MO at some point? why did you stop?
gina50 - may I ask what category you sell in?
ahc3 - What do you mean? It is hard to imagine not taking checks/MO would give a bad impression. If anything, I think twice about buying from a seller who only accepts checks/MO.
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ahc3
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posted on April 24, 2002 11:13:20 AM new
What I mean is that people associate credit cards with fraud. You could create a perception of fraud by only taking a credit card, while people are accept checks or money orders tend to have checking accounts.
I'm not saying it is true or that I even agree with it, but I think the perception is there of a more fly by night business that can take the money quickly and leave...
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quickdraw29
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posted on April 24, 2002 02:57:26 PM new
People have fraud protection with their credit cards so why would they worry if the seller runs away with the buyers money?
Way too many people still don't send money through paypal, not sure that if you only accept paypal if it will hurt your final bids, but it can't help your sell through.
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caffeitalia
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posted on April 24, 2002 03:49:08 PM new
If they pay instantly you don't have to send a WBN
This is a very bad idea. What if the winning bidder sends payment to the wrong person. What is the seller uses a different e-mail address for receiving payments than the one used on ebay. Let's say paypal has locked an account of a seller. The seller opens a different account (even though it is against the rules, but who follows rules) to receive payments in and the buyer sends payment to the original address before the WBN is sent out. If the buyer would wait for the WBN, then they know not to send the payment to the wrong address. The main point is all buyers should wait for the WBN BEFORE sending any payments so transaction can go smoothly without hitches.
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Libra63
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posted on April 24, 2002 05:00:43 PM new
caffeitalia- Instantly means just that. At the end of the auction if they wish to pay me right away I state in my check out. "If you wish to pay instantly with PayPal, click the logo at the end of the auction description but, please remember to add the postage."(Postage is spelled out in the Payment and Shipping Details). When I list my auctions everything that I have in PayPal is accurate and I know it won't change in 7 days and also if it was going to change I would not have said that or included the PayPal logo in my auction. It does work for me and it has been very smooth.
If she would like to use PayPal only, then she can send the PayPal WBN and that would make it even smoother...She might eliminate buyers but then she might attract more buyers to PayPal. Extra 5 bucks for both...
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zathras11
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posted on April 25, 2002 02:44:00 AM new
I am simply thrilled when people actually
pay for their items! Depending on the month,
I average 5% to 20% who don't pay, so I'll
take their money any way I can get it. I
agree running to the bank isn't as convenient
as PayPal, but it sure is better than living
on the street because I can't pay my bills!
A few years ago I got a bad check (despite a
10 day hold policy) and stopped taking
checks for a few months (pre-PayPal). I know
that I lost orders, so I changed my policy
to 14 days and accepted checks again. No
problems since. Good luck!
Z
---
"Cannot say. Saying, I would know. Do not
know, so cannot say". -- Zathras (Babylon 5)
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