posted on December 24, 2002 06:02:42 AM new
I have been selling by mail for over 20 years. I do not use Paypal or other electronic payment systems. I have no use for them. I don;t care if I lose some potential bidders, as I am happy with the business I receive from eBay. So, lately I have been slammed by several bidders telling me courtesy of Paypal that I have money waiting. It clearly states in the text of my auctions athat I do not accept Paypal. These people who try to force me into accepting it tick me off. Is this a new ploy of Paypal? or just dumb bidders?
posted on December 24, 2002 06:49:43 AM new
Probably just bidders who aren't reading your auction fully! I've had international bidders win auctions when I clearly state US ONLY! I would tell them nicely to cancel the transaction with Paypal if you are really dead set against accepting Paypal, send the money as stated in the auction and point out that the description states no Paypal. There are a lot of new bidders out there who are still learning the ropes (I think I've had a great many of them) and you might want to cut them some slack by nicely explaining to them your Paypal policy. I don't think I'd call them "dumb". I've noticed a lot of bidders, especially those new to Ebay, are in a big hurry to bid and win.
"Let those who have never made a mistake on Ebay cast the first stone."
posted on December 24, 2002 06:57:36 AM new
I can't believe you still aren't taking Paypal or Billpoint.
I am a longtime seller and buyer on ebay, with over 1000+ feedbacks.
As a buyer, I *ONLY* buy from sellers who accept online payments. I don't trust little sellers enough to give them my CC info, and I don't like the hassle & uncertainty of Money orders/checks.
As a seller, I prefer online payments as well. I get the money instantly and the fees are pretty much the same as our merchant terminal. The whole chargeback thing is overrated- a regular merchant terminal will do the same thing if a buyer does a chargeback.
It's always the people who claim to be mailing payment that turn out to be deadbeats.
posted on December 24, 2002 07:02:05 AM new
sometimes it is a matter of whether you turn a profit or not.
at dollar store,they will accept credit card if you buy at least 5 dollars worth of goods.
i am always grateful when some buyers offer to mail me a money order.
but ebay bidders do not read,there are just too many individual sellers and too many terms of sales,not to mention all that marketing jazz on how wonderful the seller is,how wonderful their family is,where they are born and how they get into this and that business etc.
posted on December 24, 2002 07:29:04 AM new
Thank you for your responses. I certainly shouldn't call anyone "dumb" and apologize for that. I guess I will just continue sending along an e-mail nicely informing the buyer that I don't accept Paypal. And put it in caps in my auctions.
I realize that I may be losing sales by not accepting Paypal and others of that ilk, nor do I accept credit cards.
Ebay sales are not the source of the majority of my income. I am one of the fortunate ones who can continue the old ways of business and be happy with it.
I am used to dealing with libraries and other institutions with sometimes very slow payment schedules. So, waiting for payment by traditional methods, is normal to me.
I guess I just wanted to vent.
I realize that I am an antique. But I get the pleasure out of actually talking to my customers, via the net or phone or letter. This is what the old book business used to be all about. Buyers often would come back to buy again or visit your store. It was called personal service, Obsolete today, perhaps.
posted on December 24, 2002 07:59:34 AM newor just dumb bidders?
Thats it, people do not read nor do they care. If this works for you then keep doing it your way.
posted on December 24, 2002 08:46:45 AM new
I too have been selling on line for years, since 1996 - with feedback in the thousands, but I much prefer on line payments, or cc through our business. It is fast, clean, and done, and I find these buyers, are much less likely to "forget", and drag out payment for weeks, which is about the norm I've found with those who use MO or CC.
As a buyer, I prefer on line payments, I can bid, win, and pay in a matter of minutes, and the deal is done, no endless e-mails, etc.
Personally, I won't buy from a seller who only accepts MO's to risky and I won't spend extra time and money to buy a MO to purchase an item; I feel this is a major imposition for a seller to require such. It is parallel to asking me to purchase their item, and then telling me I have to take time out of my busy day to go out and spend money to purchase a MO to pay for their item!!! Sorry, but no way.
****
Actually [b[there are 2 categories of sellers whose items I skip[/b] those being, a seller who doesn’t either accept PayPal or CC AND sellers with jacked up shipping charges! In fact over charging for shipping is definitely a pet peeve with me, because I realize many buyers have no idea of shipping costs, and pay because they are unaware.
*****
ON THE OTHER HAND – buyers don’t read – 90% of the “questions” I am asked, are clearly answered in our auction post.
***
This is my topper for the season.....we have 4 web sites, and in some categories, we have totally sold out of some specialty items. Sunday I received an order from a lady who wanted 12 of what we clearly say we are SOLD OUT of, AND she wanted them shipped overnight, to arrive early Tuesday!!!
posted on December 24, 2002 09:15:34 AM new
There was once a discussion here about dealers that refused to accept online payment services, especially the omni-present PayPal.
The comparison of those stubborn or very reluctant sellers to the B&M store owners of yesteryear that refused to accept credit cards while the vast majority of the other stores adopted the new technology was very interesting.
posted on December 24, 2002 10:20:30 AM newthey will accept credit card if you buy[ at least 5 dollars worth of goods.
Minimums are against MC & Visa policy. They will cancel your account. A beauty supply store in my town, used to have a $15 minimum purchase with a credit card. The manager told me that someone complained and their account was canceled. They were hurt.
I don't trust little sellers enough to give them my CC info
Most insider credit card fraud is committed by employees at large or reputable retailers. In some of these places any employee can get your info. In mom and pop operations, if something goes wrong they know who to go after.
edited to add:
Do what you feel is best. If you make what you want without accepting credit cards, don't let anyone fore you to accept them.
[ edited by biskitsandgravie on Dec 24, 2002 10:22 AM ]
posted on December 24, 2002 10:28:55 AM new
I think all the eBay sellers that sell tools and other items that I also sell on eBay should show the world they don't have to be forced to take PayPaL. Fact is they should not take Money Orders or checks either. Cash only would be good.
posted on December 24, 2002 10:40:57 AM new
I really never gave paypal a thought until I sold an item for $100.00. That is the highest amount sale that I have done so I thought I would see how much the fees were for this sale. It came out to be 10.00 with paypal taking $3.95. I am now going to include in my auctions.
"Preferred methods of payment are Personal check or Money Order, but if you find that inconvenient I will accept PayPal." I don't hold Personal Checks so there won't be that much of a delay unless the buyer doesn't pay right away. The reason I am going to start that is because I had a buyer write and tell me that she would like to send a personal check because she knew paypal charges were high. That buyer will get an exceptionally good feedback from me for waking me up....
posted on December 24, 2002 10:53:39 AM new
That may be but you'll never know if the $100 item buyer would have never even bought the item had you not offered PP as a payment option.
There are thousand of sellers that only accept PP as the payment source and those numbers are certain to grow after the New Year as ebay encourages the use of PP and the starts the dismantling of ebay payments or BillPoint.
posted on December 24, 2002 11:03:43 AM new
I am one who uses P/P as 1st choice. I like the quick turn around on my inventory & cash flow. i know that it is costing me 3% of gross & build this into my selling price. If you don't think you can afford P/P, then your profit margin is to low. I use P/P just like another bank account. I buy gas for my car, pkging materials, ets. & get 1% rebate on my purchases, also 1.6% money mkt interest. I feel that it really costs very little for my PayPal.
[ edited by sanmar on Dec 24, 2002 11:06 AM ]
posted on December 24, 2002 12:20:14 PM new
Of course the problem is that you can see how much using PayPal costs you, but you can't see how much it would cost you NOT to use PayPal.
For example, I had an auction that ended as follows. (Bids are approximate)
#1 $105
#2 $102.50
#3 $50
My winner was foreign and paid by PayPal. If I didn't accept PayPal and he didn't bid because of it, my #2 bidder would've won at $1 over the #3 bid. So, it's entirely possible not using PayPal would've cost me over $50. Of course, my foreign winner might have found an alternate way of paying, but we'll never know.
posted on December 24, 2002 01:48:21 PM new
I agree with bkmunroe, that sellers who never offer online payments won't know how much business they are losing.
One way of making such a determination is to track other sellers averages in your category or categories in which you specialize, who do not offer online payments.
For example, in my categories, one seller who sells antique porcelain similar to mine does not offer any online payments, and instead makes winning buyers call her store during business hours, adding long-distance telephone charges to the buyer's final costs. For November, my sales average was $127. The other seller's sales average was $31.00. So far in December my sales average is $128, her sales average is $34.00. That is quite a bit of difference between my large profit line and her probable loss or break-even status.
posted on December 24, 2002 02:19:46 PM new
If you read what I wrote I do accept PayPal, but my first choices are Personal Check or Money Order. I have never turned down a paypal payment and I never will. I agree I have my merchandise out faster with this but if my buyer wants to pay by something other that PayPal I would like that better.
posted on December 24, 2002 06:59:29 PM new
personally I advise against using paypal as a bank account.. simply because it is NOT a bank. They are NOT FDIC insured and they can do anything they want with your money whenever they want. (read their terms of service... according to them, they can do whatever they want with ur money whenever they want.
thousands of people have already experienced this...
I know the chargeback (PP freezing account) is overrated, since that occurs in regular merchant accounts too... but I still dont like paypal.
and lets not start about their customer service...
I accept paypal, because it'll cost me buyers if I dont... ebay incorporated it into their system (fully, eventually) and the average consumer/users dont know how shady paypal is...
but I only use it to handle small transactions. (20-40 bucks ones) I personally contact my buyers if the amount is high enough, and convince them to switch to another simple to use online method thats safer and more secure.
I duno though, I dont like accepting paypal, but there's no doubt in mind that they are definitely EASY TO USE.
posted on December 30, 2002 06:07:11 PM new
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I really never gave paypal a thought until I sold an item for $100.00. That is the highest amount sale that I have done so I thought I would see how much the fees were for this sale. It came out to be 10.00 with paypal taking $3.95.
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So, Libra63, your sale cost you ten percent.
I tried the B/M Route- $800.00 Per MOnth- and a marginal area, or it would have been $1400.00- Employee wages, store Insurance-This was before health insurance became mandatory.
I figured my sales cost me closer to forty percent over the cost of the item in the first place...
Ebay and the Internet costs me nothing in comparison, and I'm not limited to walk-in traffic.
