Over the weekend I had a coin sell on Ebay. Today I get a message from the buyer saying he does not have a Paypal account and needs my address for payment. Since the item sold for a buck, and since the buyer had over 600 positive feedbacks I went ahead and sent him the information. Now that I've started to think about it, it's starting to p*ss me off. In the category of coins the only payment I can accept(I believe) is Paypal. Even though I did not state it in big red letters in the item description, my listing had Paypal as the accepted method of payment. I don't know if I should be angry with buyer for bidding AND THEN saying "oh by the way...", angry with Ebay for allowing someone who does not have a Paypal account to bid in categories in which Ebay requires Paypal as the payment method, or if I'm making a big deal out of nothing. What do ya'll think?
You've stepped outside of eBay's stated policy. BUT There's nothing wrong with accepting other payment methods (no eBay rule against it). EXCEPT You no longer will have seller's protection (such as it is). I personally would have said "No way. PayPal or nothing." Then if the buyer doesn't use PayPal you file a NPB. That protects you as much as possible AND the buyer couldn't give you a negative. (Well, I think they can but eBay would remove it if you asked.) But this is all moot. You've already agreed to accept an alternate payment method. The good part is that coin collectors by and large are an honest group on eBay.
Hope your address is a PO Box - I wouldn't give anyone on the internet my home address for coin related items.
Kanga, Whenever I list items Paypal is the only payment option Ebay gives me, so I thought in the category of Coins it was all they would allow. It is kind of a moot point now that the offer has been accepted, but it seems like Ebay would not allow bidding in certain categories of the buyers did not have a Paypal account. Statequarterguy- Had the buyer not lived across the country and had he not had 100% positive feedback on over 600 purchases I would not have given him my address.
Agreed, that's the only option that eBay allows you to offer. You can't even mention another payment method. BUT If you work an agreement with the bidder for a check or MO as payment, eBay can't/won't come down on you. BUT eBay seller protection and buyer protection are no longer in force.
Been down this road several time before. PayPal is NOT the only method accepted for coins. see; http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/accepted-payment-methods.html
I don't know how to accept those other forms, but I don't see anything there that is allowed that the buyer could accomplish through the mail. My understanding of their rules is that for the Coins/Currencies category checks and money orders are not allowed.
Beats me, but apparently he's done it. Either that or some sellers call his bluff, refuse his offer and THEN he admits to being able to use Paypal.
The last line I quoted says; Also, there is nothing there that allows the buyer to change or add to what the seller is accepting. However, the seller, in creating his listing, can offer any one, any combination of, or all of those options. I do not know when you buyer accumulated those 600 feedbacks, but until about 3 years ago, there were no restrictions on payment methods.
When they say "most Ebay purchases" isn't coins included in that rule against cash, checks and money orders? Looks like most of his purchases were made in the past 12 months.
Yes? Just what are you trying to say? My point was that PayPal is not a required payment method in any category. And that is absolutely correct.
Well, since you asked... I don't think I would get upset, but I have found that it is better to be black and white dealing on ebay and other such sites... Paypal is the payment method, PERIOD... It is all you offered in the listing and it should stand... And, of course, you could be amicable about it but explain that for your protection, you only use paypal... It goes beyond just buyer protection, which may or may not be a benefit... It just makes the transactions simpler, the paper trail simpler, and for a buck, is it really worth the time to be sitting and firing off emails with your address and keeping track of who owes what?.. I would kindly tell him 'no'... This time it is only a buck, but next time it might be $100 or $1000, and he should learn the ropes if he is going to be buying on Ebay.... Not to mention, what if he decides he didn't get what was stated or some other such thing where a refund is necessary?... Do you turn around and write him a check back or go buy a money order and pay 41 cent to mail it back?.. Regards
My point is just that obviously this buyer's payment method(check/money order) is not an accepted method of payment by Ebay in this category. Seems like it wouldn't be that hard for Ebay to require that only buyers who have a Paypal account can bid on items by sellers who only list Paypal as a payment method. Even though I could probably jump through hoops and have it removed, since this buyer has already bid on and won the auction, he could feasibly Neg me out of spite if I were to not accept his proposed payment method that was never listed as an option in the first place.
From now own I'm going to do just that, and start spelling out in the item description that Paypal is the only method I'll accept. In the past I've had people email me BEFORE they placed a bid on the item asking if I would accept a money order, but this is the first time I've had someone bid, win and then tell me they didn't use Paypal.
Thanks for the discussion, I am having the same exact issue and thought it was very bizarre that my buyers does not use paypal.
But all you had to do was say no and you would be no worse for the wear and you don't even know that he does not have a PayPal account. The eBay would have to develop a major program ($$$) that would slow everything down and raise their rates. At this stage of the game, it is probably not worth it and you may come out ahead with fewer fees.
Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't someone use paypal to pay for the auction. Am I correct that just the seller pays a paypal fee, there is no fee for me as the buyer to run the payment from my bank account to the seller through paypal.
PayPal is a company and some people feel that companies are evil. Seeing only one side of these stories, they have also been known to tie up your funds "for no apparent reason". (My suspicion is that they had lots of reasons.)
1.) check to see what type of PayPal account you have. Is it personal or premier ? 2.) if it is personal you will have to spell out the specific methods of payment you will and WILL NOT accept in the description of your ad. 3.) if it is a premier PayPal account there are extra account controls that allow you to stipulate what payment methods PayPal will attempt to process or not. If you mark the item as paid in "My eBay" you will be charged the final value fee. I am curious if you are required to mark the item as paid if someone pays in cash or if eBay will force you to file a Non-Payment after a certain period. I do not like eChecks because I do not want to wait up to 14 days for the funds to clear , so I must spell out in my item description that I accept PayPal instant payment only and NO eChecks ! If I had a premier PayPal account I could turn that feature on and off automatically.
