New Ebay Experence

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have bought & sold a lot of items on Ebay without any problems.
Today I listed 2 items with Ebay's offline listing tool. After I clicked upload a red warning message popped up for an instant. All I caught of it was that "PayPal will hold payment". I called Ebay & the story I got was that on some items PayPal will hold payment for up to 21 days or less if the buyer leaves positive feedback. The item I listed was a new computer drive enclosure.
I let them know that I was not happy with this policy & deleted the listing after getting off of the phone with them.
The biggest issue I have with this policy is I was not given notice before the item uploaded. This notice could be given at the same time they let you know what the fees are going to be.
Ebay has become very Seller unfriendly over the last few months.

[Mike Henderson]

But eBay has become a lot more BUYER friendly over the past few months. Actually, they've become more like the majority of retailers in the United States.

In the past, sellers would withhold feedback until the buyer gave feedback, threatening to give the buyer negative feedback if they complained in any way, even if the buyer had done nothing wrong. Now, the seller can only leave negative feedback if the buyer does not pay. And after all, what can the buyer do that's "negative" except not pay. They can complain but that the right of a buyer. This allows buyers to give honest feedback on sellers and encourages sellers to do the simple things necessary for a successful transaction - communicate with the buyer, ship quickly and for a reasonable fee, and honestly represent the goods they're selling.

eBay also requires all sellers to accept PayPal. Again, a help to the buyer because once you sent a check or money order to the seller, there was no way to get your money back if the seller did not ship, or shipped junk. With PayPal, you can file a PayPal claim and they will act as an arbitrator to clear up the claim - and refund your money if they find the buyer did not hold up his/her end of the deal.

No, as a long time eBay buyer and seller, the new policies are a definite step in the right direction and long overdue.

Mike

[Chris Rosenberger]

So now the seller has no power. I sell an item & send it off. Three weeks later the buyer has buyers remorse & files a complaint that they are not happy with the item. I am out the money & the item & weeks of hell trying to get this mess fixed. In the mean time PayPal has had use of the money from the time the buyer paid until it is given back to the buyer.
I am glad you are happy with this system.

[Mike Henderson]

So now the seller has no power. I sell an item & send it off. Three weeks later the buyer has buyers remorse & files a complaint that they are not happy with the item. I am out the money & the item & weeks of hell trying to get this mess fixed. In the mean time PayPal has had use of the money from the time the buyer paid until it is given back to the buyer.
I am glad you are happy with this system.

Yep, that's the stuff all retailers deal with. It's part of life as a seller.

But most people are honest and just want to get the transaction done in a quick and honest fashion. I think you'll find that if you describe the item in a fair and honest fashion, and communicate with the buyer - thank them when they pay, tell them when you're going to ship, and send them the delivery confirmation number when you do ship (if you buy your postage from PayPal that's done for you), you won't have much trouble. The buyer doesn't know what's going on and just wants to be kept up to date.

I've never had a problem when selling. The only problems I've ever had were when buying, especially if I sent a check. I've received profanity laced responses when I ask if the item has been shipped, and received items that only vaguely resemble the item described in the auction. I quit buying from anyone who wouldn't take PayPal a long time ago. And, yes, if I have a problem with the seller, I file a PayPal claim. Every time I've had to do that PayPal has ruled in my favor and I've got my money back. But if the seller had just done the basic things (accurate description and communicate) I would not have had to file a claim.

Mike

[Ben Rafael]

The only buyers I've had problems with were insane or deadbeats.
One complained that an item didn't come with batteries. I stated in the ad that batteries weren't included. It was a $400 calculator and this guy was complaining about $3 in batteries.
Another complained that I shipped his item in a recycled box. Item arrived undamaged and the box was like new. But he complained anyway.
And there was another yahoo who wouldn't pay for his item but complained that he never received it.

I've never had a problem with an ebay seller, but I have had problems with buyers. IMO, the sellers need protection.

[Angus Hines]

Ebay has turned into a joke. It has become a retail outlet for their power seller group but is completely ignorant and callused to the casual seller.

[Shawn Gillies]

I was always under the impression that PayPal would provide me a refund of my money if my complaint was ruled in my favor. I filed a 'not received' and after a month or so, Paypal says they ruled in my favor, but they can not get the funds to reimburse me. So much for the safety net!
EBay has become a joke, and Paypal is the biggest part of that joke.
I have read the 'discussions' on Ebay's chat and I decided against selling items through EBay after reading all of the Seller complaints. Now the lack of follow up regarding a refund through PayPal's complaint process, I have lost faith in believing my purchases are protected using PayPal.
So it seems both seller and buyer dislike EBay now.

[Mike Henderson]

I was always under the impression that PayPal would provide me a refund of my money if my complaint was ruled in my favor. I filed a 'not received' and after a month or so, Paypal says they ruled in my favor, but they can not get the funds to reimburse me. So much for the safety net!

And that, of course, is why Chris can't get his money for 21 days - so that PayPal can give you your money back under the conditions you describe. What a dishonest seller would do in the past is get the money and transfer it out of PayPal so PayPal couldn't get to it if the buyer complained.

Seems to me that eBay and PayPal are doing the right things to protect honest buyers AND sellers.

Mike

[I've never researched it, but I believe if the auction has the "PayPal guarantee" logo on it, PayPal will give your money back even if they can't collect from the other party. See here for more information.]

[Greg Cuetara]

I consider myself as a casual buyer / seller on ebay. Mostly a buyer. I have bought a few tools, planer, jointer and other misc. items. This was years ago and I used a CC through Paypal and the transactions went very smoothly.

Recently I bid on a pellet stove. Auction stated the guy accepted paypal. I won the auction and the guy called me saying that I had to overnight a certified check. He expected me to send 2k halfway across the country without ever meeting him just on faith that he would send the stove out to me.

I was a seller for a limited time and only accepted paypal. Worked like a charm every time. All smooth transactions with no problems.

Whenever I use paypal to buy I use a CC so I am more protected through my CC than through paypal and I have never had a problem with a CC dispute. If everyone were honest out there there wouldn't be a need to not trust people but with so many shady people out there you have careful.

I agree with Mike that casual sellers are now seeing how business is really done and the cost to do business. If I walk into Rockler and buy a tool and pay with a CC Rockler has to pay about 3% plus or minus back to the CC company. It is a cost of doing business.

Chris it sounds like you just want to take your money and run. I don't think that people should be returning things 3 weeks later because they had buyers remorse but buyers and sellers need protection.

Overall I think it is a positive step but we shall see how it plays out in the coming months.

Greg

[Tom Veatch]

...on some items PayPal will hold payment for up to 21 days or less if the buyer leaves positive feedback. ...

Haven't been very active on eBay for a couple of years now, but that sounds like PayPal has implemented something like a mandatory pseudo-escrow procedure. Not a totally bad move, IMO, especially if feedback from the buyer releases the funds. If PayPal holds the money for 3 weeks regardless, then there's grist for the complaint mill. But, then you've got buyers who never seem to get around to leaving feedback. No perfect solution as long as dishonest folks continue cluttering up the planet.

[Randal Stevenson]

B
eBay also requires all sellers to accept PayPal. Again, a help to the buyer because once you sent a check or money order to the seller, there was no way to get your money back if the seller did not ship, or shipped junk. With PayPal, you can file a PayPal claim and they will act as an arbitrator to clear up the claim - and refund your money if they find the buyer did not hold up his/her end of the deal.


Mike

Mike, you and I have differing opinions on that one. Paypal only was disallowed in Europe and Australia, and IMHO should be here as well. I HAD protection, when using a postal money order, it is called postal fraud (started the process once, due to a company not having a complete record, due to employee changes). I'd rather trust a postal inspector.
I also believe it is a persons/business right, to choose their accepted method of payment.

[Mike Henderson]

I also believe it is a persons/business right, to choose their accepted method of payment.

Of course, since eBay is a private company, they can make any rules they want for the use of their service. You have the right to take your business elsewhere if you don't like it.

eBay wants people to feel safe when making a purchase - that will build the volume of sales and their revenue. I suppose they feel that their new rules will enhance that goal.

And you can accept payment (or make payment) other than PayPal, but (as I understand their rules) you must offer PayPal as one of the options to the buyer. It's up to the buyer to choose what form of payment to use. I imagine most buyers use PayPal because it provides some protection to them. But you can still pay with a postal money order (as long as the seller accepts it.)

Mike

[I might point out that I'm no eBay shill. But after a number of bad experiences, I'm very happy to see eBay forcing sellers to be more customer friendly - it's long, long overdue.]

[Brian Elfert]

I believe the only reason Ebay would require Paypal is money. They own Paypal so they get another 3% or so on every sale.

I thoght Ebay started requiring sellers to accept only credit cards or Paypal? My understanding is sellers could process their credit cards. I may very well be wrong.

[Justin Leiwig]

I recently sold some things on Ebay and had no problems what so ever. The money went directly from the seller to paypal to me with no 21 day waiting period. If there was a 21 day waiting period, then the customer would have a 21 day waiting period to get their items. When you go into a store and special order something you are required to pay for it up front, so I don't understand why it would be any different for ebay.

[Rich Enders]

I have no experience with E-Bay or PayPal, but there was an article in one of the woodworking magazines by a collector of antique planes who buys on the internet. He noted that he avoids any offerings that require payment via PayPal due to the extensive information disclosure required. He also noted that offerings requiring PayPal payment were always priced substantially below others, which he attributed to issues with PayPal.

Any thoughts on this?