ebay advice

warwick.hoy · #1 05-19-2009, 08:42 AM

My wife is the ebayer and she usually just buys and sells shoes. I've never sold any gear on ebay and wanted to ask....should I be willing to accept money orders from a bidder?

I received that question ("do you accept money orders?") from a prospective bidder and was thinking about saying yes, but not shipping the item until payment is received. Is that how it works?

I can PM a link to the feedback etc if that helps...but I'm about to be off to work.

Also...are there better resources to find this sort of thing out.

GeneralElectric · #2 05-19-2009, 08:42 AM

I would say yes, but only if it a USPS money order.

rustynuts · #3 05-19-2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

I would say yes, but only if it a USPS money order.

Definitely ONLY USPS money orders, and take it straight to the post office and cash it before shipping the equipment.

Relic · #4 05-19-2009, 09:07 AM

yeah it's no problem. I've done it countless times before. As everyone's saying, make sure it's a USPS MO, and clarify to the buyer that the MO will need to be received, cashed and only once the cash is in hand, the item will be sent.

i_got_a_mohawk · #5 05-19-2009, 10:53 AM

+1 to what everyone else has said.

Just make sure the gear isn't going anywhere til the order has cleared.

BillyRay · #6 05-19-2009, 11:50 AM

USPS or a reputable government operated postal service. Canada Post for example.

And as was said, cash and wait until it clears before shipping anything. I'd take a look at some 5k+ 100% feedback sellers and check their policies if you're new at this.

Illbay · #7 05-19-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

I received that question ("do you accept money orders?") from a prospective bidder and was thinking about saying yes,...

NO!!! ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, NO!!!

bongomania · #8 05-19-2009, 12:05 PM

Or, without ridiculous over-reaction, be aware that any type of money order can be (and often is) counterfeited. The solution? As stated a few times above, take the M.O. to the P.O. and cash it before shipping anything. They can detect counterfeits (I've seen it happen in person) and will simply refuse to cash it if it's fake. So you leave the P.O. and email the fraudster that you will not be shipping the goods and you will be reporting them to the police. If the M.O. is good then you have cash in hand and can ship without fear.

Be kind to your P.O. and only go to cash it after they've been open for a few hours, otherwise they may not have enough cash on hand.

Do not cash/deposit the M.O. at your bank, if you do that and the M.O. turns out to be fake then you will be held liable for the money and they may press charges against you.

Stumbo · #9 05-19-2009, 12:09 PM

If you accept money orders, state the conditions in your auction. As said before, check out some high volume, high rated sellers and take a look at what they do.

pedulla-2007 · #10 05-19-2009, 02:00 PM

If your item is worth buying, there will be scores of people willing to use PAYPAL,which eliminates the trip, gas, time, and worry spent to go cash a M.O. Only someone desperate to sell an item would even want a M.O. Protect yourself my bass brother, and don't go through the extra hassle. The whole transaction can be done from the comfort of your home. Paypal has so many stinking charges, but they have garnished money that other people have owed me, AND REFUSED TO PAY. They have saved my ass on numerous occasions, so I figure that it all evens out with all their robbing charges. Please forgive me if I have wandered from the original question. BE SAFE, NOT SORRY!!!

rustynuts · #11 05-19-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pedulla-2007

If your item is worth buying, there will be scores of people willing to use PAYPAL,which eliminates the trip, gas, time, and worry spent to go cash a M.O. Only someone desperate to sell an item would even want a M.O.

If that one buyer that wants to pay with a MO were to bid the item up another hundred dollars, it would be well worth a trip to the post office.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stumbo

If you accept money orders, state the conditions in your auction.

You can no longer state in your listings that you accept money orders. eBay "outlawed" that last year, except for local pickup. They have a list of "approved, safe" payment methods listed (Canadian Tire coupons? Give me a break.), but basically it was a way to try and force PayPal down everyone's throat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illbay

NO!!! ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, NO!!!

Wow. A bit of overreacting there, huh? As said a few times, take it to the PO and cash it. They'll verify it and cash it on the spot. Nothing comes back to haunt you later that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyRay

I'd take a look at some 5k+ 100% feedback sellers and check their policies if you're new at this.

That's hard to do these days due to eBay's payment policies (see above). I run a business that has a few high volume eBay IDs (100,000+, 10,000+) and we're a member of several online retail business groups. The general consensus among most mid-to-large sellers is what's been said here: take the money order, but only a USPS one. And don't cash it at your bank.

Many of the extremely high volume sellers don't want to be bothered by money orders, but for the occasional seller it adds the potential for a higher final price. The more people you exclude from bidding, the less you will make in the end.

warwick.hoy · #12 05-19-2009, 05:18 PM

Thanks for the advice guys.

These aren't high dollar items...I'm basically flipping a couple of pedals I don't use with really low starting bids; less than $20 a piece, no reserve. I would have listed them here but honestly...these aren't really great pedals for bass and you guys are so educated that they'd wind up on ebay eventually. I'm not going to be greedy with them.

I already have a bid on one and will honor a USPS money order from him since I didn't include that in my post. I noticed that ebay won't allow you to post that money orders are accepted. I can't say I don't blame them. I'd rather cover my *** so I responded to the other potential bidder that I was sorry, but I'd only take paypal. I revised my listings.

Illbay · #13 05-20-2009, 07:25 AM

Paypal is cheap, and you're fraud-free. To me, this isn't even worth the discussion. If that guy won't buy it, someone else will.

pedulla-2007 · #14 05-20-2009, 07:52 AM

Well spoken ILLBAY, the voice of experience.

Relic · #15 05-20-2009, 08:24 AM

I frankly don't see the big deal. I've been selling and buying on eBay for almost 10 years and never had a problem with MO's. Whoever the highest bidder is wins it. If he wants to use a MO, then I just follow my own advice about cashing it prior to shipping and I'm fine.
I do actually prefer paypal for the fact that I can do everything from my computer without leaving my seat, but if I want cash fast without being reemed out financially, then a MO is the way to go.

bongomania · #16 05-20-2009, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pedulla-2007

Well spoken ILLBAY, the voice of experience.

Nonsense. No way is Paypal "fraud free" and a person with actual experience would know that. Caveat vendor.

Illbay · #17 05-20-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Nonsense. No way is Paypal "fraud free" and a person with actual experience would know that. Caveat vendor.

The Bank of England isn't "fraud-free," for that matter. I can speak from my own experience, around 40 buys and a dozen or so sells on eBay, and PayPal has been a safe bet.

In fact, the one time that I really had a problem with a purchase - something that didn't work AT ALL when the seller represented that it did - PayPal got me a full refund.

Paying a little bit o' money for "seller" privileges on Paypal is, IMO, a lot less hassle than going somewhere to cash a money order to find if it's legit, etc.

The ability to buy using Paypal is an indication that your buyer is on the up-and-up. When he says "no I don't have it," that sounds a warning bell, to me.

Just my two cents, as opposed to Maki's.

Illbay · #18 05-20-2009, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

I frankly don't see the big deal. I've been selling and buying on eBay for almost 10 years and never had a problem with MO's. Whoever the highest bidder is wins it. If he wants to use a MO, then I just follow my own advice about cashing it prior to shipping and I'm fine.
I do actually prefer paypal for the fact that I can do everything from my computer without leaving my seat, but if I want cash fast without being reemed out financially, then a MO is the way to go.

MOST of the time you're not going to have problems. MOST of the eBayers are legit, good citizens, whether they use Paypal or a MO or what-have-you.

But we're talking about risk, here. I think you're risking, at the very least, wasting a lot of your time trying to follow up some guy's money order, when Paypal is the easiest way to go for all parties concerned.

Of course it's not "fraud free," nothing is. But your risk is far, far less.

Spector_Ray · #19 05-20-2009, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illbay

MOST of the time you're not going to have problems. MOST of the eBayers are legit, good citizens, whether they use Paypal or a MO or what-have-you.

But we're talking about risk, here. I think you're risking, at the very least, wasting a lot of your time trying to follow up some guy's money order, when Paypal is the easiest way to go for all parties concerned.

Of course it's not "fraud free," nothing is. But your risk is far, far less.

I mostly agree, but one's definition of risk is subjective. In the OP's case, I believe the risk is minimal, but he may not.

Of course, USPS money orders aren't 100% foolproof either. Being a USPS supervisor, I've seen a few counterfeit USPS money orders and can usually spot one in a heartbeat. But at least one can check it out before shipping the item.

bongomania · #20 05-20-2009, 12:26 PM

52 transactions... It's like he spent 52 days in New York City or Atlanta and didn't get mugged, so therefore NYC and Atlanta are "crime free", and since most of the citizens are not criminals, there is not much risk. *Groan*...

I've done over a thousand transactions on Ebay, and I can say from that experience that there is exactly zero difference in risk between Paypal and Postal money orders. If you haven't had somebody try to scam you on Paypal, you've been lucky.