# Safe way to sell something on ebay?



## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

What's the safe way to sell something on ebay and make sure you get your money? I am going to sell a couple of things that will be about $1000-$1200 each and don't want to get screwed.


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## Celtic (May 23, 2007)

Mike Finley said:


> What's the safe way to sell something on ebay and make sure you get your money? I am going to sell a couple of things that will be about $1000-$1200 each and don't want to get screwed.


You don't send the item until payment is VERIFIED.
If they send you a check, make sure it cashes before sending the item out.

Paypal is pretty painless in this department.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

Google paypal disputes, roll some dice.


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## Celtic (May 23, 2007)

I doubt you will find any large scale operation w/o some sort of unhappy customer.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

If you use pay pall, they can cheat you out of the money by simply disputing it can't they?


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## mickeyco (May 13, 2006)

Mike Finley said:


> If you use pay pall, they can cheat you out of the money by simply disputing it can't they?


They can, you usually win in the end but it's a pain in the butt.


There is a pre-approved bidder thing, not sure how it works, I think you can also limit it to people with a certain amount of feedback, I have sold some very expensive stuff on ebay and haven't had a problem (girlfriend got ripped off buying). Although I think doing that will limit the amount of potential customers, I sold a vette hardtop (same price range) on ebay to a guy that signed up just to bid on it, it was his first ebay purchase. I would just make sure the funds clear, transfer them out (if it's paypal) and move the money from that account, If you take money orders I'd require them to be USPS ones, they can verify them at any post office, I have taken personal checks if the person has a lot of good feedback, but I wait till they clear before shipping the merchandise.


.


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## Celtic (May 23, 2007)

Mike Finley said:


> If you use pay pall, they can cheat you out of the money by simply disputing it can't they?


I don't _think_ the mere action of disputing automatically gets the buyer their money back...it may put it in limbo until the dispute is resolved ~ I dunno exactly, I can ask the Mrs. if you like?

....or, use paypal, when the money gets deposited, transfer it over to your real account [mail the item to the buyer at this point] ~ they can't get the money from your other account w/o your say-so.

******
Mrs. confirms that once money is withdrawn from paypal it's a deadend street.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

Mike Finley said:


> If you use pay pall, they can cheat you out of the money by simply disputing it can't they?


 More of the problems come from stolen paypal accounts. Shady people hack into paypal accounts and sell them openly on internet forums for pennies on the dollar. Other shady people buy the account and go shopping until the account is closed or it runs out of funding.


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

Mike

If you are still trying to sell those Star Wars action figures we talked about let me know, I might Bid on a few of them


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## silvertree (Jul 22, 2007)

Mike, I have bought and sold over 100 items on ebay. A few were misrepresented to me, but nothing too serious. Items I sold were all bought with Pay Pal. You can make that your only accepted form of payment. Worked well for me.


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## DetailHandyman (Jul 21, 2008)

You can filter some undesirable bidders out by checking some boxes on the "buyer requirements" page in MyEbay:

Account tab - Site Preferences - Buyer Requirements

Most of my non-payers have been low feedback bidders, usually less than 5 feedback. You can always specify in the listing "no bidders less than 10 feedback" or the like.

PayPal has always worked out well for me. But on big ticket items, the extra fee sucks.


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## mickeyco (May 13, 2006)

Just thought of something, I did have one jerk try to screw me, I sold him a cowl for a '59 Impala (I personally took it off a '59 Impala, so I knew what it was), anyhow I sold it to him for a reasonable price but the shipping was expensive because the size of the item. He sends me an email saying that it's the wrong part and it won't fit a '59, I responded and asked him if he loosened the hood and fenders, then he sends me an email saying he wants his money back, plus shipping, plus money to ship it back or he would report me to ebay. I searched and found out he had just bought an entire parts car that had that part on it and he just wanted his money back and me to foot the bill for the shipping, a-hole. I told him I would refund all his money and pay for shipping if he sent it back and it was not the right item otherwise I wouldn't give him a dime, never heard from him again and he didn't leave negative feedback.



.


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## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

dougchips said:


> Google paypal disputes, roll some dice.


PayPalllllllll Sux! They cover NOTHIN'!


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## ChainsawCharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

I've got money back from a buyer through paypal when he misrepresented an item. Almost $700.

Make sure the you and buyer are Paypal verified and only ship to a confirmed address and use a shipping method that is trackable online. You'll both be covered under Paypal buyer and seller protection.

I've been using paypal since 1999 and have never had an issue with them.


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## duckdown (Dec 16, 2008)

Insist on payment via paypal
Don't ship outside the US
Reject buyers who have negative ratings
Insist on payment within two business days


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## ChainsawCharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Also, if you use the Buy It Now option, make sure you use the require immediate payment feature. I went through hell with nigerian scammers when I was selling cell phones and computers.


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

Watch the fine print. Items over $250 must have signature confirmation to get PayPal protection.

I have over 2500 feedback on one account and more on another. If you have any questions email me. My user name here @ gmail.com


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## Just a Roofer (Jan 9, 2009)

The last 4 comments above are everything i was going to say especially the signature required above 250.00 to be covered. Depending on what your selling & the weight, try & ship out priority or some other form of quick shipment that is less likely to get damaged in transit. Also insure the item as if it is damaged, then you would be outta luck. You can always add local pick-up welcome in your description & save all the shipping hassle & probably get cash if they were in your area. Lastly, take pics as it's being packed to make sure some scammer claims item is broken/defective as some scammers will buy an identical item they have & try & swap a broken defective item back to you. 

Sounds scary & normally doesn't happen but you need to cover yourself on higher priced items.

By the way, what are you selling?


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## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

Selling is EASY!! Get the money, then ship. It is the buying that can get you screwed!


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

MALCO.New.York said:


> Selling is EASY!! Get the money, then ship. It is the buying that can get you screwed!


Been screwed twice as a buyer. Have had many attempts made to screw me as a seller. Probably 10% of the buyers in one category I sold in tried to rip me off.

I have a secret weapon that made almost every one of those crooks go away. I deployed it with a smile. 

Funny how one friendly little email can fix all kinds of problems with items you shipped.

In general, eBay is full of buyers looking to screw you. No biggie as there are many more who won't. But eBay enabled the crooked buyers while screwing the good sellers. Screw eBay. May Atlas Shrug.


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## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

22rifle said:


> May Atlas Shrug.



:thumbsup::clap::thumbsup::clap::thumbsup:


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## E.C (Sep 14, 2007)

E-bay is not the safest but it could be worse


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