Has Ebay's Paypal Only Affected Your Buying?

[jackson64]

I am legitimately curious and without an agenda here since I am not much affected by the "paypal only" policy anyhow, but here's the poll"

 

 

 

 

[dean1345]

Using paypal offers more protection for me. So I prefer using it over checks or money orders. But if I know someone and have done business prior I do use checks or money orders.

[jgrinz]

The ONLY issue I have had with PAYPAL was outside of the EBAY venue.

"craigslist"

 

I still take whatever the buyer wants to pay with ...

[prudden]

It's more affecting the small amount of selling I do. The fees from both Ebay and Paypal are killers for the very small(10 coins a month) seller.

[EZ_E]

Yeah, I just got a $225 e-bay bill on top of the 3% that paypal charges. Seems a little unreasonable to me but I do like the ease and convenience.

[bsshog40]

It's more affecting the small amount of selling I do. The fees from both Ebay and Paypal are killers for the very small(10 coins a month) seller.

I agree here also. the fees add up a bit when your a small time seller.

[Oldtrader3]

My lack of buying is not so much concerned with using PayPal as it is with the arrogant, overbearingly stupid team at Ebay. Ever since the corporate restructuring last year, Ebay is not Ebay anymore. It is something foreign that needs to be reorganized again to include a merchandizing outlook.

[Bill L]

I have missed some good coins on the bay because of my refusal to use paypal.

I was watching two same grade coins over the weekend and there was a significant price difference between the bay coin and Teletrade.

The seller would have done way better than he did at the bay.

[jackson64]

mine has been reduced, although I wouldn't necessarily call it a bad thing. I still roam around ebay on occasion but now if I see a nice coin for one of my sets I first contact the seller and ask if they will accept a money order as payment....almost every one has been fine with this...

 

However it has cured/calmed my impulse buying since coins that I see that the auction is ending in a day or less--I just don't bid without confirming non-paypal payments first and I don't have time to ask and get a response back..

[ldhair]

I voted No but there should be a vote option as below.

 

No: I like paypal but have issue with them.

[Dwaine]

As a buyer I have no problems with PayPal. As a seller I like PayPal as I can create and print my label as long as the insurance doesn't go over $500.

 

 

But as a seller I also accept money orders and checks, just can't advertise this on Ebay.

[BillJones]

For most part the coin business has very low mark-ups. The trouble with eBay is that they have nickeled and dimed us until you can't make money unless you over grade your material. And you can’t sell it if you set the reserves too high or don’t have 1,000 transactions with zero negative comments. They think that 3% to Paypal is nothing, but when your mark-up is 10%, that's 30% of your gross margin, WITHOUT the eBay fees.

 

For these reasons a lot of what you see offered on eBay are the dregs that dealers can't sell elsewhere or they have high reserves.

 

TO HELL WITH EBAY!

 

I don't bother to even look over there any more.

[supertooth]

jackson 64------ An interesting question and one that has more than one reply coming from me on this issue.

 

First---If someone tells me that I have to do something [anything] a certain way, my initial reaction is---who says so. And, if it is MY money, the reaction is even stronger that I WILL NOT follow along.

 

Second---As others have said, Ebay has fallen down and broken its nose IMHO. They just have me continually shaking my head. I hate the word "dysfunctional" but Ebay is just that IMHO.

 

Third----I "always" paid with a postal money order. It was convenient for me. I DID NOT want a Pay Pal account. So, that sort of left me out in left field without a glove.

 

Fourth--- I have become rather selective about my purchases as the years have gone along. These days the Walkers on Ebay are NOT what I am interested in---so, I had been buying less and less in the last year or so. The available coins are mostly simply NOT worth bidding on----or are simply NOT ever offered for sale any more on Ebay.

 

Fifth----I can and DO use my son's Pay Pal account---have done so in the past. But I do NOT necessarily want to sell coins using Pay Pal. I DO NOT want my son to have ANY problems due to any selling that I may do on occasion. Therefore, what minor selling that I "might" do on Ebay---has NOT taken place since the changes done by Ebay.

 

Guess that I could go on----and I could---but with everything that has happened in this past year, Ebay purchases are down to virtually NOTHING. And, my last purchase of a 1935 MS65 Walker turned out to be another "ADVENTURE" when I decided to return the coin to a dealer in Florida. You would think that a return priviledge was just that----a return for one's money.

 

Well, I did get a full refund. But what I went through in order to get it---WOW

 

And, in conversations with Ebay along the way. Well, they ARE NOT interested in helping you---they just want the problem to GO AWAY----with them NOT being involved at all. If I had not had a few situations in the past, I indeed WOULD have lost money in a simple return of a coin. As it was, it cost me over 23 bucks in postage and insurance fees [ both ways]----just to look at the coin and decide that I didn't want to own it.

 

Now, in finishing my remarks, I would buy still on Ebay----IF I SAW A COIN THAT I REALLY WANTED. But, it is just NOT the same on Ebay as it was in 1999. By no means. Bob [supertooth]

[James_OldeTowne]

I quit selling completely when I heard about the new policy, and haven't bought a coin on eBay in some time. And you know what? I don't miss eBay one bit, and I sure as heck don't miss PayPal (which I despise).

[okbustchaser]

No, Paypal only hasn't (and wouldn't) affected my buying habits on Ebay, but a lack of affordable material sure has.

[Conder101]

As a buyer I don't buy much but I like the convenience of paypal. However I don't care for it being mandatory. I have no problem with sellers who would rather take a check or MO (or heaven forbid CASH) so they don't have to pay the Paypal fees

[Bugmann1974]

First---If someone tells me that I have to do something [anything] a certain way, my initial reaction is---who says so. And, if it is MY money, the reaction is even stronger that I WILL NOT follow along.

 

I agree with the above, whole hartedly. Add that to the fact that I have never and will never use my Checking account numbers or Credit card numbers for any online transactions and it kind makes it imposible for me to use paypal and therefore e-bay.

 

However I have been hearing from many places lately about E-bay dealers that will take money orders and if I find something I want badly enough and the seller is willing to take a money order, then I will buy.

[James_OldeTowne]

As I posted elsewhere....

 

I don't think twice about eBay. The time spent imaging, typing, listing, answering questions, arguing about PayPal, arguing about shipping, arguing about grades, arguing about slabbed grades, arguing about shipping time, arguing about arguing - it all just sucks the fun out of collecting. Since I abandoned that venue, it's been like a huge weight off my shoulders. I've discovered that I wasted far too much time worrying about silly eBay problems when I could have spent a lot more time enjoying the coins I already own, and actually reading the books that I own.

 

Where am I buying and selling now? Well, I've bought/sold/traded a surprising amount with my fellow coin club members. Fortunately, there is a good coin club presence here in St. Louis. And, I have been attending small auctions in and around the area. To my surprise, there is actually a fair amount of decent and affordable material at estate sales and auctions, if you have the time to get out to them.

 

I'm sure this may all change, if and when I get tired of reading and attending club meetings , but for now, eBay is just a dim memory. It has been liberating to just wash my hands of that place.

 

James, you're no longer listing on eBay? Why? When did this all happen??

 

 

eBay changed. So did this forum a few years ago. There was a ranting and a gnashing of teeth but guess what? We all got over it. I highly suspect you will too.

 

I haven't bought or sold a single coin in months on eBay. Why? Because I will NOT be forced to use PayPal, PERIOD. I would rather just not use eBay than be forced to accept a payment method that I despise. I'll return to selling on eBay when the PayPal stipulation is removed.

[GeorgeMo-migration]

I'm still buying on EBay, but I haven't listed anything in a little over a year.

 

The company is trying too hard to be Amazon.com, and that is eroding their marketplace position. If they decide to pour cement into their "trench", it wont be long until a competitor moves in and takes over their old place.

 

If EBay really wants to thrive, they need to focus on increasing final closing amounts and settling for a smaller piece of a bigger pie. Here are a few ways they could do that:

 

1) Offer longer auctions at minimal cost (20-30 day auctions would increase the exposure for some items. I don't go looking for obscure items every day, so I could miss a 5 or 7 day auction for one quite easily).

 

2) Encourage cross-listing in multiple categories (for one thing, it should be free)

 

3) Restore sellers ability to leave negative feedback. That's a real bonehead move that they made, IMO.

 

4) Make feedback something that can be changed at a later date (solving some of the problems with new customers who don't understand the system)

 

5) Deter excessive shipping charges, but leave room for reasonable shipping and handling fees. One way to do this would be to lower the Final Value Fee percentage, and extend it to cover shipping.

[jackson64]

Interesting results...although far from scientific because of such a small control group/response...and also the fact that we are concentrated primarily in one area of ebay categories( numismatics)...if one were to draw some rough conclusions?

 

--maybe 72% of respondants claiming no adverse reaction may seem like a majority, however it would seem that any business instituting a policy that would alienate 28% of its customers (to some degree) --said policy might be worthy of a review?...or maybe the powers that be will just conclude that their reduced revenue (only a presumption) is a result of an overall economy that has slowed a bit....

 

--however they may not be looking at the bottom line; they may be taking a view of " profit per transaction"..maybe this enables a smaller staff and lower overhead..

 

I don't know the reality, but it was an interesting thread and thanks to all who responded...

[Schatzy]

As a buyer I have no problems with PayPal. As a seller I like PayPal as I can create and print my label as long as the insurance doesn't go over $500.

 

 

But as a seller I also accept money orders and checks, just can't advertise this on Ebay.

 

Same as me!! (thumbs u

[Jeffrey Cardona]

I don't have any problems buying on Ebay thru Paypal. It doesn't effect me as a buyer and it is an easy way to do the transaction. But as a seller I can see where people can and do get pissed off. It just tears up your margin if you are trying to make an honest profit.

 

For me, everything I sell on Ebay, I am not looking to make money. I am just trying to get rid of something I don't want or use anymore. Like computer games that I am finished with, extra coins that that I don't want, house goods...stuff like that.

 

But before this Paypal only stuff, I did sell my CJ7 through Ebay but refused to except anything thru Paypal unless the buyer agreed to pay their cut. There was no way I was going to give Paypal a cut of of the final price of $7000!!

 

Gots to be to do that!!

 

 

[michael]

no

 

never been on it never will and i am doing quite well