Advice from EBAY Sellers on what type of payments to accept (Im really new at this!!!)

[mumma2cjh]

Im really new at this Ebay thing! Im currently loading items on the site but dont understand the payment terms etc...

I can accept cheques and bankers drafts etc... as I can just put them in my bank, but I dont understand the paypal thing.....someone put on their ad that they do not accept paypal as they are not a business - I am not a business either so does this mean I can only accept cheques for my items?

Can someone explain in the simplist of terms!

paypal is v easy but they charge you a percent fee to accept payments

i'm an irregular seller on ebay and i ask for paypal or postal orders. cheques have been known to bounce and take ages to clear and buyers seem to be v impatient about this!

You can do paypal - it explains it all on ebay in payment options.

Just so you know, if I had to choose between 2 items I would always choose the one with a paypal account. It's so much less hassle all round.

Sure someone with more advice will come along soon (I'm just a buyer!)

so paypal charge a fee and ebay take a percentage aswell - is it hardly worth selling items?

so I dont have to be a business to accept paypal?

paypal fee is small - i think its 3% maybe less - if people pay using paypal with their bank cards, its free if they have money in their paypal account. you can let buyers know that an allowance for this is made in your p&p charge.
you don't have to be a business.

please don't let buyers know that an allowance for paypal is made in your p&p charges as this is against the rules

Some sellers don't like to accept paypal because, apart from the fees, paypal tends to favour the buyer. For example, if a buyer wanted to be funny, they could claim never to have received the goods and claim a refund from paypal, which paypal will honour unless you can show that the buyer received the goods - the only proof paypal accepts is registered post, a certificate of postage is not enough.

Having said that, I sell small items and accept paypal from buyers because it is the most convenient form of payment.

Personal cheques can clear in your accounrt then turn out to be fake up to 6 months later - in that case you lose out. You can ask for cheque guarantee card details but who's to say they're not bogus details too.

Postal orders are good as you can cash uncrossed ones at the PO immediately, crossed ones you need to pay into a bank account. The buyer then has to pay cost of posting the postal order to you though and Post Ofices charge a fee for postal orders.

This will help you calculate your Paypal costs