Regular Ebayers -help please (Pixiefish? Frizbe??)

[GingerBells]

I have bought one item and sold four, so am very new to ebay, even though I signed up a year ago - I am scared by the whole process!

Should I upgrade to a premier account from a personal account to accept credit card payments? Is it a riskier or safer transaction? Paypal will charge me (as a seller) 3.4% plus 20p for each transaction. I wouldn't be a regular seller.

How do you make sure you make a profit? The last things I sold I might as well have given them to a charity shop - I only made about 20p as I miscalculated ebay fees and postage costs!

Gingerbells, I signed up Saturday, so I'm seasoned. But I think most eBayers use Paypal, so no reason to upgrade to use credit cards. It's an easy way for them to get a bit of money (they take a cut of everything if you upgrade when almost all people will pay by Paypal, which would be free for a non-premier account).

Re risk: it's all the same. As a seller, you don't need to worry about it. When you've been paid, you've been paid. There's no more or less risk associated with being a premier account.

must... go... ebay.... :)

And, as always, if someone comes on here claiming they know more than I do, well, they do, so listen to them.

Hello JJ,
I meant a premier paypal account is the only one that accepts credit card transactions, I wouldn't personally accept credit cards - I am not a trader!
At the moment I just have a paypal personal account, but if I sell something there shouldn't be a problem with this so long as the buyer pays me cash through their paypal account. It seems like everyone expects you to take credit cards via paypal if you state on your seller preference that you accept paypal.
Ebay are misleading when they display Paypal symbol plus all the credit card logos at the side.

That's really good to know! I've thought about selling and know how the Paypal is displayed and know what you mean now that I think about it.

Thanks. Hope you get someone who knows this, but it's definitely helped me. :)

Hia. personally i have upgraded and never have any trouble with paypal. in fact i hate buying off someone that doesn't acept paypal as it's a hassle.
my dh however runs part of his business on paypal and has had fraudulent transactions where he's sold high value pc's, they've paid by paypal and then the credit card has been reported fraudulently used 6 weeks later. In this case paypal just automatically take the money back off you and investigate. Dh lost £600 in one transaction like this.
I think though that situations like that are rare as one of our friends also runs a similar business and has never had a 'chargeback'.
Think you should be ok- just don't accept paypal on any high value items- you can untick the box.
As a buyer though paypal gives you a lot of protection against misadvertised goods- if you're not happy and the seller won't resolve things then you can eventually get your money back from paypal.
Regarding the profit question- start off selling low value items to increase your feedback- once you're above 10ish then you'll start getting better prices for your stuff. Also sell lots of things at the same time- people will start off on one auction and will look at other stuff you have up.
Close midweek and about 7-9pm cos that's when most people are about- if you need to know anything else just shout

hi i also have an upgraded paypal accoiunt and find it so much easier..i know you get charged fees but you can do what some other people do and ask for 3% to be added to final costs or 50p if using paypal..i dont do this but i know others do...i think paypal is better for both seller and buyer as you are protected...i sell quite a lot on ebay as its a way for me to make some money while being a sahm...hope this helps

mischiclaus- if you charge 3% and get reported you'll get thrown off ebay- it's against ebay rules to charge 3% (better off to hide it in your postage- I don't do this but know of others who do)

lol pixie i didnt know that but as i said i dont do it anyway...but have just seen others do it

Gingerbells -- do you have any kitchen scales? I weigh stuff on mine, then check the \link{http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=400023&mediaId=9300094\Royal Mail website} for prices. Personally, I HATE PAYPAL and ask people to pay by cheque, direct bank transfer, cash (almost anything else, really). Else hide the fees in postage. But my profits are pretty small, too....
I'm realising that a lot of people charge relatively high postage (say £2 to mail one pair of trousers) and then list them for a starting price of like 1 penny. That way Ebay doesn't get much commission on the final sale price -- sly, or what??

Thanks everyone. I had heard a lot about fraudulent credit card transactions via paypal and was concerned about that.

Zebra, thanks for the link - must remember to weigh items before I put stuff on ebay! How does direct bank transfer work? Do you have to give your bank details to a complete stranger? Have you set up an account just for ebay transactions?

Be careful of all the fake emails someone keeps sending out pretending to be Ebay. I get them constantly telling me my account is going to be suspended and I need to give them my credit card details. Beware.

Ginger. I have been using eBay for a couple fo years selling and buying and have not upgraded. I have stopped taking paypal as I had someone who paid and then it was rejected so I lost hte money. Also, I was getting fed up of the charges. Unless you are planning to make a living through it, I personally wouldn't bother upgrading. You get charged anyway by eBay for selling.

I second the warning about spoof emails. If anyone gets one, you should report it to eBay on [email protected]. Don't open any links as they will steal your identity, and certainly don't complete any details or credit card details.

I wouldn't upgrade - stick with the basic account.

Make sure you weigh things first, including packaging, add any extra for packaging, include fees for paypal (usually about 50p) if you are going to offer that - you can deduct it if they pay another way if you like.)

Bank transfer is easy (I try and persuade anyone who buys from me to do it because it is cheapest). You just give them the bank name, sort code, account number and account name. No more info than if you sent them a cheque. Anyone who does online banking can do it straight away, anyone else can do it from their bank or over the phone if they have phone banking. My bank says it takes 2-3 working days to clear - so quicker than waiting for a cheque to arrive, get payed in and clear.