Selling on eBay

[Kev M]

I'm need to move on some of my Bronica gear before I can spend any more on photography. There's only a few people on here using a Bronica so I need to cast my net wider and was thinking of selling on eBay.

I've bought plenty on eBay but never ever sold anything. My main question is what should I watch out for when selling to make sure I don't get scammed?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated too.

Cheers,
Kev

 

[puddleduck]

The only way you can be scammed as a seller is if you take Paypal as it exposes you to Chargebacks / False Item Not Recieved Claims etc.

Try to get your buyer to cash and collect, pay by cheque or BT. For overseaes buyers, only accept IBAN / SWIFT bank transfer.

Never send anything untracked, and do not use International Signed For as its only tracked to the UK border.

 

[-Rob-]

Make sure you sell to someone within the UK who has positive feedback, make sure you get paid before sending out the goods and make sure you describe your camera gear accurately so that they have no reason to claim a refund and you shouldn't get scammed. Oh and always post out your items by recorded delivery so that you have proof that they received the item.

 

[puddleduck]

Make sure you sell to someone within the UK who has positive feedback,

Buyer feedback has to be 100% postive, as its not possible for Buyers to get negative feedback. Feedback as a buyer is pretty meaningless now you can't leave buyers negative.

 

[photon]

Oh and always post out your items by recorded delivery so that you have proof that they received the item.

Use Special Delivery if the item is worth more than about £40.

 

[photon]

Try to get your buyer to cash and collect, pay by cheque or BT.

It works both ways. As a buyer I would be put off by such payment restrictions, and would wonder why they were suggested. Major EU sellers used to not accept PayPal. I guess their sales to the UK, USA and elsewhere have improved now they do.

 

[onomatopoeia]

The only way you can be scammed as a seller is if you take Paypal as it exposes you to Chargebacks / False Item Not Recieved Claims etc.

Try to get your buyer to cash and collect, pay by cheque or BT. For overseaes buyers, only accept IBAN / SWIFT bank transfer.

Never send anything untracked, and do not use International Signed For as its only tracked to the UK border.

You cannot avoid accepting paypal, it is required to list an item on ebay UK. You can offer other forms of payment but is a breach of the seller's contract with ebay to refuse paypal payment from an auction winner. Ebay have a habit of cancelling auctions which have text in them that "even though the listing states paypal accepted, paypal is in fact not accepted" or words to that effect.

I agree about always using tracked postage, this does restrict the countries you can ship to internationally though as it is only available to certain European countries.

Try to avoid selling into Holland, the Dutch post office make Citylink look like the epitome of a reliable courier service.

 

[puddleduck]

It works both ways. As a buyer I would be put off by such payment restrictions, and would wonder why they were suggested. Major EU sellers used to not accept PayPal. I guess their sales to the UK, USA and elsewhere have improved now they do.

Maybe so, but as a seller Paypal is the only way you can be scammed and its the only way you can be exposed to Chargebacks etc.

I find most Euro buyers (where they have'nt been indoctrinated by Paypal) are more than happy to pay by IBAN. Germans for example just don't use Paypal at all.

 

[-Rob-]

Buyer feedback has to be 100% postive, as its not possible for Buyers to get negative feedback. Feedback as a buyer is pretty meaningless now you can't leave buyers negative.

You can leave a negative comment even if you have to put a positive rating. I agree though, the buyer feedback is becoming meaningless but I suppose that's because it is harder for a buyer to scam a seller than the other way round.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

The only way you can be scammed as a seller is if you take Paypal as it exposes you to Chargebacks / False Item Not Recieved Claims etc.

Try to get your buyer to cash and collect, pay by cheque or BT. For overseaes buyers, only accept IBAN / SWIFT bank transfer.

Never send anything untracked, and do not use International Signed For as its only tracked to the UK border.

However to sell on Ebay you must offer Paypal as a payment option.....

 

[cambsno]

I got scammed there - a bloke bought a mobile and 6 weeks or so later went to paypal saying item was not as described, he sent it back, Paypal took money from my account and it was not the same phone I sent (same model but diff serial no). Paypal procedure is a joke, basically they sided with him without looking at evidence. He had 100% I think but after I looked at feedback he had left and he had been very unlucky as most things he bought seemed to be not as described!!! Check feedback they have left for others.

I have not paid paypal, they keep sending debt letters but they do not have a leg to stand on and a year on have done nothing bar freeze my account.

Used my business account to sell a few bits on and sold a 17-55 nikon for £595 after it had sat on here for a while and only got offers in the sub £530 bracket so can be good.

 

[puddleduck]

However to sell on Ebay you must offer Paypal as a payment option.....

Easy way round that - use "Best Offer" and ask buyers to add a note indicating if they are willing to use BT. Allows you to accept lower best offers (no fees) and the buyer is getting a better deal too.

Win-Win.

 

[SkunkyF]

I work for a company that sells roughly 350-500 items a week. Watch the feedback carefully. Some people are very harsh and leave negative feedback for next to no reason a 95 to 100 is reasonable. Only send items to verified addresses. Don't send it to another address if asked via email. Send all items by recorded as minimum. We've had items
delivered and people complain they never received them. (even when signed for)

 

[Kev M]

Thanks for the replies everyone, TBH it's putting me off ebay at all. I might see what I can get as trade in value somewhere but at least if I do go the ebay route I've got some good tips to get started with.

Cheers