Dealing with the devil... Paypal

[DarkKobold]

 So, I want to sell things on Ebay. It seems the only way to actually get decent money for an item is to do the following:

1) Have a good record (I have one neg, didn't retaliate. It was my fault)
2) Except Paypal users using credit cards
3) List items with intelligence. No W@W and LOOOOK or of course, RARE!!!!

So, the problem is, I have to have a bank account tied to the devil. I was planning on heading to the MSU federal credit union, and set up a zero-balance required checking account, so as soon as money gets put in the account, I can transfer it online to my real and isolated account. Somehow, I don't know that this will be enough. I'm going to be selling some 300-600 dollar magic cards, so I don't want to get burned by Paypal.
A few questions:
A) How, when, and how often does paypal actually put money into my checking account, as opposed to holding it in their greedy little hands?
B) If someone does an illicit chargeback, paypal wants to f&$ me in the --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules--. How can I prevent this? Or is this a risk in dealing w/ paypal.
C) No international orders seems to be the safest bet for not having to deal w/ fraud. Any opinions?

Does anyone have good advice for starting out selling on ebay?

[GGKoul]

You have to trigger the advance to your checking account.

[SirPoonga]

I haven;thad issues selling on ebay.  However I think I might start taking MO only.  All of the fees ebay and paypal have you don't make much money.

I do have the ability on my paypal to take credit card.  However if you don't want to do that just say in the auction you only accept paypal with no credit card.

getting money from paypal to my bank acount is easy and fast.  Usually takes aobut 3 days for the whole process to happen.  Just tell paypal to transfer it to your bank account.  however, make sure you pay your ebay fees first!  Paypal is the easiest way to pay your fees.

BTW, let me know when you sell your cards....

[RayB]

I have been selling goods, using PayPal as my only payment option (well, that and money orders) for about 4 years now.

My account is a "business" account, so I can accept larger payments and credit cards (note I said "ACCEPT", not "Except"  ). I do not have a bank account "linked" to it, but I do have a bank account that I can transfer funds from Paypal to.

I primarily sell through a website, not Ebay, so maybe my testimonial isn't that useful to you, but I have only ever been ripped off once, and that was by misunderstanding. A woman in Singapore ordered one of my games (CD-ROM). It takes over a month for a shipment to get that far, because I use cheap postal shipping. She started inquiring "where's my game?!", but my replies to her were not reaching her (I think she had her reply email misconfigured or my emails were being spam filtered, I forget the exact problem). So she initiated a "non receipt of items" complaint through Paypal. Unfortunately, there was no way to prove to PayPal that I had sent the item, since you do not get a tracking # for the cheap method of shipping. So eventually the woman got her money back, and presumably got her game too.

My items are small ticket items, so I can swallow such a loss. It happens so rarely, so I still use cheap shipping to make my goods more appealing to people ($2.50 shipping! Cheap eh?)

If you're selling large or expensive items, then just make sure you use a shipping method with tracking.

~Ray B.

[SirPoonga]

Also remember
Media mail rate saves alot of money!  i think cards are media
DHL is good and a little cheaper than the rest, as far as I have found.
FedEx, DHL, UPS, USPS all have automatic insurace up to $100 I believe.  You will need to verify that.

[fredster]

I haven't had a problem with paypal.

You have to transfer the funds yourself.

They are much better about not just taking money out of an account automatically, the buyer has to prove you screwed them in an aribtration process now.

[TheTick]

B) If someone does an illicit chargeback, paypal wants to f&$ me in the --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules--. How can I prevent this? Or is this a risk in dealing w/ paypal.

Does anyone have good advice for starting out selling on ebay?

That is a risk of dealing with PayPal. Read PayPals policies  Only business accounts are really protected against charge backs, and even those have exceptions. You MUST ship to the primary-verified address and have tracking information. You can not charge a surcharge (once you accept credit cards, paypal charges you 2% for both credit card payments and standard transfers). If someone initiates a charge back, paypal will first try to remove the money from your paypal account. If there's nothing there, you've already agreed to allow them to attempt a bank transfer (part of the user acceptance agreement). They know the bank transfer route will likely fail and get them hit with a processing fee, so they will (without hesitation) send the matter to collections. Generally companies are supposed to work issues out first, and than use collections as a last resort. Paypal is the exception.

My suggestion... if a buyer tries to screw you, let them... or paypal will screw you worse. The customer is always right 

Best advise... don't sell on eBay. Its not worth the trouble. People ask you stupid questions. They don't read the auction terms. They don't pay on time. And they complain about stupid things. They also leave retarded feedback 

I tried selling an iPod here. Despite knowing better, I wound up putting it on eBay to get more money. $25 more, but the newbie never paid    At this point I'm giving it away, you can't beat good Karma.

And for the record, eBay now owns PayPal. PayPal has gotten better customer sesrvice since than, while eBay has gotten worse