Recently I had been watching a bag on ebay that was priced kind of high and kept ending without a buyer and being relisted. I contacted the seller to see if she would come down on the price and she agreed to do so if we could do the transaction outside of ebay with a paypal invoice. I agreed (might have been naive on my part ??) but it was a smooth transaction. Since then I've listed a few items and have received several various requests for which this option seemed like a good idea. I'm just wondering what are the reasons not do this, both as a buyer and seller. Obviously the perk as a seller is you avoid ebay's final value fees, and as a buyer you might get something cheaper like I did, if the seller chooses to pass those savings onto you. Is there anything I should know before offering this as an option to potential buyers with special requests? Sorry if this has been asked before, I did a search with no results. Please point me in the right direction if there is already information on this, TIA!!
completing transactions outside of ebay ??
- Thread starter krislynne
- Start date
You lose protection from PP if item is INR or SNAD, but if you choose to file against your credit card company for a transaction that would have gone bad it's possible PP would limit your account.
Obviously outside of eBAY there is no INR or SNAD, it's hoping the seller keeps their agreement and there's nothing holding them to it, nor holding them to not keeping your money and running away!
Obviously outside of eBAY there is no INR or SNAD, it's hoping the seller keeps their agreement and there's nothing holding them to it, nor holding them to not keeping your money and running away!
There are risks for sellers. Buyer off of an auction site could use a stolen credit card and you could send it before you knew it as a seller. Also, could file a charge back through their CC company and you'd be stuck with the balance w/ no way to argue that you delivered an item (it's not just a matter of delivery confirmation).
Also try to remember you are basically trying to figure out a way to use e bay and not pay them for a service, which is wrong. I know they charge a lot for fees but it's still not a great way to go. In the end I would not do it and if you want to avoid fees so badly try a free site like CL or something with a low fee like Bonzale.
I've done it on a couple of occasions & haven't had a problem. I've only done it as a buyer. I never really sell much, if anything, at all.
I used pay pal & a credit card. I guess if it went wrong pay pal could get mad if I used the credit card as a remedy instead of Pay pal, but I guess if they closed my pay pal account that might be the best thing to ever happen to me.
I got the point about it being an end run around e-bay & I guess that's true (I too hadn't realy thought of it that way). I give ebay enough $ I guess I wasn't too worried about it, though. The times I did it were when I saw something after a listing was over & contacted the seller. So ebay wasn't going to make anything off that particular ended auction anyway. Maybe that's just a rationalization. Let me make clear I have a lot of time in on ebay, a member since 1999 , & I've only done this a couple of times, maybe 2 or 3.
I wouldn't make a habit of it & I wouldn't do it in an existing open auction. Once it is closed there is no further requirement that the seller relist with ebay to sell the item. The seller could keep it, sell elsewhere or any number of other scenarios.
Thanks for raising the question.
I used pay pal & a credit card. I guess if it went wrong pay pal could get mad if I used the credit card as a remedy instead of Pay pal, but I guess if they closed my pay pal account that might be the best thing to ever happen to me.
I got the point about it being an end run around e-bay & I guess that's true (I too hadn't realy thought of it that way). I give ebay enough $ I guess I wasn't too worried about it, though. The times I did it were when I saw something after a listing was over & contacted the seller. So ebay wasn't going to make anything off that particular ended auction anyway. Maybe that's just a rationalization. Let me make clear I have a lot of time in on ebay, a member since 1999 , & I've only done this a couple of times, maybe 2 or 3.
I wouldn't make a habit of it & I wouldn't do it in an existing open auction. Once it is closed there is no further requirement that the seller relist with ebay to sell the item. The seller could keep it, sell elsewhere or any number of other scenarios.
Thanks for raising the question.
I will only do transactions outside of ebay if its a cash on pick up or bank deposit. I will not accept paypal for these transactions. Not that I have done them all that often but I have strict rules for those who want to buy something off me a little cheaper outside of ebay. The last time I did this was a bag I ended up getting a good price cash on pick up so there was no ebay fees or paypal fees. Saves me about AUD$60+.
I did it as a buyer with a couple of extremely reputable sellers, I did it only once as a seller, but when I sent the paypal invoice I selected services instead of goods.
If one has a relationship with a past buyer/seller, I might consider that option
but the protection is minimal and there just are too may what if's, so personally
I would not do any transaction off ebay
but the protection is minimal and there just are too may what if's, so personally
I would not do any transaction off ebay