eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

[Couturexec]

That's not necessarily true.

If the seller has his/her own merchant account, they can accept credit card payments through ebay. It might redirect you to their payment site but if you're getting there through ebay, AFAIK, that's fine.

https://www.ebay.com/help/accepted-...tent=accepted payment &context=DEFAULT_SELLER

What are the guidelines?

Allowed

• PayPal
• PayPal Credit
• Credit card or debit card processed through the seller's Internet merchant account
  Your payment is safe and secure. You can choose to save your card to your eBay account. Remove a saved card any time by going to My eBay > Account> Personal information.
• Payment upon pickup
  If you offer payment upon pickup, you'll also need to offer one of the approved electronic methods, and may include this statement in your listing: "Contact me for payment methods to pay on pickup."

Apparently, the seller stopped using PayPal. They didn’t have the answer either, but called eBay. I could have paid for the item through the actual eBay website as opposed to using the eBay app on my phone.
I misunderstood when the pop-up was stating go to the website. It meant go to the eBay website.

 

[gga+]

Oh, okay, I stand corrected. I wrongly assumed the seller had asked Couturexec to completely skip eBay (to avoid the fees).

That's not necessarily true.

If the seller has his/her own merchant account, they can accept credit card payments through ebay. It might redirect you to their payment site but if you're getting there through ebay, AFAIK, that's fine.

https://www.ebay.com/help/accepted-payments-policy/default/accepted-payments-policy?id=4269&st=2&pos=1&query=Accepted payments policy&intent=accepted payment &context=DEFAULT_SELLER

What are the guidelines?

Allowed

• PayPal
• PayPal Credit
• Credit card or debit card processed through the seller's Internet merchant account
  Your payment is safe and secure. You can choose to save your card to your eBay account. Remove a saved card any time by going to My eBay > Account> Personal information.
• Payment upon pickup
  If you offer payment upon pickup, you'll also need to offer one of the approved electronic methods, and may include this statement in your listing: "Contact me for payment methods to pay on pickup."

 

[Couturexec]

Oh, okay, I stand corrected. I wrongly assumed the seller had asked Couturexec to completely skip eBay (to avoid the fees).

Me, too!

 

[kaydelongpre]

Any opinions on if I should get into the habit of insuring packages for items that sell in the 500-700 range? I've never insured items when they're traveling to buyers in my city, but I've had more and more items sell to buyers on the opposite coast, and one package got sent to the wrong distribution center and sat around for 3 days until they were able to locate it.

Is it also true that if you want purchase USPS insurance instead of ShipCover, you have to do it in person at the PO?

 

[Catbird9]

Any opinions on if I should get into the habit of insuring packages for items that sell in the 500-700 range? I've never insured items when they're traveling to buyers in my city, but I've had more and more items sell to buyers on the opposite coast, and one package got sent to the wrong distribution center and sat around for 3 days until they were able to locate it.

Is it also true that if you want purchase USPS insurance instead of ShipCover, you have to do it in person at the PO?

Personally, I would get the insurance on an item worth over $500 simply for peace of mind. Most of the time it's probably not necessary, but on the slight chance that something could go wrong, for me it would be worth the small extra cost. However, most of my items sell for under $100, so in practice, I almost never get the extra insurance. But I did buy the USPS insurance on a $175 item the other day, just for peace of mind. It was being shipped to the other side of the country.

You can get USPS insurance on eBay. There's a drop down selection menu. ShipCover shows up first, so you have to drop it down and select USPS.

 

[BeenBurned]

Any opinions on if I should get into the habit of insuring packages for items that sell in the 500-700 range? I've never insured items when they're traveling to buyers in my city, but I've had more and more items sell to buyers on the opposite coast, and one package got sent to the wrong distribution center and sat around for 3 days until they were able to locate it.

Is it also true that if you want purchase USPS insurance instead of ShipCover, you have to do it in person at the PO?

My feelings regarding insurance differ from @Catbird9's.

While everyone's comfort level differs, this is my take.

Even with a conservative estimate, I'm guessing that 95% of items get to their destination safely and intact. Insuring every item or even those over a certain price doesn't necessarily offer you the protection you might expect and costs you way more than self-insuring and having to pay out on an occasional lost item.

Unless an item is breakable or if I'm overly suspicious of a buyer, I don't add extra insurance.

Keep in mind that if tracking shows delivery, insurance won't help and you won't be able to collect on a claimed loss. The post office's contention is that they did their job. Even if a buyer claims theft from their porch or mailbox, that's not covered by insurance so your having purchased it won't protect you.

In the rare case that there's no delivery scan, insurance should cover that but that lack of scan is very rare. And even then, USPS will have you jumping through hoops before paying out.

Paying for insurance on every package will cost megabucks, quickly exceeding your loss should you have to cover the one package that may go missing.

JMHO.

 

[Catbird9]

My feelings regarding insurance differ from @Catbird9's.

While everyone's comfort level differs, this is my take.

Even with a conservative estimate, I'm guessing that 95% of items get to their destination safely and intact. Insuring every item or even those over a certain price doesn't necessarily offer you the protection you might expect and costs you way more than self-insuring and having to pay out on an occasional lost item.

Unless an item is breakable or if I'm overly suspicious of a buyer, I don't add extra insurance.

Keep in mind that if tracking shows delivery, insurance won't help and you won't be able to collect on a claimed loss. The post office's contention is that they did their job. Even if a buyer claims theft from their porch or mailbox, that's not covered by insurance so your having purchased it won't protect you.

In the rare case that there's no delivery scan, insurance should cover that but that lack of scan is very rare. And even then, USPS will have you jumping through hoops before paying out.

Paying for insurance on every package will cost megabucks, quickly exceeding your loss should you have to cover the one package that may go missing.

JMHO.

I agree with your analysis. If someone has a high volume of sales over a certain $ value, buying insurance would be an unnecessary expense.

 

[BeenBurned]

I agree with your analysis. If someone has a high volume of sales over a certain $ value, buying insurance would be an unnecessary expense.

My point is that it's not just a high volume and/or high priced items.

It's so rare that items are really lost or stolen that most of the time insurance is either unnecessary or unhelpful.

Regarding one of the things @kaydelongpre mentioned was something I'd intended to comment on too.

She said, "I've never insured items when they're traveling to buyers in my city, but I've had more and more items sell to buyers on the opposite coast, and one package got sent to the wrong distribution center and sat around for 3 days until they were able to locate it."

Her implication was that she would have made a claim but in that case, just because the package sat in the wrong distribution center for days doesn't mean insurance wouldn't have helped her. It's ONLY if the item is lost and never located that insurance would kick in and that doesn't happen often.

 

[chicinthecity777]

My feelings regarding insurance differ from @Catbird9's.

While everyone's comfort level differs, this is my take.

Even with a conservative estimate, I'm guessing that 95% of items get to their destination safely and intact. Insuring every item or even those over a certain price doesn't necessarily offer you the protection you might expect and costs you way more than self-insuring and having to pay out on an occasional lost item.

Unless an item is breakable or if I'm overly suspicious of a buyer, I don't add extra insurance.

Keep in mind that if tracking shows delivery, insurance won't help and you won't be able to collect on a claimed loss. The post office's contention is that they did their job. Even if a buyer claims theft from their porch or mailbox, that's not covered by insurance so your having purchased it won't protect you.

In the rare case that there's no delivery scan, insurance should cover that but that lack of scan is very rare. And even then, USPS will have you jumping through hoops before paying out.

Paying for insurance on every package will cost megabucks, quickly exceeding your loss should you have to cover the one package that may go missing.

JMHO.

+ I really don't like to advertise the high value nature of the item in the package. I would be more worried for it to be stolen than the package being lost or damaged. BTW, I do pack parcels very well padded etc.

 

[Couturexec]

Is there a date on eBay listings that tell the buyer how long the item has been for sale? I thought I found it once....
Maybe not on the app, but on the actual site on a PC?

 

[BeenBurned]

This is weird. I have my listings set to have the "unpaid item assistant" open a dispute in 2 days if payment isn't received.

Last week, I had a buyer request more time and I was able to turn it off for that transaction.

Tonight, I have a buyer who just requested to pay on Friday but when I tried to turn off the assistant for that transaction, it's not there!

Example: This is what I normally see:


Yet this is what I'm seeing for the transaction that I want to turn it off and can't.

 

[whateve]

This is weird. I have my listings set to have the "unpaid item assistant" open a dispute in 2 days if payment isn't received.

Last week, I had a buyer request more time and I was able to turn it off for that transaction.

Tonight, I have a buyer who just requested to pay on Friday but when I tried to turn off the assistant for that transaction, it's not there!

Example: This is what I normally see:
View attachment 4175759

Yet this is what I'm seeing for the transaction that I want to turn it off and can't.
View attachment 4175760

Maybe it's already turned off.

 

[BeenBurned]

Maybe it's already turned off.

Nope, the other (comp) is another still unpaid item for which I'm awaiting payment. That one is still showing the option.

 

[whateve]

I got an email from dealwiki that has a code for 15% off on ebay until 10 pm PST on purchases over $25. The code is pregame15.
I didn't get any messages from ebay. Did anyone?

ETA: I just got the message in ebay.

 

[N.M.Nevuhmynd]

ARRGGHH!!!! I hate IPR!!!! I have stuff in my cart but one of the items has shipping so the code won't work for the shipping portion. I can't 'request total' and ask the seller to roll it in because the seller has IPR set.