Pay Pal: Can I avoid getting robbed and yet not offend customers?

[nochips]

Paypal can do whatever they want, whenever they want. You can get a charge back a year later, once they take the money you lose. I always remove large sums from my paypal account when they hit. Sometimes a minute later. Once you have the money, they can't take it back. Wire it to your bank the moment it arrives. Or tell the seller to read your auction rules again. You did not decive him by stating upfront your paypal overseas issue. Shame on him for not reading it.

 

Sell to the under bidder if he gives you any static.

 

You can't charge back an empty account, can you?

[sterlingcomics]

Hi nochips--miss those auctions...

 

I agree, you handled this very well, but it's clear that the burden was on the buyer, not you. Trying to give eBay sellers a good name, are 'ya!

 

True world class businessman, my hat's off to you...

[BassGMan]

Hi nochips--miss those auctions...

 

I agree, you handled this very well, but it's clear that the burden was on the buyer, not you. Trying to give eBay sellers a good name, are 'ya!

 

True world class businessman, my hat's off to you...

 

With all due respect, you don't run a successful business by letting your customers walk all over you. Sometimes "the customer's always right" policy is not the best policy. Once in a while fine, but if it happens too much it can really be bad for business unless you are working with a very large profit margin. -----Sid

[sterlingcomics]

With all due respect, you don't run a successful business by letting your customers walk all over you. Sometimes "the customer's always right" policy is not the best policy. Once in a while fine, but if it happens too much it can really be bad for business unless you are working with a very large profit margin. -----Sid

 

Understood, my comment is about handling a delicate situation professionally, not about running a business. I did indicate that the burden was on the buyer. He still deserves kudos for being professional in this matter. And in the end, if he has reduced his risk to clinch the completion of the sale, that's still good business. Is it best biz practices? No, I would be selective on a case/case basis. It's questionable if maybe he gave in too much, too fast.

 

I appreciate him bringing the matter here. We've all had these type of situations and it's nice for someone to bring their matter here and ultimately handle it with a cool head.

[JohnBull]

If he's legit I don't see why he would have a problem if you offered up the 25 for the check.

I wouldn't. Now I don't know how overseas banks work but in the U.S.A if you have the cash in a account you get the cashier check then and there. The "5 business days" sounds off to me.

 

No way would you get an overseas cheque from a UK bank instantly (not on a domestic account anyway). Depending on the bank, I'd guess anywhere from 3 to 10 working days.

 

The guy is legit.

[RushComics]

Thanks for the kudos! He e-mailed me back and said I was "more than fair."

 

I think he thinks I was being too nice too--but that was the idea. He may just buy from me in the future, despite my Pay Pal rule.

 

As to letting customers "walk all over me," I figure, by being super-nice, I not only have a good chance at future business and may be some glowing feedback, but I actually made out in the end. Even with the $5 over I went, I still made more money then if it had gone Pay Pal by saving my Pay Pal fees.

 

So in the end, I win, he wins, everybody wins, and may be I have a repeat customer. To me, I'd have been getting "walked all over" if I said, "Okay, you can pay with Pay Pal." I'd be getting slightly less money, he'd see me as "wishy-washy" on my rules, and if he wasn't legit, I'd lose out in the end.

 

By the way--if there's a chargeback situation and I've already withdrawn the money, won't that create the following situations:

1. I won't be able to use Pay Pal any more because they'll take any monies I recieve.

2. They may take legal action to try to get the chargeback from me.

 

---

 

One more thing, an aside:

 

It occurred to me through this whole situation that there may be a loophole to ebay's rule forbidding surcharges for Pay Pal payments.

 

What if you went in the other direction--offer *discounts* for paying by money order or check? Say, "Free domestic shipping if you pay by money order!"

 

Technically, you're not breaking the rules about surcharges for Pay Pal payments, and at the price of many auctions, you could make more money in the end. And the customer makes out too, getting his shipping free.. the only one that loses is the people at Pay Pal.

 

Just a thought..

 

Charlie

[kahml]

What if you went in the other direction--offer *discounts* for paying by money order or check? Say, "Free domestic shipping if you pay by money order!"

 

Quite a number of sellers have some form of this statement in their listings.

 

There is nothing eBay illegal about it.

 

This puts the money order service charge on the winner and you avoid the ~3% PayPal penalty for the book (which actually means eBay doesn't get even more money - since they own PayPal).

 

Larry

[BassGMan]

Charles, although I always appreciate sellers doing whatever they can to make the buyer have a good experience, my comment about being walked all over was regarding how YOU made up for this buyer's irresponsibility in not following your policies. He made the mistake, he should go the extra mile to fix it. Sure, in the end you do save a little on PayPal fees if you look at it that way, but in this situation, you are still out $30 more than if this guy was following your rules. Yeah, he may come back. But I'll tell you one thing, no matter how much I like a certain dealer, I will not buy from him again unless he has exactly what I am looking for, and in the right price and condition. Either way, you did nothing wrong for this guy to want to avoid you anyway, even if you hadn't obliged him. -----Sid