Technical About Selling Used Parts

I sell a lot of parts on-line, and most of my customers are overseas, so PayPal is the best answer for me. They allow me to take credit cards, and handle currency conversion, so that I don't have to do so. Those are the up sides.

The down side to PayPal is that they offer most of their protections to the buyer, not the seller. If the buyer complains, PayPal assumes he's telling the truth, and you're out.

So, PayPal safety as a seller:

1. Decide how much you're willing to lose. Set a reasonable limit. Maybe it's $1000, for example. That's your upper bound for everything else.

2. Set up a new bank account. Support your local credit union. Anything that's free to you is fine. What you don't want to do is mix this with your regular banking and savings.

3. Set up your PayPal account, using your new bank account.

4. Sell your stuff. Watch your PayPal account balance. When it gets near your mental loss limit, withdraw your funds from PayPal by moving them to your bank account. Your funds are still "at risk" at this point.

5. Go to the bank and withdraw your funds in cash.

6. Spend, deposit, or whatever you want with your funds. They are now "safe".

If the buyer disputes the transaction, PayPal will attempt to refund the balance, but will be unable to do so from your PayPal balance. They will then attempt to refund from your bank balance, and that will fail as well. They'll complain at your bank, who will complain at you, but while you, the buyer, your bank, and PayPal are discussing the issue, *you* have the funds. Not the buyer.

For shipping, I use USPS exclusively. For most stuff, I can use their ("free") boxes and ship priority flat rate, so I know exactly how much to charge the buyer. For stuff that won't fit in a flat rate box, I've found that their calculator and their actual price are correct. Everything is done via "click and ship", print the label out with postage, tape it to the box, and schedule a pickup for the next day's mail service.


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I sent some parts to Denmark last year. I don't recall who it was but he sent me a cashiers check drawn on a Danish bank and it came to me in dollars no rate exchange problems for me. I am not sure that it would have been a problem, my bank exchanges money.

I actually found that out by accident. A couple of years ago my daughter decided that I needed money and sent me a Mexican check. I called my bank and asked where I could exchange it and they said bring it in. They deposited it at the rate of change the day that I brought it in. I had to wait until it cleared before I could have the money.

Ok rabbit trail, sorry.

 

I buy and sell on ebay all the time, I am happy to take a postal money order but most transactions are thru paypal. The down side is the buyer has all the advantages and you can figure by the time they take the ebay fees, the listing fees and the 10% of what ever you charge for shipping you loose about 15 to 20 % of what you sell it for. That being said , your items are being seen by hundreds or thousands of potential customers and you may get a wild bid on something you would never sell in a million years at a swap meet. It can be a hassle some times but I have found it is worth the effort.

 

I use Paypal all the time. As with any type of sales, eventually you'll have someone who is unhappy, best is just to give them a refund and resell your parts, regardless of who is right and who is wrong. Plan ahead for it so it doesn't take you by surprise. You'll come out way ahead "in the wash".

If you do get a complaint, always be nice to your customer (even if they are wrong) and always ask "what can I do to make this right" before offering a refund. Some people feel better knowing that I wasn't out to cheat them and drop it right after hearing back from me. Some people are willing to take a partial refund to fix whatever the issue is and keep the part (usually my preference) and in the end I'm better off that way. Being nice and being willing to help wins out every time over being defensive or ignoring complaints.

Never blame your buyer. If they realize they're wrong but you're cool about it, they'll walk away. Not so if you tried to fight them right off the bat. Sun Tzu says "build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat upon".

My eBay account is just from me and I don't manufacture anything so all of my sales are old, individual items that I write a new description for and take new pictures for every time and as of today my current sales total since I started is $430,189.71 No way would I have ever gotten even half of that without accepting Paypal or just doing swaps and Craigslist. It's worth the effort.

 

I've been seeing the "gift" thing coming up with more frequency. Usually, I am willing to pay an extra 3% to cover the sellers expenses and do a "regular" PayPal transaction and usually most sellers are willing to do this. If the seller is adamant about me sending the funds as a gift I will simply walk away from the deal. The seller should simply build the PayPal charges into the sale price if they are that concerned about it.

I haven't done any selling yet with PayPal but see the day where I will have to fast approaching. I really appreciate Squawblow's comments in the post above ^^^^. He speaks with a lot of common sense on this topic.

 

I just did a deal with someone on the HAMB and Pay Pal was used.....I believe the money was just transferred and no fee.....I didn't see anywhere on there to choose "gift".

I think there's a fee if it's used on E-Bay , and don't know if fees are charged when I buy from business's and select Pay-Pal from their payment options

 

There's never a Paypal fee for the person sending the money, only the reciever. Doesn't matter if it's through eBay or an outside source, if you pay someone for an item through Paypal, they get charged about 3% off the top.

You can send money without fees as a gift, but if your seller screws you, you have no recourse. If you filed a complaint with Paypal that you bought something and sent money as a gift they will most likely suspend your account, they're not real fond of people using that loophole to get out of fees.

The gift thing is more for people making donations to others or to maybe pay back a debt (here's the 50 bucks I owe you, ect) and not as a transaction where the person sending the payment is expecting anything back. They want people to be comfortable using the service so they offer that. If enough shitheads exploit it to save $3 per $100 they'll probably eliminate it.

 

Most irritating thing I've had with Paypal wasn't the money involved but the principle of the thing.

I sold a $60 item to a guy in GA, shipped by Priority Mail, and a few days later he hadn't received it. Check the USPS site and get the delivery confirmation info and forward to Paypal. Paypal puts a hold on the amount of the sale.

About a week later I get email from the buyer saying he now had the package and was notifying Paypal that the situation was resolved. It was pouring rain when the mail carrier delivered the package. He noticed the man's neighbor working in his garage so he asked the guy if he could leave it there rather than out in the rain. The neighbor agreed but forgot about the package by the end of the day. Noticed it several days later, and immediately took it over to his neighbor.

So, honest buyer, mail carrier trying to protect the box from getting wet, and a neighbor who understandably forgot about the box. What pissed me off? Paypal deducted $25 from my account for "investigating the claim" when they didn't do a damn thing other than pushing a button to hold the amount and pushing another button to release it, less 25 bucks.

 

From an international buyers perspective Pay pal is by far the easiest. Often if the situation is right I will offer to pay the charges as a "gift" recently I purchased a transmission from a HAMBer that was selling up project due to genuine medical bills and terminal health . ( yes I checked his history)
I have purchased and paid through western union and a money wire but certainly now avoid these as they are such a hassle. If folk do not accept pay pal I am inclined to move on.
Still as my wise Grandma said "Love many, trust few, but always paddle your own canoe"

 

This goes both ways. I can see where you are coming from being far from the post office but I am a buyer that will not do any kind of electronic money. Identity theft was never heard of until the internet and electronic money. I have passed on several item's that I really wanted bad but the seller wouldn't take a postal money order.

 

OK. I didn't read all the replies, sorry. What you selling? I'm about an hour south of you, if its something I need, I'll bring cash. Maybe we can just have breakfast one morning and bs.
I like money orders, it let's the seller know that I'm not trying to shit him, but its out of date to do things that way now. Paypal is the modern way, but it don't mean I have to like it.

 

I had a problem accepting a money order once for a big job (woodworking). Old school client sent a money order in the mail for a deposit ($2500). I only usually take checks. Got lost in the mail. He didn't believe me and this took 6 weeks to resolve (don't know the details on his end, but said that's how long it took to cancel ?) Anyone ever have that problem?

 

I take three forms of payment, cash, postal M.O. or Paypal. Send me anything else and it will be returned. As far as the pens for checking bills, they don't work if the money has been washed and reprinted. IE a one dollar bill stripped and reprinted as a higher denomination such as a $100 bill. Hold the bill up to the light and look at the pictured head to make sure it is correct and to see if the stripe is there

 

The way I understand paypal. As a buyer if the seller asks to be paid friends and family (to avoid the paypal charges to him) Two thinks are happening. 1 Paypal will not charge the seller a % of the sale that way. 2 if the seller rips you, the buyer off in some way you have no recourse thru paypal.
Also,
On the sellers side shady buyers can use paypal to their advantage, and complain to paypal (on a parts/item purchase) and get their money back and screw you, the seller. So as a seller getting the buyer to pay by friends and family protects the seller from the buyer coming back for the rip off.

I still like a postal money order. Heck ya gotta go to the post office to send the stuff anyway. And you can pay for the shipping and cash it at the same time.

one last thing. Paypal does get ya more sales. I was at a show selling stuff. and near the end of the show some guy wants to buy an item for 300. Great right? except he says, can you take paypal? I'm thinking what? scam? Er I dunno I tell the guy. So he says ya got an email address? watch this and he pulls out his phone goes to paypal fills out the page with my email address (offers to pay by friends and family) a minute later I get an email from paypal on my phone saying I've just received 300.00 in my paypal account.
worked out great and I don't think I'd a made that sale other wise.
Pat

 

I am willing to take a money order on eBay although the rules state you can't advertize that you're willing to take a payment by mail (a bullshit policy, but it is what it is). If a buyer contacts me and wants to mail payment I'm always willing to accomodate, and it does happen.

It's not that I want to take Paypal exclusively, but I need to be willing to accept it if I want to make the money.

eBay has recently made it tougher to scam a seller as a buyer, they have a kind of forced-negotiation where you have to talk back and forth with a seller before you can file a complaint to try to get your money back, and it's all through eBay's system so there's a record of it. It's a lot tougher (within the last year at least) for a buyer to fuck over a legit seller. And a couple emails back and forth has solved pretty much every problem I've had, haven't had a deal go south in a long time.

 

The old car community needs people willing to put their unused parts and projects out there for sale to keep the hobby alive, and sure there's risks, but they're mostly overblown or hyperbole.

The people are out there, just waiting to give you their money. Are you going to take it? Are you man enough to take it? Always be closing.

 

PayPal. If you aren't willing to deal with some of the occasional hassles mentioned above, you are going to miss a lot of potential sales. Money orders and wire transfers just aren't that convenient for most people.

 

For fun , when you go to a BB store, whip out the marking pen a use it on the change you get back from the cashier, the look on the people behind you is priceless

 

I accept paypal also, it seems what everyone wants to use. I have no problems with it. What I do find is buyers wanting parts and then not following through with the sale. I then have to hunt them up and ask if they still want it all the while the other buys have moved on. Sold a bunch of Pontiac parts awhile back, nothing over $5. I had tons of replies, but when it was all done only few came through with money. It was a hassle keeping them all straight and in the order of who asked first, second, etc....

This last bunch, I only listed a few at a time, still all cheap parts. Same thing happened again, going on two weeks now waiting for shipping information.

Shipping is high, heavy oversized parts cost a bunch to ship. Be sure to figure it in or use the USPS flat rate boxes. They are free and really the best option for the price. You can add as much weight as you want as long as it fits inside. I recently sold a ring and pinion and sent it flat rate for $13.45, thats a heck of a deal.

Joe

 

I got kicked off EBay because I would not start a Pay Pal account. Its a post office money order for me. Ive bought and sold on the HAMB classifieds and never had any regrets. I don't ship until I get the money order. And I ship as soon as I receive payment. One small problem I advertised a Stromberg carb here. A guy phoned and stated he would mail the money order. A week went by and no payment. I called him and he gave some lame excuse that his girlfriend was delayed and had just mailed the payment that day. I told him that was tough I was going to sell it to the next guy on the list. And when his payment came I would mail it back to him. So I did sell to the next guy. He promptly paid and I promptly shipped. The payment from the first guy never arrived. I only ship what will fit in a post office flat rate box any more. After the $4 fuel shipping is too pricey.

 

I have the buyer use USPS money order. If they send a check, it has to clear before I ship. I also use paypal once in a while to accept payment but not alway's.

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HA! That's one of my all time favorites

 

A warning on postal money orders, a good friend sold a motorcycle that way and it took 2+ years and never did get all of the bike back, buyer sold instantly w/o engine and next buyer went to register w/ different engine and that's how it was found. He was told by detective, that there is a very high rate of fraud w/postal checks and w/ the copiers/printers/software today, all checks are in doubt. Like w/ everything today, buyer/seller beware, being an Old Timer, I miss the days of shaking hands and a man's word meant something, my life's experiences, personal and business have taught me some lessons, today it is a different world, IMO.

 

A trip to the local PO will confirm if the PMO is real or not

 

As dreracecar said, the post office will check the money order and our post office will cash it for you,which I am sure is the case at all post offices. I was under the impression that counterfiting a PMO would be mail fraud so kinda makes the crooks think twice.

 

Thanks, makes good sense.

 

I have used Pay Pal, have never tried to "stiff" a seller. But I also understand there are guys out there that get money back from Pay Pal for reasons not valid.
My parts "to be sold" are not a warehouse load, my parts are all in good or new condition, I need the proceeds from each sale.
As a seller, Pay Pal and its favor towards buyers, when not valid, gives me concerns, as written by others in this ongoing thread.

 

"What if a buyer is unreasonable and bitches to PP and gets his $ pulled out of your account? That could screw up a bank balance! Then fight and pay to get the jerk to send it back.
There ya go, that's the concern, as I read the P.P. stories here.
I'm not going to misrepresent anything, but the above scenario can happen, right ?

 

Interesting, did not know this about Wal-Mart.