Paypal - advice please?

[minghis]

I've set up a Paypal account to receive/pay monies for my e-bay dealings and it seems like a great idea, so far so good and using it successfully for small value items.

If I sell a car and someone pays me via paypal can I assume that this deal cannot be changed, or in other words once they've paid the money to my paypal account I can release the car - they won't be able to 'stop' the payment afterwards?

Thanks in advance..

[cccscotland]

A couple of points - firstly paypal will charge you 4% to accept the money - make sure you add that to the price. Also if the paypal site asks if you want to 'accept' you must do this, or the transaction can be cancelled. If it already says 'complete' you cannot. There is also something called 'buyer protection' best check it out on the paypal website.
HTH
Matt

[parrot of doom]

You cannot surcharge for Paypal payments in auctions - you'll get very quickly suspended for doing that.

Paypal only guarantee things under certain circumstances. Make sure that your account is verified, including your address, and that the buyer also has a verified address.

If its a car, don't use Paypal - stick to a CHAPS transfer.

/edit: Oh, and if fraud is suspected, Paypal can take the money back quite easily, whether you have it or not.

>> Edited by parrot of doom on Wednesday 16th March 17:59

[simpo two]

parrot of doom said:

You cannot surcharge for Paypal payments in auctions - you'll get very quickly suspended for doing that.

All my auctions say: 'NOTE: PayPal 3.4% + 20p please'. They haven't suspended me yet. eBay are experts at wheedling percentages from everywhere; I don't see why they should stop sellers recouping expenses. When the auction ends I work out the extra, add it to the postage, and say 'PayPal fee in postage'. Mind you, I don't overcharge for postage so it still looks reasonable.
Apart from that, I agree with PoD entirely - go for cash. Then if anything does fall off the car afterwards, it's too bad.

[Pies]

If you listing includes phrases like "please ad 4% for paypal charges" once a dispute is raised they will find against you

I just increase the expected P&P

paypal website said:

Protection for Sellers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PayPal's Seller Protection Policy, dedicated chargeback and fraud teams, and state-of-the-art security are designed to keep sellers safe. We believe in providing protection to sellers free of charge, and we encourage you to read the following carefully so you can make the most of our protection services. ..... Do not charge buyers an additional fee if they use PayPal You may not charge your buyers additional fees (often called a 'surcharge') if they choose PayPal as their method of payment......

[edc]

You could argue that 'please add x% for paypal charges' is actually different to 'if paying by paypal you must add x%'.

[Pies]

edc said:

You could argue that 'please add x% for paypal charges' is actually different to 'if paying by paypal you must add x%'.

You could argue it,but remember who is controling the money

[parrot of doom]

simpo two said:

parrot of doom said: You cannot surcharge for Paypal payments in auctions - you'll get very quickly suspended for doing that. All my auctions say: 'NOTE: PayPal 3.4% + 20p please'. They haven't suspended me yet.

If I was bidding on one of your auctions I'd simply not pay the 4%. Like it or leave it, its against Ebay policy.

[limpsfield]

minghis said:

If I sell a car and someone pays me via paypal can I assume that this deal cannot be changed, or in other words once they've paid the money to my paypal account I can release the car - they won't be able to 'stop' the payment afterwards? Thanks in advance..

to go back to the original question I am not sure you are 100% covered. My other half has sold about 800 items on Ebay over the years the bulk of these using PayPal with no problems. However, if you go the Ebay "community" forums you will see stroies of people being charged back by PayPal after a disgruntled buyr has had probs with an auction.

If selling a car, I would do it by draft.

[wolf1]

On large transactions like cars etc I insist on cash. Can't see why anyone would have a problem with it as it not hard to bring it with them when they pick the car up. You could ask for a non refundable deposit via paypal and the balance on collection of the item.

[minghis]

This is all great advice - thanks all.

I've decided that I will go down the route of getting a deposit via paypal to secure the car following the end of the auction but then take cash when the car is collected. Having a look through other regular car sellers on e-bay seems to indicate they do the same.

Thanks again!