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Tips to sell on ebay

L

Lamarak

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 8, 2010
344
0
I have sold quite a few iphones and ipads and few airs on ebay, and have a few try to scam me but steps I took saved me against ebay and paypal and thought Id share if any was thinking about it/

This only works in US mostly. The scam usually is they received an empty box or not item advertised, or try to send you back an empty box .

The way to protect yourself is have either ups or fedex pack the item. Also record the serial or imei number on the receipt. it does cost extra about 10 to 15 but its worth every penny. Also make sure in your post they understand if they ship back, it must be ups or fedex, youll even pay the difference. That way you can re direct the delivery to the ups store or fedex store. Have them open the package at the store.

If the buyer sees you taking all these steps, usually the scammer will cancel the auction and they will move on to easier prey. I have won a paypal case by doing these steps. Make sure you email the buyer all the steps you are taking.

Now some here might say all these steps are not needed, but after being the victim of the return an iphone 3s that looked like a few rocks, you learn.

My area sucks for craigslist because so many lowballers and people bury your ads. I won a paypal 4s victory because the guy sent a box without the phone but I had it opened at ups store and paypal sided with me and kept my funds.

Good luck with your sales.
 
ionjohn

ionjohn

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2013
1,185
10
Canada
1. Do not sell on ebay

2. If you do then block every country (particularly all african and asian countries) except the ones you want to ship to. I'd suggest to only sell in North America and UK, France, Germany.

3. Don't sell to low or none feedback people

4. Don't ship before receiving payment
 
P

Previse

macrumors member
Jan 20, 2012
79
0
ionjohn said:
1. Do not sell on ebay

2. If you do then block every country (particularly all african and asian countries) except the ones you want to ship to. I'd suggest to only sell in North America and UK, France, Germany.

3. Don't sell to low or none feedback people

4. Don't ship before receiving payment
Click to expand...

1) Nothing is wrong with eBay, i sell thousands of dollars worth of items on eBay and there was never a situation in which eBay Seller protection didn't handle it.

2) What is the point of this? Do you not read their international shipping policy? I would agree with you about 2 years ago but with there international shipping program, you ship the item to a hub in Kentucky, they check to make sure its packaged right, repackage it for you and ship it out. If the buyer receives it broken, the international shipper who ebay pays has to pay the buyer. So you keep your money and the buyer gets theres back. So if anything; you're more secure.

3/4) I agree to both
 
ionjohn

ionjohn

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2013
1,185
10
Canada
Previse said:
1) Nothing is wrong with eBay, i sell thousands of dollars worth of items on eBay and there was never a situation in which eBay Seller protection didn't handle it.

2) What is the point of this? Do you not read their international shipping policy? I would agree with you about 2 years ago but with there international shipping program, you ship the item to a hub in Kentucky, they check to make sure its packaged right, repackage it for you and ship it out. If the buyer receives it broken, the international shipper who ebay pays has to pay the buyer. So you keep your money and the buyer gets theres back. So if anything; you're more secure.

3/4) I agree to both
Click to expand...

What happens is, if you don't block African countries, scammers will try to screw you over, I know, it happened every time I hadn't blocked African countries.

The first advise was a joke...
 
Starfyre

Starfyre

macrumors 68030
Nov 7, 2010
2,905
1,136
Just remember, if someone sends you a payment over Paypal, it should show up immediately in your Paypal account. Thats that.

There is no email sent to you telling you of pending funds unless you provide a tracking number, the money just goes in there. If you do get an email like that, its a scam.
 
X

Xerotech

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2011
418
5
I had trouble with eBay various times. One point, I thought I would record a video of me packaging the package at the place and giving it to the delivery company.

There isn't much you can do to avoid scams. You have been taking the correct steps for buyer protection. It's pretty much a hit or miss, but I strongly recommend only selling in USA. I am not trying to be racist, international buyers tend to be the biggest scams and the biggest headaches. Deal with people with higher feed back. I set the criteria to buy as maximum amount of filter. For example, require immediate payment, block people with high negative feed back, outside countries, etc.

Good luck with sales. I'm also about to unload an rMBP.
 
P

Previse

macrumors member
Jan 20, 2012
79
0
ionjohn said:
What happens is, if you don't block African countries, scammers will try to screw you over, I know, it happened every time I hadn't blocked African countries.

The first advise was a joke...
Click to expand...

Not to seem smug or anything but you clearly are a joke. These "African" countries you speak of mean nothing with eBays international countries. If you receive a payment via paypal from ebay from ANY country, you ship it to eBays third party hub in kentucky; afterwards they forward it and from then on out it's there responsibility. If its lost/breaks/anything is wrong the refund comes from the shipping company, NOT you OR ebay. So therefore you keep your money.
 
S

sbddude

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2010
894
4
Nor Cal, USA
I've found eBay to be more reliable than Craigslist. I was recently the victim of counterfeit money trying to sell my MBP. Never had a problem with eBay.
 
T

triplelucky

macrumors regular
Sep 30, 2012
153
0
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Good logical advise OP. However……

Realistically anytime you sell an item on eBay you are providing an unconditional 45 day money back return policy on the item you sell.

If your buyer drops your item on the floor or spills a glass of water on it they can simply return it to you and get a full refund from Paypal who will deduct it from your account.

There is no seller protection for that.
 
ionjohn

ionjohn

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2013
1,185
10
Canada
Previse said:
Not to seem smug or anything but you clearly are a joke. These "African" countries you speak of mean nothing with eBays international countries. If you receive a payment via paypal from ebay from ANY country, you ship it to eBays third party hub in kentucky; afterwards they forward it and from then on out it's there responsibility. If its lost/breaks/anything is wrong the refund comes from the shipping company, NOT you OR ebay. So therefore you keep your money.
Click to expand...

You're the joke you idiot, african spammers would direct buy or bid on my items, had to report them so I can get real buyers. I didn't even read what you wrote. I just gave my advices and I don't give a damn what you think so go back to being the smartass you are.
 
B

bilawal

macrumors newbie
Mar 5, 2008
6
0
ionjohn said:
You're the joke you idiot, african spammers would direct buy or bid on my items, had to report them so I can get real buyers. I didn't even read what you wrote. I just gave my advices and I don't give a damn what you think so go back to being the smartass you are.
Click to expand...

Just as a tip, next time you're selling on ebay, know that you can restrict your auction to a certain country, state or city. Makes for a smooth experience. In fact, I recently sold my Thinkpad W530 and am waiting for the Haswell rMBP.
 
P

Previse

macrumors member
Jan 20, 2012
79
0
ionjohn said:
You're the joke you idiot, african spammers would direct buy or bid on my items, had to report them so I can get real buyers. I didn't even read what you wrote. I just gave my advices and I don't give a damn what you think so go back to being the smartass you are.
Click to expand...

Judging by how you handled a situation as redundant as this your logic is clearly flawless. With that attitude you're destined to get far in life.
 
nylon

nylon

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2004
1,393
1,029
Just to reiterate what's being said here. I also have sold thousands of $'s of stuff on eBay and have never encountered fraud. However, I am extremely vigilant on who I allow to bid on the auctions i.e. I exclude practically all countries except US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and some Scandinavian countries from the auction. I also make sure bidders must have a Paypal account to bid and exclude any bidders who have policy violations on their accounts.
 
ionjohn

ionjohn

macrumors 65816
Jun 5, 2013
1,185
10
Canada
Previse said:
Judging by how you handled a situation as redundant as this your logic is clearly flawless. With that attitude you're destined to get far in life.
Click to expand...

Stop acting like you're a wise man, you are such a miserable person. I had to start somewhere and I had a poor experience, that's what happened. Now get a life would you?

----------
nylon said:
Just to reiterate what's being said here. I also have sold thousands of $'s of stuff on eBay and have never encountered fraud. However, I am extremely vigilant on who I allow to bid on the auctions i.e. I exclude practically all countries except US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and some Scandinavian countries from the auction. I also make sure bidders must have a Paypal account to bid and exclude any bidders who have policy violations on their accounts.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I had to do so they stop, I also made it that if they direct buy they have to direct pay. It was my first experience so I had to figure it out.
 
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