Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

selling mac items on ebay and chargebacks

A

ashokc

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
88
0
Hi there,

I am considering seling my mac on ebay. does anyone here ave any experiences of selling on the site. I am a bit worried about paypal charge backs. I will obviously be safe guarding against this. I just wanted to get a feel for the census out there.
 
I just sold my iPhone on eBay and the buyer opened a Paypal dispute -- stating item not as described -- complete BS. Now there is about $400 in limbo on my paypal account while the issue gets reviewed by Paypal.

I recommend Craigslist.
 
ashokc said:
Hi there,

I am considering seling my mac on ebay. does anyone here ave any experiences of selling on the site. I am a bit worried about paypal charge backs. I will obviously be safe guarding against this. I just wanted to get a feel for the census out there.
Click to expand...


I am not a fan of paypal. I once sold a phone (i95 Limeted Edition) and the buyer disputed his credit card and I was out $430. I will suggest if you go the ebay route make sure you follow the guidelines and always ship to a confirmed adress. Also remove any bids from your item with zero feedback. You should also try selling on craigslist.
 
mets1125 said:
I am not a fan of paypal. I once sold a phone (i95 Limeted Edition) and the buyer disputed his credit card and I was out $430. I will suggest if you go the ebay route make sure you follow the guidelines and always ship to a confirmed adress. Also remove any bids from your item with zero feedback. You should also try selling on craigslist.
Click to expand...

Second that.

Did you ever receive your item back?
 
well i will be following everything by the book. Delivery only to a confirmed address. Full shipment tracking. I will also be taking out postal insurance. How long did it take before the guys actually lodged disuputes? Was it almost immediately?
 
ashokc said:
well i will be following everything by the book. Delivery only to a confirmed address. Full shipment tracking. I will also be taking out postal insurance. How long did it take before the guys actually lodged disuputes? Was it almost immediately?
Click to expand...

Mine was over 3 weeks after the sale! so sketchy...
 
ashokc said:
Hi there,

I am considering seling my mac on ebay. does anyone here ave any experiences of selling on the site. I am a bit worried about paypal charge backs. I will obviously be safe guarding against this. I just wanted to get a feel for the census out there.
Click to expand...

I sold my 15" Powerbook G4 on eBay a year and a half ago and everything went well. Just make sure that the buyer has good feedback and that they have a verified address.
 
If I were you, I would certainly not accept PayPal for the auction if you sell it on eBay due to the reasons stated above. It's so easy for people to claim with PayPal now and PayPal always seems to side with the buyer.

I don't know much about Craiglist other than it seems to be much bigger in the US. If it's a good source, list it there :)
 
All good points, but the reason I like buying on eBay is because of the buyer's protection. My friend attempted to buy a professional videocamera on eBay several years ago (prior to PayPal) and got scammed to the tune of $1200. I would never buy a $400 item on Craigslist unless it was a local seller and I got to transact in person.
 
Gasu E. said:
All good points, but the reason I like buying on eBay is because of the buyer's protection. My friend attempted to buy a professional videocamera on eBay several years ago (prior to PayPal) and got scammed to the tune of $1200. I would never buy a $400 item on Craigslist unless it was a local seller and I got to transact in person.
Click to expand...

Yes, agreed. CL transactions should always be done in person.
 
if you live in a metropolitan area, craigslist makes sense as there is an adequate population base. unfortunately, if you live in the boonies craigslist is not such an active community. ebay, it seems, would be the best option then
 
I've sold my G5 iMac on eBay and used only PayPal for the payment. Everything went nice and smoothly.

I personally never had a problem with eBay (with the exception of their redonkulous fees), but I'm always cautious on whom I'm dealing with. I tend to buy things from people that have been around a while, I don't sell to people that are newbies or have less than 10 (or so) transactions.
 
I haven't sold yet on ebay...YET..., but I agree with the above. Don't allow Zero(0) bidders, no matter how much they may plead. I've heard bad things about paypal, but I believe Ebay requires it for new sellers until they have a certain feedback score.

Also check out the buyer feedback of the winner before you ship!
 
::Lisa:: said:
If I were you, I would certainly not accept PayPal for the auction if you sell it on eBay due to the reasons stated above. It's so easy for people to claim with PayPal now and PayPal always seems to side with the buyer.
Click to expand...


I disagree totally, I have sold lots of mac and other stuff on eBay with PayPal, I have a had a few issues but PayPal has resolved them all, including 2 where I was the seller. Also PayPal doesn't freeze your money so you can take it, the stuff about checking out the buyer is legit is wise, avoid anyone who asks you to send it to a beloved son in Nigeria and wait for any payment to clear before you ship.
 
when you say wait for any payment to clear what do you mean? Do you mean wait for the buyer to send funds to the paypal account? Which I naturally always do or do you mean wait until you have transferred the funds to your own bank account?
 
You need to go in knowing that sellers have absolutely zero protection, and if someone wants an item for free then they are definitely going to get it for free. Its rare that youll get screwed but its still possible and you are taking a risk.
 
Rules for ebay:

Numero UNO: If it sounds to good to be true, it IS !!!!!!!:eek: :p ;) :eek:

1) check feedback FIRST

2) check feedback again

3) CYA: if selling ANYthing over $25 or so, ship it with signature-required delivery confirmation ONLY TO A CONFIRMED STREET/HOME/BUSINESS ADDRESS (NO PO boxes), and track it online twice a day. Communicate the tracking number to the buyer immediately after shipping via email with a message delivery confirmation. That way you can prove the msg and the goods were delivered, and the scammers can NOT claim they didn't get it.......

4) If buying anything over $25, insist on and pay for trackable shipping, and demand a tracking number from the seller within 3 days of payment.

5) Limit sales to US. Also restrict bidding to those that have Ø negative feedback and/or Ø unpaid buyer strikes.

6) Set-up a completely seperate bank account/debit card for paypal use only. One that has absolutely NO connection to your regular checking, savings or any other accounts. Immediately transfer out any money you receive there, and only put money in it about 15min before you actually buy something.

There are just about as many good, honest people on ebay as there are scammers, frauds and scumbags. But as with most things online nowadays, it's a 50/50 crapshoot at best.

Personally, I have been buying & selling both large & small items on ebay since 1996 and have NEVER had a single problem whatsoever......
 
eBay is OK for selling stuff, though I still prefer craigslist. Unfortunately, I just recently got my first fake bidder on an unopened, unregistered Applecare Protection Plan for iPod classic and touch.

The guy had a fake address from Kenya and bla bla bla. Long story short, the item is now relisted. Hopefully I'll sell it.

But, yeah, craigslist is a good way to go for more expensive items.
 
I am going to have to put in another vote for Craigslist.

I happen to find a lot of cheap older macs for sale in my area all the time. Buyers can test it out before you make the sale. But I bet there are some crazy weirdos on there too. Meet up in a public place. eBay and PayPal just don't seem as secure for a large sale to me.
 
brn2ski00 said:
Did you ever receive your item back?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no.:mad: I am very wary of selling anything valuable on ebay since then. Paypal takes no responsibility for anything, even if you follow directions and ship to a confirmed address like I did. I exhausted all my options and even went to the building in manhattan that the phone was shipped to, only to find out by the building management company that no one by that name resides at the address I sent the phone to.

Did you get the iphone back? If you didn't make sure you file a report with the attorney generals office and also with the BBB. There is a site with paypal horror stories (i think its paypalsucks.com) get some suggestions from them as things have changed since 4-5 yrs ago when it happened to me. Good luck.
 
ashokc said:
when you say wait for any payment to clear what do you mean? Do you mean wait for the buyer to send funds to the paypal account? Which I naturally always do or do you mean wait until you have transferred the funds to your own bank account?
Click to expand...

Either, if they pay by PayPal then it's pretty easy, but if they pay by some other method then wait until you have the money and it has cleared.
 
mets1125 said:
Unfortunately no.:mad: I am very wary of selling anything valuable on ebay since then. Paypal takes no responsibility for anything, even if you follow directions and ship to a confirmed address like I did. I exhausted all my options and even went to the building in manhattan that the phone was shipped to, only to find out by the building management company that no one by that name resides at the address I sent the phone to.

Did you get the iphone back? If you didn't make sure you file a report with the attorney generals office and also with the BBB. There is a site with paypal horror stories (i think its paypalsucks.com) get some suggestions from them as things have changed since 4-5 yrs ago when it happened to me. Good luck.
Click to expand...

The disupte is still being reviewed by paypal. If the dispute goes in the buyer's favor, then I expect for my iPhone to be sent back. Will it not?
 
When I buy stuff from eBay, I always use PayPal. I also don't have PayPal take the money from my bank account... I have them take it from my credit card. The reason being, my credit card has that fraud monitor thing on it. I've never had any problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back