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Lowlife Lucas said:
I'm thinking of setting up an eBay and PayPal account. Anyone have these and not like them? Are they worth it? I was told PayPal only charges you when you purchase something.

No that's backwards...
Paypal charges you when you RECEIVE money from selling as example.
The problem with Ebay is you must accept what you are really getting into!!!
It USED to be you could have an "absolute auction" and the item sold "as-is" with no warranties.
NOW even if you say "this item has a scratch or a crack" - IF the buyer complains to Ebay because of the scratch or crack you mentioned... Ebay will take the money back out of your account and pay back the buyer.
Don't think you can simply "take the money out of the account" either - because you MUST have your ebay account backed by your primary bank account to cover the cost of seller fees or problem sales.
I USED to be a "power seller" there selling several hundred items a year on their site...
... but now I RARELY sell anything on ebay now since "absolute auction" doesn't exist anymore!
MOST of the high class sellers quit dealing on ebay when those changes went into effect or within months of them starting.

I guess the best way to look at it is like this...
DON'T list anything on Ebay that you cannot afford to "give away" incase something goes wrong with the sale.

ALSO NOTE: Ebay will hit you around 10 percent of the sale price + "listing fees"... so don't be supprised when a $100.00 item cost you 12 to 15 bucks in Ebay fees PLUS another 8 bucks in Paypal fees!!!
I assure you - Ebay IS a "money making machine" - Ebay's owners are making MILLIONS of dollars every year charging folks to sell there!!!

Good Luck if you decide to get into it!!!

Blessings!
Will & Wendy,
 
Lowlife Lucas said:
I really don't have plans of selling anything, just mainly buying since I don't have a local bike shop.

Very Well Lucas - That changes Everything!!!
Go ahead and sign up for Ebay as a buyer then - no problems there.
The only word of advice I'd give to a new buyer there is ask for better pictures if they don't have good pictures of an item...
... and don't be afraid to ask questions about an item's condition BEFORE you bid or buy!!!

Alot of folks have become "sniper bidders" on Ebay.
Sniper bidding is waiting until the last 20 seconds or less and placing a bid sooooo late into the sale that nobody has a chance to enter a last minute bid against you.
Now if you have the current high bid on an item at 15.00 and you have an actual 25 bid on it... a sniper bid at 20 will not win the item away from you!

As for Paypal account for Ebay buying - go for it.
There's no headaches with that setup at all and the seller can NOT see any of your private bank account info.
You DO need to set up a verified shipping address to get the best protection as a buyer and I assure you it's worth the extra steps!

Just try to keep in mind when you see some prices on items on EBay that the seller is gonna get hit with some pretty hefty Ebay and Paypal fees when he sells to you...
... so don't hold your breath to find too many yardsale prices on stuff there!
However - ALOT of good stuff does go cheap there from time to time!!!

Good Luck & Have Fun with it!
Blessings!
Will & Wendy,
 
Lowlife Lucas said:
Most stuff I look at has a buy it now price anyways lol. I've very rarely found something I want on there that doesn't have a buy it now price. I figured the Paypal would be handy since most users on here that sale parts use PayPal to pay for them.

Yes, that and Ebay OWNS Paypal...
... so they spent years trying to force sellers to use Paypal guaranteeing Ebay's owners to make extra money in Paypal fees.
You can rest easy though - No Paypal Fees for a buyer!!!
Good Luck & Have Fun!

Blessings!
Will & Wendy,
(Ebay seller name: steamer67 )
 
This idea has been suggested before:

Check with your bank to see if you can set up a free checking account for your Paypal account.
My bank does not charge any fees if I do a direct deposit from my paycheck, and keep a minimum of $25 in the extra account.

When you set up your Paypal account, tie Paypal to the new bank account.

Keep no more than $25 or so in the new bank account on a daily basis..

If you buy on eBay move enough money into the new account to cover the purchase and pay with Paypal.

This way if for some unplanned reason Paypal comes to your account to get money back on a deal gone wrong, they can only access what you have in that separate new account. $25.00.

DO NOT tie Paypal to your Main Regular Family Checking Account. Make sure that Paypal has no access to it.

This is probably more important as an eBay Seller than a Buyer, but think about it, why expose your Main Family Account (where all your money is), to anyone with the power to deduct funds from that account for what-ever reason.

Also, Paypal will want to tie your account to a Credit Card. Avoid it. Never tie PayPal to a Debit Card, If you must give them Credit Card information.
Money deducted from a Debit Card is gone, you cannot get it back. You can dispute Credit Card transactions with your bank/card provider.

All this said, I have a PayPal account and find it very useful at times, and have never had a problem.
Many of the sellers on this Forum in the For Sale Section accept PayPal payments. I did, and I used it to buy too.

Just be careful out there!
 
jerrykr said:
This idea has been suggested before:

Check with your bank to see if you can set up a free checking account for your Paypal account.
My bank does not charge any fees if I do a direct deposit from my paycheck, and keep a minimum of $25 in the extra account.

When you set up your Paypal account, tie Paypal to the new bank account.

Keep no more than $25 or so in the new bank account on a daily basis..

If you buy on eBay move enough money into the new account to cover the purchase and pay with Paypal.

This way if for some unplanned reason Paypal comes to your account to get money back on a deal gone wrong, they can only access what you have in that separate new account. $25.00.

DO NOT tie Paypal to your Main Regular Family Checking Account. Make sure that Paypal has no access to it.

This is probably more important as an eBay Seller than a Buyer, but think about it, why expose your Main Family Account (where all your money is), to anyone with the power to deduct funds from that account for what-ever reason.

Also, Paypal will want to tie your account to a Credit Card. Avoid it. Never tie PayPal to a Debit Card, If you must give them Credit Card information.
Money deducted from a Debit Card is gone, you cannot get it back. You can dispute Credit Card transactions with your bank/card provider.

All this said, I have a PayPal account and find it very useful at times, and have never had a problem.
Many of the sellers on this Forum in the For Sale Section accept PayPal payments. I did, and I used it to buy too.

Just be careful out there!
Good advice!
 
Everything that I said is based on the assumptions:

That your bank offers online banking access to all of your accounts so that you can quickly and easily move money from one account to another.

That you regularily check the status of your accounts online and manage your money wisely.
 

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