Beyondthebreach wrote:If you print your labels online (simply by clicking the "Print Shipping Label" option under your "My Ebay Sold" items" delivery confirmation is FREE for Priority and only 13 cents for Media Mail).
FormCritic wrote:One factor that DOES tend to ring alarm bells in my head is if the seller does NOT take PayPal.I have done three deals where the seller did not take PayPal. All three turned out to be shifty or otherwise hard to deal with. One (a seldom-visitng member here) didn't bother to leave me feedback. Another claimed my check never arrived and canceled the transaction. The third was a genius with a deceptively worded auction (fortunately, for a small amount of money).Now, when I see that the seller does not take PayPal I figure that they have either got legal troubles or they are a maverick who wants to beat the system...which means they will want to try to take advantage of me (which makes sense to a genius because he regards those who play by the rules as suckers).I just avoid those auctions.Mark
Xaxaxe wrote:Either way works, although adhesive is (obviously) a little bit easier. The USPS even recommends certain brands of labels, so all you have to do is order from whichever vendor you prefer and — bam! — you're all set up.As BtB mentioned above, the combination of free shipping supplies, official postage that comes out of your own printer, and the carrier-pickup service is a three-way combination that can't be topped. Here's the highest compliment I can give the USPS: I would have quit selling on eBay at least two years ago if they didn't provide these great services. I was just that sick of shipping being such a hassle ... now, in an ironic twist, shipping is, by far, the easiest part of the eBay process.
Xaxaxe wrote:That's not the issue, though.My initial post (which, as I look back on it, could have been clearer) was an effort to seek information on making a PayPal account a requirement for my bidders. But it's possible to use that requirement and still accept other forms of payment (unless I'm greatly misunderstanding this eBay help page I'm currently looking at).Basically, as Crazy One-Eared Cat Guy mentions above, I just want to know that I'm dealing with a real person with a real address. This is only possible by making a PayPal account a prerequisite (due to their confirmation procedures).I'll use my current cyberstalker a**hole as an example: he is using the name of a famous movie character and the address of a famous movie location: patently false contact information, in other words. He slipped through the nets and managed to win two of my recent auctions for the express purposes of not paying, forcing me to relist, and leaving me negative feedback. Why should I have to deal with any of that?My mind is pretty much made up, actually. I think I'll keep MO's for now, but add a PayPal account as a prerequisite. I'm leaning towards dropping checks, though ... I think it's only pure luck that I've yet to be burned by someone writing a bad check.Thanks for the input, everyone.
Xaxaxe wrote:I know we have a few sellers here who use the "PayPal account required" function in their listings, and I'm wondering what the general consensus is. Does it seem to work for you? Does it maybe weed out a little bit of the riff-raff? Do you ever get complaints from would-be buyers claiming they can only pay with a check?It's not that I have a big problem with checks or money orders; I've accepted them for more than eight years now. But the simple truth is that practically no one is using them any longer; my rate of payment via PayPal is well over 95 percent of my auctions.So, with that being the case, I'm wondering if I should just simplify matters and go with PayPal only (well, that and I had a psycho-lunatic-asshat cyberstalker win some listings recently and I could have blocked him simply by requiring PayPal).Thanks in advance.