Selling a phone on eBay (how to)

I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay. However,
I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have sold
several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and have not
taken PayPal payments.

Given the number of PayPal scams/chargebacks out there, I don't really want
to accept PayPal. I notice a lot of other sellers of this phone do. Will it
seriously affect the asking price if I ask them to send payment by
cheque/postal order/bank transfer/direct deposit instead?

Say I were to accept PayPal. I have an account that allows me to send money
free through my credit card (although I am approaching my spend limit). Do I
need to do anything to the account to allow people to send me money? Any
limits? What charges (if any) will be levied on my account if I were to do
this?

Thanks for any advice.

Marcus

---

› See More: Selling a phone on eBay (how to)

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 13:29:40 GMT, Marcus Fox wrote:

> Say I were to accept PayPal. I have an account that allows me to send money
> free through my credit card (although I am approaching my spend limit). Do I
> need to do anything to the account to people to send me money? Any
> limits? What charges (if any) will be levied on my account if I were to do
> this?

I don't know whether your account can accept payments but the best way to
find out is simply to login on your paypal account and check there. It's
pretty well explained. I did sell 2 valuable items on eBay 6 months ago (a
Samsung D500 and a Samsung multimedia player) and i opended a Paypal
account for the occasion. The process was fairly straightforward and free.
Once i had received payment from the buyers, i have been able to transfer
my paypal balance (£300+) to my UK bank account for free without any
problems. Paypal charges 3% of each payment whenever you receive a payment.

One very important rule to follow if the buyer pays via Paypal is to always
sent the item with Royal Mail Special Delivery service and keep the
receipt. This is the only way to prove that you've sent the item should the
buyer claim that he never received it. If you've sent the item via a normal
parcel service or even via the standard recorded delivery service, Paypal
won't accept this as a proof that you've sent the parcel and will refund
the buyer (and you'll loose your money).

Another thing to be carefull about is that high end mobile phones attract
the Nigerian eBay scammers more than anything else. They usually sign up on
the French eBay site (which doesn't require a credit card to sign up), bid
on your item, then ask you to send it to Nigeria or abroad somewhere else
before they send the payment (or they use the Western Union scam). Specify
that you will only ship to the UK when you place your phone on sale and set
up your eBay account to automatically reject bids from eBayers outside of
the UK. I did have this problem when selling my D500 and therefore had to
relist it (at my expense).

Marcus Fox wrote:
> I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay.
> However,
> I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have sold
> several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and have not
> taken PayPal payments.

Do not have a buy it now, as three hundred nigerian scammers will rush at
once to buy it. Do not accept paypal from anyone who doesnt have a confirmed
address and a good history on ebay. You can make your auction paypal owner
which cuts out most of the WU scammers who bid even though you say you wont
accept it.

Make sure you follow every single one of paypals rules in regards to seller
protection, no matter how tedious or minor it seems. If you fail to follow
any of the instructions they will no insure you against a chargeback,
specifically verify issues around the postage methods accepted, next day
special delivery was protected, and then not protected, and then protected
again...

Gaz


1.. Account Conditions:


a.. The seller has a Verified Business or Premier Account.


2.. Payment Conditions:


a.. The transaction is between any US, UK or Canadian buyer and any
qualifying US, UK or CA seller. Please note that while sellers outside of
US, UK and Canada may meet the other conditions of the Seller Protection
Policy, they do not qualify at this time.


b.. The payment is listed as "Seller Protection Policy Eligible" on the
Transaction Details page. Sellers are encouraged to review the Transaction
Details page to see whether their payment transaction is “Seller Protection
Eligible” before fully completing their commercial transactions. To see the
Transaction Details for a payment, log in to your PayPal account and click
the History within My Account, then click the Details link next to the
transaction in question. If a transaction is not listed as "Seller
Protection Policy Eligible" it will not be covered under the Seller
Protection Policy.


c.. The seller accepted a single payment from one PayPal account for the
purchase. Please note: There is a greater risk of fraud when multiple
payments from different PayPal accounts are used to pay for a single item.


d.. The seller does not charge a surcharge for accepting PayPal
payments. Sellers should not charge buyers any additional fee (or
“surcharge”) if the buyer chooses PayPal as the method of payment.


3.. Buyer Address Conditions


a.. The seller posts to the address listed on the Transaction Details
page. If a transaction is listed as "Seller Protection Policy Eligible" on
the Transaction Details page (see 3.c.ii below), sellers must post to the
Confirmed Address on the Transaction Details page.


b.. Confirmed Addresses. A confirmed address is an eligibility
requirement for the Seller Protection Policy. Posting to a confirmed address
may reduce risk and should be considered by the seller even if a transaction
is not eligible for the Seller Protection Policy.

A Confirmed Address is either the address at which the buyer receives
their credit card statements, or an address of the buyer which PayPal has
confirmed outside the credit card system.



4.. Posting and Posting Documentation Conditions


a.. The seller posts the item(s) to the buyer within 7 days of receiving
payment.


b.. The seller provides reasonable proof of postage from an independent
shipper. The posted goods must be trackable online. Proof of postage should
show that the address to which the item has been posted corresponds to the
address on the Transaction Details page (see 3. c. i. above). If a reversal
occurs, you will need to provide PayPal with the name of your chosen postal
company and the online reference number. For your convenience, PayPal
provides a list of popular and currently approved services offering proof of
posting.


a.. For transactions equal to £150.00 GBP or more in value, the seller
needs to provide proof of receipt (signed, or otherwise acknowledged, by the
buyer) in addition to postage and tracking information. The equivalent
transaction amount in non-GBP currencies at which the seller must provide
online proof of receipt by the buyer is as follows:


a.. $250.00 USD


b.. $325.00 CAD


c.. €200.00 EUR


d.. £150.00 GBP


e.. ¥28,000 JPY


f.. $350.00 AUD




5.. Seller Response Conditions
The seller cooperates in resolving disputes by responding in a timely
manner. If PayPal contacts the seller with regard to a Buyer Claim or
chargeback, the seller needs to provide the requested information to PayPal
within ten days.

"Gaz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Marcus Fox wrote:
>> I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay.
>> However,
>> I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have
>> sold
>> several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and
>> have not
>> taken PayPal payments.
>
> Do not have a buy it now, as three hundred nigerian scammers will
> rush at once to buy it. Do not accept paypal from anyone who doesnt
> have a confirmed address and a good history on ebay. You can make
> your auction paypal owner which cuts out most of the WU scammers who
> bid even though you say you wont accept it.
>

One thing I would do is set the auction to say you'll only ship to the
UK (thus negating the nigerians). I also usually only accept paypal.
You can also set other things such as blocking people with negative
feedback or who don't have a credit card registered against their ebay
account.
Unlike Gaz, I don't see a problem with a buy it now, but only in
combination with the other settings, which must include paypal only
and delivery to UK only.

For postage, at the minimum i'd suggest Royal Mail Special Delivery.

Matt Wheeler wrote:
>
> For postage, at the minimum i'd suggest Royal Mail Special Delivery.

For *anything* exceeding £32 in value (whether it's a mobile phone,
some hookie pills or your girlfriend's used underwear), Special
Delivery is compulsory.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On 4 Jun 2006 09:46:37 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
> >
> >Matt Wheeler wrote:
> >>
> >> For postage, at the minimum i'd suggest Royal Mail Special Delivery.
> >
> >For *anything* exceeding £32 in value (whether it's a mobile phone,
> >some hookie pills or your girlfriend's used underwear), Special
> >Delivery is compulsory.
> Correction RM recorded delivery only pay out on items not exceeding
> 32.00 in value there is no compulsion on behalf of RM whatsoever to
> use special delivery or recorded .You could send a diamond worth over
> a million quid (if there is a diamond of that value) if you wanted by
> 2nd class post RM couldn't care less.

There is one, the world's most expensive was recently sold for £10,400,000.
The source for this was a pub quiz I recently attended, am unable to verify.

Marcus

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 17:11:41 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

>You could send a diamond worth over
>a million quid (if there is a diamond of that value) if you wanted by
>2nd class post RM couldn't care less.

A good few years ago, my brother sent me some simm memory - I think it
was probably 128MB but I'm not sure. I do recall that it was worth
£800. He put it in an ordinary and sent it first class. Arrived
safely, but it was a bit of a risk: and £800 was an awful lot of money
then!

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]
> On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 17:11:41 GMT,
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > You could send a diamond worth over
> > a million quid (if there is a diamond of that value) if
> > you wanted by 2nd class post RM couldn't care less.
>
> A good few years ago, my brother sent me some simm memory
> - I think it was probably 128MB but I'm not sure. I do
> recall that it was worth £800. He put it in an ordinary
> and sent it first class. Arrived safely, but it was a bit
> of a risk: and £800 was an awful lot of money then!

It's still an awful lot of money to some of us..!

Ivor

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 19:44:01 +0100, I wrote:

> He put it in an ordinary and sent it first class.

He put it in an ordinary envelope and sent it first class.

--

Iain
the out-of-date hairydog guide to mobile phones
http://www.hairydog.co.uk/cell1.html
Browse now while stocks last!

"Marcus Fox" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay.
However,
> I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have sold
> several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and have not
> taken PayPal payments.
>
> Given the number of PayPal scams/chargebacks out there, I don't really
want
> to accept PayPal. I notice a lot of other sellers of this phone do. Will
it
> seriously affect the asking price if I ask them to send payment by
> cheque/postal order/bank transfer/direct deposit instead?
>
> Say I were to accept PayPal. I have an account that allows me to send
money
> free through my credit card (although I am approaching my spend limit). Do
I
> need to do anything to the account to allow people to send me money? Any
> limits? What charges (if any) will be levied on my account if I were to do
> this?
>

Perhaps I could ask for your opinions on this method.

"Due to the fact that high value mobile phone auctions attract a
disproportionate amount of fraudulent attempts, I have been forced to impose
the following conditions with regards to payment."

"If you wish to pay by PayPal, you must first satisfy the criteria below"

"Be a registered user of eBay for 6 months or more."
"Be registered on the electoral roll at the address to which the package is
to be sent." (Know might be hard for me to check this one though)
"Have a confirmed PayPal address that matches the above."
Any other suggestions?

"If you are unable to satisfy these criteria, then you may still pay for the
item, but only by direct deposit into my bank account at your local branch,
or by crossed postal orders."

Marcus

"Marcus Fox" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:%[email protected]...
>
> "Marcus Fox" <[email protected]> wrote
> in
> message news:[email protected]...
>> I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay.
> However,
>> I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have
>> sold
>> several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and
>> have not
>> taken PayPal payments.
>>
>> Given the number of PayPal scams/chargebacks out there, I don't
>> really
> want
>> to accept PayPal. I notice a lot of other sellers of this phone do.
>> Will
> it
>> seriously affect the asking price if I ask them to send payment by
>> cheque/postal order/bank transfer/direct deposit instead?
>>
>> Say I were to accept PayPal. I have an account that allows me to
>> send
> money
>> free through my credit card (although I am approaching my spend
>> limit). Do
> I
>> need to do anything to the account to allow people to send me
>> money? Any
>> limits? What charges (if any) will be levied on my account if I
>> were to do
>> this?
>>
>
> Perhaps I could ask for your opinions on this method.
>
> "Due to the fact that high value mobile phone auctions attract a
> disproportionate amount of fraudulent attempts, I have been forced
> to impose
> the following conditions with regards to payment."
>
> "If you wish to pay by PayPal, you must first satisfy the criteria
> below"
>
> "Be a registered user of eBay for 6 months or more."
> "Be registered on the electoral roll at the address to which the
> package is
> to be sent." (Know might be hard for me to check this one though)
> "Have a confirmed PayPal address that matches the above."
> Any other suggestions?
>

Seems incredibly restrictive and drastic.
Plus, I think most of these aren't enforceable via ebay. (ie you can't
automatically block them).

I currently have the following restrictions for buyers:
- Are registered in countries to which I don't post
- Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
- Have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days
- Don't have a PayPal account
- Have a feedback score of 5 or lower and no credit card on file


The only other restriction ebay can enforce is that buyers who have
(winning) bids for a number of other items of yours are blocked (eg
10).
As you suspect, you can't check the electoral roll, as people can
choose to be "ex directory" (eg not appear on the publicly available
version).
As for the delivery restrictions, how about a simple advisory line
that says you'll only ship to the registered paypal address rather
than putting it down as a bidding restriction.

Oh, and just because someone has been registered for over 6 months,
doesn't mean they are trustworthy....

Your restrictions would put me off even though I would "qualify" to
bid.

> "If you are unable to satisfy these criteria, then you may still pay
> for the
> item, but only by direct deposit into my bank account at your local
> branch,
> or by crossed postal orders."
>

Now, you see, I now only accept paypal and no other methods, because
of the risk of fraud for other methods, eg cheques can bounce months
after they first appear to have cleared, and I believe similar can
happen to money paid via balance transfer. Plus, by accepting these
methods you open yourself to the old "419" scan of overpaying and
being asked to write a cheque back to the "buyer" for the excess.
What i'm saying is, you'd actually be much safer only accepting
paypal.

"Marcus Fox" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay. However,
> I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have sold
> several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and have not
> taken PayPal payments.
>
> Given the number of PayPal scams/chargebacks out there, I don't really
> want
> to accept PayPal. I notice a lot of other sellers of this phone do. Will
> it
> seriously affect the asking price if I ask them to send payment by
> cheque/postal order/bank transfer/direct deposit instead?
>
> Say I were to accept PayPal. I have an account that allows me to send
> money
> free through my credit card (although I am approaching my spend limit). Do
> I
> need to do anything to the account to allow people to send me money? Any
> limits? What charges (if any) will be levied on my account if I were to do
> this?
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> Marcus
>
>
If you don't take PayPal, you will lose a lot of bidders.
I always take PayPal.
Regards Mike.

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 13:29:40 GMT, "Marcus Fox"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I have a W810i I got as an upgrade. Would like to sell it on eBay. However,
>I would like to ask the group's opinion on several matters. I have sold
>several items on eBay before, but not really high value items and have not
>taken PayPal payments.
>
>Given the number of PayPal scams/chargebacks out there, I don't really want
>to accept PayPal. I notice a lot of other sellers of this phone do. Will it
>seriously affect the asking price if I ask them to send payment by
>cheque/postal order/bank transfer/direct deposit instead?
>
>Say I were to accept PayPal. I have an account that allows me to send money
>free through my credit card (although I am approaching my spend limit). Do I
>need to do anything to the account to allow people to send me money? Any
>limits? What charges (if any) will be levied on my account if I were to do
>this?
>
>Thanks for any advice.
>
>Marcus
>

I have sold a number of upgrade phones on ebay (and to date have not
had a problem)

I only sell and ship to UK addresses

Paypal is OK, but for reassurance you may wish to only accept a cheque
drawn on a UK bank. This means you can wait for the funds to clear
before releasing the phone, that you have the name and address of the
purchaser, so you can, if necessary, check the electoral
roll/telephone directory etc

Don't offer a Buy it Now facility and don't accept any offers to end
the sale early.

Accepting cash from a local buyer is pretty much foolproof, but don't
accept notes larger than fivers.

--
Peter

please remove the invalid to reply

Peter wrote:
>
> Paypal is OK, but for reassurance you may wish to only accept a cheque
> drawn on a UK bank. This means you can wait for the funds to clear
> before releasing the phone, that you have the name and address of the
> purchaser, so you can, if necessary, check the electoral
> roll/telephone directory etc

I understood banks can still bounce cheques after they've cleared?

> Don't offer a Buy it Now facility and don't accept any offers to end
> the sale early.
>
> Accepting cash from a local buyer is pretty much foolproof, but don't
> accept notes larger than fivers.

Cash would be the preferred way; also I believe bank-bank transfers
can't be undone once they've gone through the system (or that's what
Haliax told me when I once wanted to reverse one!)

On Mon, 05 Jun 2006 11:53:43 +0100, Simon Dobson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Peter wrote:
>>
>> Paypal is OK, but for reassurance you may wish to only accept a cheque
>> drawn on a UK bank. This means you can wait for the funds to clear
>> before releasing the phone, that you have the name and address of the
>> purchaser, so you can, if necessary, check the electoral
>> roll/telephone directory etc
>
>I understood banks can still bounce cheques after they've cleared?

I think you're probably correct, but at least then you have an address
which you can check out.
>
>> Don't offer a Buy it Now facility and don't accept any offers to end
>> the sale early.
>>
>> Accepting cash from a local buyer is pretty much foolproof, but don't
>> accept notes larger than fivers.
>
>Cash would be the preferred way; also I believe bank-bank transfers
>can't be undone once they've gone through the system (or that's what
>Haliax told me when I once wanted to reverse one!)

I find bank transfers a little long winded - I bank with HSBC and
unless the purchaser also banks there it can take up to 5 days for the
funds to arrive - it's certainly not as instantaneous as it will be
when someone invents the computer and people can transfer funds
electronically :-)
--
Peter

please remove the invalid to reply