I have a few questions for those of you who have turned sales on eBay into sales that went through PayPal only.
I’ve started getting some offers on my 4th Print Base Set, but I would really prefer to sell through PayPal only and avoid eBay’s nasty fees (does anyone know the exact percentage by the way? I don’t think it’s an even 10%, but I have heard that it is.)
How should I approach a customer with my request without making them feel like I’m trying to scam them? I would never ask them to purchase through the ‘Gift’ option since I want them to still have coverage if something happens. I think it’s going to be an international shipment, so I would ship priority to get tracking from start to finish.
I want my customers to trust me and feel comfortable making a transaction outside of eBay. I really only want to do this for one purchase. I’ve been trying to save up money to fix up my car and every little bit helps!
Please help me with any advice you guys have. If it’s just too risky to do this outside of eBay, then I guess I could just take the blow, but I’d prefer not to!
In my opinion if you want to do transactions outside ebay you should send an invoice or request payment for goods through paypal.
By using either of the 2 options you are able to get both seller and buyer protection through paypal and the last time I checked the fees are 3.9% compared to the 10% of ebay plus the paypal payment charge.
This way both the seller and buyer are protected and you can give slight discounts to the buyer to make the deal easier and you would be saving money as the seller as well.
The hardest part is getting a Paypal email without eBay finding out. The don’t let you message emails, as already pointed out, and I’ve heard they check accounts when high-value items are ended early (not all the time, but they do do it).
I believe eBay fees are too high. It eats up a big chunk of our already shrinking profit margins. But it is a necessary evil as it gives our items exposure to a much wider audience.
When I get an offer on my item, I would usually counter with a note to the prospective buyer that eBay fees take up 10% of the amount. I don’t ask the buyer to transact outside of eBay but wait for him/her to suggest it if they do want to save that much money. It’s a hit and miss because not everyone knows how to do it just with Paypal invoice. You should be prepared to give this savings though if they decide to deal directly using Paypal invoice.
I always send a Invoice when dealing off Ebay its the safest way for Buyer and Seller. Sending by Gift is unethical because if you’re the seller you can easily scam the buyer out of their money.
It would depend on the person and what I’m buying as when its with a good friend I would mark as/get them to mark as a gift to save money but with someone I don’t know well I would use an invoice for the protection for bothsides.
