Step #7 Pay me, please
So you have come up with a good, eye catching title, honed your photo skills, decided that it is ok to ship overseas and weighed your package. You have now reached the payment section on the sell your item form. You do want them to give you money for your item, but how does it get to you? You have a few options:
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Cash
Arrives in the mail, not a good way to go. Every now and then someone will send cash in an envelope, but I never would consent to this if I knew they were going to do it.
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Money Order
Arrives in the mail, and is a very acceptable form of payment. I like money orders because you actually have to have the cash to purchase one. In addition, it takes extra trouble to get in the car, get the cash, go to the store and purchase the money order, and then actually stick it in the mail. Previously I discussed the fact that you can cash postal money orders, both from the US and abroad, at any United States Post Office. I like ‘em.
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Check
Arrives in the mail. This method scare some people, but I (truthfully!) have only had one personal check bounce since 2000. Now that I have said that I will probably have one bounce tomorrow, since that is usually how it goes. I would gauge whether or not you accept personal checks based on what you are selling. If you are selling used car radios, ipods, or big ticket items you may reconsider. When I sell a Louis Vuitton I will not accept personal checks-or, if I did, I would wait until it cleared my bank. Trouble with waiting for it to clear the bank is who the heck knows when that happens? At least at my bank they can’t give me a clue as to when it takes place.
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Paypal
Internet payment, and bottom line you must be prepared to take this form of payment. 99% of all of my transactions are paid via Paypal. I firmly believe you will lose bids if you don’t accept Paypal. You will need to register with Paypal in order to accept payments. Also, there is some seller protection with Paypal, but you need to make sure you are shipping to a confirmed address and also ship your package with delivery confirmation (will discuss next post). When you are just starting out you will not (at least at this writing) incur any fees with Paypal if you do direct deposit. If you start to sell more on a regular basis and make more than $500 per month they will start charging you fees which pretty much equate to roughly what you pay in Final Auction Value Fees. Kinda like giving ebay an arm for your Final Auction Value Fee and then giving Paypal (also owned by ebay) a leg. The fees add up when you start selling on a regular basis. So, if I sound a tad bit bitter about Paypal I guess I am, somewhat. Someone needs to come up with another form of Internet payment…and someone probably is as I write.
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Wire Transfer
I have done this once and it wierded me out. If they inquire if you would accept this method I would turn it down. Too many unsavory things transpire via wire transfer.
I am sure there are other ways for people to pay you, I just utilize the methods listed above. Just remember you don’t ship the item until you have been paid.
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Although I have heard and read horror stories about PayPal, I have been lucky to never have a transaction reversed or have any other problem with them.
I have done some eBay selling, where I accepted PayPal, with no incidents. I also accept PayPal as a form of payment for my web design work. Some of these payments have been fairly substantial, and aside from the high fees, all have gone through without a hitch.
Knock on wood.