While not a scam or anything like that... It is a bit disheartening to sell a few hundred worth of items only to have to pay $30 to $50 in fees... You might ask "How much does eBay charge to sell things?"
Sure, a traditional auctioneer takes about 30%...
But for those of you interested in knowing... My combined fees from eBay and PayPal on sales running about $30 average... Is about 14.5%... Considering they don't have to keep an inventory or handle anything themselves, just supply a site for us to work on, it seems a little high... They have a monopoly but unless any of you want to be entrepreneurial enough to try competing with them... We have little choice but to pay up...
I only am posting this for those of you who may not yet have sold on eBay and are wondering approximately what amount of a given sale will be yours to keep after the fees. Of course you still have shipping to pay for too, and they do charge fees on shipping charges!
Hopefully this will allow you to plan your listings so that you are able to profit... It is not fun losing money for any reason!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
40% US SILVER COIN SCAMS
Thought I would mention... I see some sellers selling 40% silver 1965-1969 quarters and dimes. Quarters and dimes are NOT containing ANY silver from this time period. Only the Kennedy Half Dollar and Eisenhower Dollar contain 40% silver... Hence the nickname "Silverhower".
Nickels must have mintmarks above monticello and be from the WWII period to contain silver.
Dimes and Quarters must be minted prior to 1965, meaning 1964 and earlier to be 90% silver.
Nickels must have mintmarks above monticello and be from the WWII period to contain silver.
Dimes and Quarters must be minted prior to 1965, meaning 1964 and earlier to be 90% silver.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Bid sniping! AWESOME!
I know a lot of people have disgust for those who use bid sniping sites to get last minute wins at pennies over your bid... But... You know what... It is impossible to watch dozens of items ending the same day and be there for each one that is ending. This results in missed bids, which are missed opportunities A. to not only win for yourself, but B, to give the seller a bit better price as well. If no one bids against each other, the seller doesn't make much. I know. I've given away too much stuff for practically free.
eBay is not the same as it used to be. It used to be that several watchers on a listing meant a fierce bidding war. Now, you are lucky to get an opening bid. Which, translates into lucrative opportunities for the watchful eye. And everyone knows the earlier you run up the bid, the higher it will go and the greater the odds someone will beat your best price. Last minute bidding eliminates this risk...
I have just won some amazing deals on eBay using sniping
. They support many other bidding sites as well... They give you 15 free days to use it as well just for signing up, if you like it, use it, if not, don't use it.
Not only does it give you a chance at a good bargain, but, if you don't win, it at least helps the sellers out.
eBay is not the same as it used to be. It used to be that several watchers on a listing meant a fierce bidding war. Now, you are lucky to get an opening bid. Which, translates into lucrative opportunities for the watchful eye. And everyone knows the earlier you run up the bid, the higher it will go and the greater the odds someone will beat your best price. Last minute bidding eliminates this risk...
I have just won some amazing deals on eBay using sniping
. They support many other bidding sites as well... They give you 15 free days to use it as well just for signing up, if you like it, use it, if not, don't use it.Not only does it give you a chance at a good bargain, but, if you don't win, it at least helps the sellers out.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Coin & Bullion Scams Exposed Available in Paperback on Amazon
I retitled my "Online Coin Scams Exposed" to "Coin & Bullion Scams Exposed", and after months of rewriting, reformatting, and editing, uploaded it for Kindle and released the Paperback version, and it is available for $7.95 from either www.createspace.com which is an amazon company, or from www.amazon.com. The Kindle version is only $4.95.
Basic guide to coin grading, identifying counterfeit coins, cautions and concerns when buying "unsearched" lots of coins, shotgun wrapped coins, even some deceptions in the buying and selling of bullion are covered. It is a short book at 86 pages, but it is all straight to the point, very little filler.
I will continue to try to add to this blog as time goes by, but it is a topic with limited information.
Basic guide to coin grading, identifying counterfeit coins, cautions and concerns when buying "unsearched" lots of coins, shotgun wrapped coins, even some deceptions in the buying and selling of bullion are covered. It is a short book at 86 pages, but it is all straight to the point, very little filler.
I will continue to try to add to this blog as time goes by, but it is a topic with limited information.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Seller Beware: Extortion by Buyers
I just had a customer who ordered a web script from me. Unfortunately, I had not anticipated these circumstances, so did not put in the appropriate provisions in the description and listing. A computer illiterate customer wanted a script for his website and bought mine. I sent him the disc since eBay does not recognize digital deliveries as tangible goods. He claimed it arrived broken, but before even contacting me and giving me a chance to reship, he left negative feed back in a very rude manner. I have appealed to eBay to remove it because it is erroneous but we will see what happens.
I reshipped the second copy at great expense to make sure it did not break on the way. His complaint was that there was no software on the disc. Ummm... PHP and MySQL scripts are not PC software. They are files designed for use on a web server and make up the site and functions that let your site do things like store data and process orders.
He asked me to let him download the files because for whatever reason the disc was unacceptable. So ok, I emailed them individually. I offered to install the files for him and get it working, but instead of replying and asking for help, he simply filed a claim with eBay. eBay refunded him. But as near as I can tell, they didn't charge me for it, since holds placed on my paypal account were removed, and no negative charges resulted anywhere.
But... If he didn't want a functioning site or to let me help him, it only tells me one thing. He simply wanted to get his hands on the product, perhaps to bootleg and resell it, who knows. Or maybe reverse engineer it. He has his money back, AND the files. All I have to show for it is the negative feedback left by an angry, rude, impatient buyer.
I am SO close to permanently moving to Amazon.com. The people at Amazon have integrity and are not interested in screwing over the sellers. I haven't heard of any bad treatment on the part of Amazon. Oh, authors might have a few complaints about royalties, but eh. It makes me sick to have to keep using eBay. The Government went after Microsoft because they were a monopoly... I think it is time they do something about eBay. There should be a "conflict of interest" suit with any company that forbids the use of any payment method other than through the company they own, in this case, PayPal. I guess it is because it gives them the freedom to extort sellers and hold their reputations hostage.
The problem is... You can't sell just anything you want to on Amazon, and they are very picky, in fact I believe you have to have a business license... Well... It is time to incorporate and make it happen I think. What a sad sad day this is. They took a great thing like eBay and screwed it up.
When you list ANYTHING, you HAVE to make sure EVERY contingency is addressed by your policies and disclaimers because by god, if it is not written, eBay will pretend it doesn't apply even if it is common sense. I mean, it's like someone buying a bag of peanuts, getting sick from allergies, and suing because the bag didn't say "Warning: Contains Peanuts".
My paypal account was hacked and fraudulent transactions were made, in british pounds no less. Well.. It took about a few weeks to resolve. When they reversed the transactions and all, I had lost about $10 because the value between the US dollar and the GB pound had changed. THEY STUCK ME WITH THE NEGATIVE BALANCE FOR IT. So, I point you to www.paypalsucks.com if it is still up on the web.
I reshipped the second copy at great expense to make sure it did not break on the way. His complaint was that there was no software on the disc. Ummm... PHP and MySQL scripts are not PC software. They are files designed for use on a web server and make up the site and functions that let your site do things like store data and process orders.
He asked me to let him download the files because for whatever reason the disc was unacceptable. So ok, I emailed them individually. I offered to install the files for him and get it working, but instead of replying and asking for help, he simply filed a claim with eBay. eBay refunded him. But as near as I can tell, they didn't charge me for it, since holds placed on my paypal account were removed, and no negative charges resulted anywhere.
But... If he didn't want a functioning site or to let me help him, it only tells me one thing. He simply wanted to get his hands on the product, perhaps to bootleg and resell it, who knows. Or maybe reverse engineer it. He has his money back, AND the files. All I have to show for it is the negative feedback left by an angry, rude, impatient buyer.
I am SO close to permanently moving to Amazon.com. The people at Amazon have integrity and are not interested in screwing over the sellers. I haven't heard of any bad treatment on the part of Amazon. Oh, authors might have a few complaints about royalties, but eh. It makes me sick to have to keep using eBay. The Government went after Microsoft because they were a monopoly... I think it is time they do something about eBay. There should be a "conflict of interest" suit with any company that forbids the use of any payment method other than through the company they own, in this case, PayPal. I guess it is because it gives them the freedom to extort sellers and hold their reputations hostage.
The problem is... You can't sell just anything you want to on Amazon, and they are very picky, in fact I believe you have to have a business license... Well... It is time to incorporate and make it happen I think. What a sad sad day this is. They took a great thing like eBay and screwed it up.
When you list ANYTHING, you HAVE to make sure EVERY contingency is addressed by your policies and disclaimers because by god, if it is not written, eBay will pretend it doesn't apply even if it is common sense. I mean, it's like someone buying a bag of peanuts, getting sick from allergies, and suing because the bag didn't say "Warning: Contains Peanuts".
My paypal account was hacked and fraudulent transactions were made, in british pounds no less. Well.. It took about a few weeks to resolve. When they reversed the transactions and all, I had lost about $10 because the value between the US dollar and the GB pound had changed. THEY STUCK ME WITH THE NEGATIVE BALANCE FOR IT. So, I point you to www.paypalsucks.com if it is still up on the web.
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