SmokeyHawk wrote:I don't use ebay anymore because they require paypal...no sir.
Probably not BS; as in you'll eventually get your item; but like MLO said, probably a middleman drop-shipper.
-SH
Did you know that ebay bought out pay-pal several years ago? That's when it started to turn to shit. They now can charge both seller and buyer a transaction fee. For the small potatoes things we used to do it forced you to price yourself out of existance or stop selling.
Toward the end of the wife and I's program I sold a very rare propane lantern not made by Coleman. Damned if I can remember the name right now. Originally the buyer (from Japan) never sent the money after an extended battle over it with 3 different people.
I found it still in the basement 2 months later and realized I'd been stiffed so complained to ebay and they basically said what they always do,"you kids work it out and leave us out of it." What I've found with them is they will fight to the death if it makes 2 cents for them but could care less about you.
Now we're talking about $75 here, not a world changer. So I sent a nasty email to the buyer in Toyoko and really bitched him out because I could have got my money from one of the other two and now would have to pay selling costs again.
In 24 hours I get an answer, apologizing all over himself and asked for an accounting so he could send me a check. It worked out to less than $100 even with half a world freight and he sent me a cashiers check drawn on my own bank and I shipped it to him.
Imagine my surprise when a week later pay-pal contacts me asking for their 3%. I said "your 3% for what? I did all the work and it was a person to person deal. They insisted since it was done on ebay I had to pay them their "cut". Now remember all this happened in advance of ebay taking over pay-pal so it didn't even apply. I told them to piss off and after a bit of whining introduced them to one of my son in laws, you know, the attorney one.
4 months later I late bid on a ceramic teapot someone contacted me about. I learned quite a lot about teapots and pickle crocks in my years of doing this. Purchased it for a friend, it was worth about $750 and they had a buy it now deal for $50. Turned out to be in Cheney, 16 miles away. Hell I drove out to Cheney, met the guy, gave him his $50 and went away happy. He tried to clear the deal at ebay and they had a cow because he hadn't gone through them for the money.
Turns out they have this deal about short distances so what we did was ok and he only had to pay his normal selling fee. When they found out it was me they had the nerve to ask me again for their "cut". The guy got really pissed at me when I started laughing on the phone. So I'm guessing I'm not popular at that place anymore.
Now when I know someone that wants ceramic stuff I have them contact this friend of mine who lives in Red Wing, Minnesota and if you know anything about ceramics and/or teapots you've heard that name. lol
