Well the first three wins are free on AuctionSniper, and then the fees are about the same.

The biggest advantage I can see is that you don't have to sit there and wait to enter your bid at the end.

Other than that, it seems no different than manually entering a maximum bid.

Am I missing something?

I guess it prevents you from emotional bidding as well.

What if someone enters the same maximum bid ahead of you. Don't they have an advantage?

Anyway, it seems marginally better - especially since a lot of auctions end at 3-4am my time.

Congrats on 3,000 posts and thanks.

Sam

But I don't begrude the commission to 3% to paypal - it't not much worse than some of the VI/MC merchant fees.

I agree. A lot of people apparently have had a bad time with them (www.paypalsucks.com) but on three occasions they have tracked down fraudulent sellers for me and gotten my money back.

I'm not sure how this got onto to PayPal, but since it did I will weigh in with my experiences...

Take time to actually read the posts on paypalsucks. They are people who, for the most part, were trying to beat the system. Legit sellers should have no problem providing PayPal the information they request. My account was frozen when I had $2000+ in transactions with a three day period. I complied, and my account was restored within two weeks.

Sam

I'd agree with that stuff about the people on paypal sucks. I've been using paypal for more than 5 years and I haven't had a problem, although I don't like their dispute stuff (namely that there's no minimum time after you paid before you can dispute something). I'd also say that paypal is a lot better with refunds. A normal credit card company will take the money from your account right away but then wait a week before removing the charge from the customer's bill. Definitely a pain when you've got a shop and people think I'm not refunding their money.

I use ebay to sell random stuff I have and to buy computer parts and DVDs. Apple wanted $100 to replace my ipod mini battery - spent $15 on ebay getting one. Gateway wanted $550 to replace my laptop's LCD inverter - $40 on ebay.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I am an ebay Powerseller and deal with Paypal all the time, for them to take 2 weeks to allow you access to YOUR own money is insane. I understand the need for a certail level of fraud protection, but Paypal sometimes takes things too far. Imagine if you went to your banks ATM and couldn't get any cash, and the bank claimed you received $2000 in a few days so they'll get back to you in 2 weeks?

Paypal is a handy service, don't get me wrong, but they have absolutely zero sympathy for you as a seller (or buyer). I am extremely strict in my auctions (no zero feedback, only confirmed address etc...) so I am lucky, but I know that if I were to get into a problem with a buyer that I could kiss my money goodbye. I don't trust Paypal one bit, so leave my own fraud protection up to my instincts. I'll cancel around 10% of my auctions and refund the buyer simply because I can't feel something isn't right. I've yet to have a buyer complain or whine, and I assume it is because my instincts were correct. There is a lot of scum on Ebay and the only person that can detect them is yourself.

Fair enough, and I see your points.

FWIW - the two weeks was the time it took me to provide the documentation they had requested, and I expect this to be a one-time occurrence. I am glad that I was asked to provide proof that I would be around if any problems arose. That made me feel better about using PayPal to pay for things in the future.

Two weeks is not long in the whole scheme of things. Banks hold deposits on new accounts for ten business days quite often. Citibank holds personal checks I deposit for five business days, and I have been a customer there for 18 months.

I guess it depends on how bad the person needs the money. Maybe people in a pinch shouldn�t be hawking their goods on eBay.

I agree that PayPal has no sympathy, but that's probably better. My experiences with fraudulent people are that they are quite convincing. Crooks� ability to lie convincingly makes sympathy a dangerous policy.

You are right about the Visa/MC charges. I bought a watch from an established brick and morter, authorized dealer at the end of last year. I negotiated a pretty aggressive price but they would only give me that deal for cash or certified check. I ended up paying the 2 percent fee that that merchant paid just for convenience. They usually eat the fee, but at retail markup of 80% or so they can afford to. At the prices a lot of ebayers sell at as well as if you can negotiate a good price with retail stores the fees matter and I think it is fair to pay for the convenience as a customer.

FWIW, according to my sales reports on Ebay, I am paying around 5% to Paypal and around 6% to Ebay. When you look at the price of some items it does become clear why some sellers charge such high "shipping charges".

I agree.

I hate sellers like this. My confirmed address is my home, but I can't receive packages there because there's no one to sign. So I have to hunt down the sellers who will ship to my office.

Two weeks is a long time, if you ask me. This is an Internet company.

I've been with Citibank for 8 years and they still hold my out of state deposits for 5 business days (the maximum allowed by Reg. E). I'm considering taking my business elsewhere. My partner has an account with Bank of America and his checks clear the next business day every time - $x,xxx+ checks, out of state, even personal checks. And it's not based on overdraft protection or anything like that - BoA makes the funds available from the check. I don't know why Citibank is so stingy

I agree with you that PayPal is a handy service. They do have some glitches for the buyer. Last year I bought an item with accessories that didn't work. After several months of trying to work it out with the seller, I contacted PayPal. They said if I got the item, they could do nothing about receiving accessories that didn't work.

Finally after trying for four months to work this out, I had to contact my credit card to cancel the charge. I sent them all my emails and info to the credit card company and they decided I was right. Then PayPal sent me an email freezing my account until I paid them back. I still haven't resolved this with PayPal.

I have spent many hours since with email and phone calls. Their solution was to return the items to the seller and they would talk to me about reinstating my account. I called PayPal customer service and explained that I only had contact with the seller by email who no longer wants to deal with me. I was more than willing to return the items but have no address. The PayPal rep gave me an email address to send a detailed letter explaining I had no last name or address and they would help me. I sent another email to the address the rep gave me and then got an email response back from PayPal telling me to call customer service. I then gave up.

A few days later, I got a survey from PayPal that asked if the problem was settled to my satisfaction. I again explained the what had happened and how I was still trying to get an address for the seller. I even offered to send it to PayPal to mail to the seller. They emailed me back to send them all the info and they would open a file/case. They are so big, they don't always know what they are doing.
Dawn

ps I have 100% positive feedback of 218 at ebay

abelscc, have you tried to find your eBay seller�s contact information? http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9. This search result will give you seller�s name, phone number, city and state, but not the actual street address.

I had a similar situation not too long ago. The fraudulent seller was permanently suspended from eBay, I could not obtain seller�s mailing address. The original package I received did not have a complete return address. After several tries, Paypal allowed me to mail it to Paypal, instead of the seller. When you return the item, make sure you mail it with a tracking number and return receipt, if possible.

When you buy on eBay, try to pay with your credit card via Paypal. So you can charge back if you are not satisfied with the purchase. Paypal is totally worthless when there is a dispute. Paypal does not cover received item that is �not as described�. All Paypal cares is that seller sent you something with a tracking number. It can be totally different from the auction description.