I normally offer several different payment methods for my auctions.
However, I have someone who wants me to sell some very expensive items for him.
The problem is, I don't know if accepting credit cards for these auctions would be a good idea. I don't want to take the chance of having a chargeback and then having the customer not send the item back if they are unhappy with it. (The items I am selling I am not very familiar with - and I will be going by his descriptions). I do know the items are mint and still in original boxes and/or have guaranteed COA's.
Can you give me any suggestions? Which payment methods are best for auctions like this?
Can you do a chargeback with PayDirect?
The ones I'm thinking of offering on these auctions are: Achex, BidPay, MO's, Billpoint E-check. Am I right in thinking that chargebacks are not allowed on these?
posted on February 14, 2001 07:06:24 AM new
Atleast you'd be safe with BidPay. But, the real question: DO YOU TAKE PAYPAL??
Sorry, ExecGirl! Had to ask.
Anyway, I think I'd go with BidPay or MoneyZap or Money Orders/Cashier's Checks.
______________________________
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posted on February 14, 2001 07:11:07 AM new
Payment that comes out of your bank account. like Achex, can not be charged back. The account holder can go to the bank and fill out an affidavit that the payment was made fraudulently, but this is a serious claim (unlike a charge back) and not that simple to do.
In some ways, Yahoo Paydirect is worse than paypal. They tell you (if you read the small print or email them) that charge backs will be charged to the seller. Period. The seller does not get any opportunity to respond. A while back there was a post on the Seller Zone about a woman who won several auctions, paid with paydirect and then charged them all back. Paydirect did nothing about it. They didnt even close down her account. Even PP would have done that. One of the sellers went after her himself and had her charged with fraud.
posted on February 14, 2001 07:14:52 AM new
Postal MO's are the safest form of payment with high $$$ items.
BidPay is safe, but their CS is seriously lacking if by chance something goes wrong along the way. [I'm in the middle of a SNAFU with them at the moment]
Billpoint E-checks take a few days before you know if the funds are in the buyers account, and it's safe to ship.
posted on February 14, 2001 07:28:13 AM new
Charge backs can be done ANY time a credit card is used. No service can prevent this (even though a few pretend they can). I was impressed with Western Union because when I "interviewed" them in order to put the info on my page, they informed me that they contact every buyer when the first payment is made. They explain the rules and verify the buyer's ID. I have verified this with my own buyers, who were all contacted. WU claims that they have never had a fraudulent payment go through. I have yet to see one complaint about them. Their customer service is excellent and they even answer the toll free number on Sunday night. The one problem I had, a payment that was taking a while to switch from pending to complete, was corrected on Sunday night within 5 minutes of my call. But as Smokey the Bear says, "Only YOU can prevent charge backs." (You, being the card holder.)
posted on February 14, 2001 07:31:31 AM new
Thanks, Yisgood - I was actually hoping you would post here because I know you know all the inside info about all these services!
posted on February 14, 2001 07:34:59 AM new
The info isn't really "inside." Anyone can email or call these services and ask the same questions I did. Then monitor AW, OTWA and others and see if the comments indicate that the services are telling the truth.
posted on February 14, 2001 08:43:54 AM newjustbijou: I've heard some pretty scary stories about escrow so I wouldn't even consider them. I consider them as dangerous as chargebacks.
Seller sends the item, buyer sends the money to an escrow company. Escrow does not release the funds until the buyer says they received the item ok and is happy with it.
Buyer has full control of the situation. They can switch the item and send different item back and tell Escrow that they were not happy with it. Seller doesn't get paid then.
Buyer could also say item was damaged, or not as described. Seller does not get paid.
These are just stories that I have heard about Escrow. It's enough to make me never use them.
posted on February 14, 2001 08:49:03 AM new
I had two experiences with escrow. One with Tradesafe where I was the seller, went smoothly. I sent the item, customer accepted, I got paid. Second with Iescrow where I was the customer went badly. Seller sent 100 CDRs instead of CDRWs. I didnt really want them but it would have been expensive to ship them back. So I emailed the seller and we worked out a deal. I kept half, shipped back half and informed Iescrow that the price should be changed. I even forwarded seller's email. Iescrow told me that unless seller went into his Iescrow account and changed the deal, I would have to pay the full price of 100 cdrws though I had received 50 cdrs. Even the seller admitted to them that he had received half back. In the end, seller "graciously" allowed me to pay the price of 50 cdrws. I paid his full shipping to me and my shipping of half back to him. I took a loss and vowed never to use iescrow again. If one of the parties is dishonest, escrow wont always help.
