posted on April 3, 2001 06:16:06 AM
Can't use the Buy It Now feature either without a credit card! Why do sellers stay with ebay when they make it so hard for buyers to buy stuff!!!
posted on April 3, 2001 06:18:41 AM
If you don't have a CC you have another option. You can get ID Verified for $5, it will show up on your feedback page that you are verified. If you get verified for $5, you can buy using the BUY NOW feature.
posted on April 3, 2001 06:37:41 AM
The $5.00 verification doesn't work. My dad's lived at the same place for the past 12 years with the same phone # and it came back saying the phone # didn't match his address. It isn't unlisted.
I cannot have a phone in my name because if I do my exhusband will be able to locate me and he's been stalking me for years. Courts have refused to help. So the phone at my place is in my dad's name too.
It is impossible for some people to become id verified for that and numerous other reasons. Equifax doesn't keep up-to-date records.
posted on April 3, 2001 06:43:30 AM
I don't think it is a good idea requiring buyers to have a CC on file as long as they aren't using an anonymous email address. To have them pay $5 for a credit check and supply info as though they were applying for a loan seems a bit extreme when all they wanted to do was make an instant purchase on a $5 beanie baby.
I don't use the "Buy It Now" feature, so it doesn't affect my buyers, and while I do have a credit card on file I've not seen a auction where it seems like a bargain to click on the "Pay Retail Now" button
posted on April 3, 2001 06:59:24 AM
I don't know how people can use the web without a credit card anymore. I'd get a secured credit card just for use on the web.
Most banks also issue Visa/MC debit cards if you have a checking account.
posted on April 3, 2001 07:34:05 AM
If you were a seller who had several hundreds of dollars worth of auctions ended with BIN by a prankster who had no intention of paying, you would see the reason for the requirement.
It minimizes the bid-kiddies and the revenge bidders and those who want to end a competitor's auction.
posted on April 3, 2001 08:05:55 AM
The verification is just another ebay money grab and only good if you live in the USA. I don't!
As to credit cards they don't prove anything. As I said in another forum I get at least 5 or 6 offers for free credit cards from some major sleazy snail mail spammer (Capital One) every month. My kids also get them, so does my deceased mother and my two dogs. Heck, I got one the other day addressed to "The Occupant"!!!!
Maybe I should register one of my dogs at ebay with a capital one credit card. It would be fun to see someone trying to get him to pay up!
[ edited by Juggheadd on Apr 3, 2001 08:07 AM ]
posted on April 3, 2001 08:15:39 AM"I don't know how people can use the web without a credit card anymore."
In one person's opinion... fairly easily, actually. I use the Web plenty, but with the exception of eBay, I simply don't buy anything on the Web. Local retail is enough to satisfy my needs and most of the wants I choose to fulfill, and eBay satisfies most of the other wants. I like technology (when well used), and know how to use it. I just don't feel comfortable with the security of corporate websites in general. Plus, if it isn't CC info getting stolen, it's other companies outright selling their customer's info to direct marketers. So $50 liability limit or not, I really don't care to expose any more credit or other information than necessary, so I'm registered at a minimal number of sites.
I really don't feel limited, and don't miss buying on the Web. The Internet is the most amazing breadth and depth of information, if you can see your way through hype and "urban legend" (and more easily, the scams). I use corporate sites as wonderfully handy "brochureware," even if many advertisers sneer at "mere brochureware." Fix one or the other problem, and I'd buy more. Fix both, I wouldn't hesitate at buying things online that I can't find quickly locally.
That said, I understand the problem some sellers have with various kinds of jerks. Verification or putting a CC on file can serve a purpose. However, as a buyer who can keep bidding without doing either of the above, I'd much rather not do so. If I get outbid, that's fine, that "want" can wait.
Perhaps these attitudes make me a poor "target," but with more than 50-70% of all online Americans apparently balking at one or more purchases due to security or privacy concerns (even direct marketers' own surveys reportedly indicate at least 40%), I think dot-coms are costing themselves more customers than they realize. Apparently, companies would rather have the solid 5-50 cents gained from selling an existing customer's information to direct marketers, than the less obvious $20 or more they're probably losing elsewhere from lack of trust. Oh well.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
posted on April 3, 2001 09:01:27 AM
I've learned from other posters that even for items I'm willing to sell at the opening bid using BIN it makes sense to set the BIN at one cent more.
For example, opening bid $9.95, BIN $9.96.
You can, of course, set the BIN higher but never make the opening bid and the BIN price the same. If you do, people can not purchase the item without doing the CC or verification thing.
In addition to buyers that don't have a CC or want to become verified their are others who may not wish to use their CC for that purchase.
I have one set of items I list weekly. Opening bid $9.95 BIN $10.95. Over 80% of the sales are at BIN. Guess many people are willing to pay a little extra to complete the transaction NOW.
Some of the BIN buyers still send checks or MO.
I've seen that some sellers include a statement that offers to end the auction after an opening bid and treat it like a BIN. They request that the buyer email them after placing the bid etc. I think that makes the TOS too complicated and discourages the BIN buyer.
As I haven't had a second bid on these items for months I do sometimes email the person placing the opening bid and offer to end the listing early.
My items are light in weight and I quote a fixed Priority Mail s/h rate. I'm also using the Billpoint Instant Purchase option.
With recent EOA notices from eBay coming up to 48 hours after the listings close I've often received notice that the item was paid using Billpoint and I've sent the item out before ever receiving the EOA.
I use the Web plenty, but with the exception of eBay, I simply don't buy anything on the Web. Local retail is enough to satisfy my needs and most of the wants I choose to fulfill, and eBay satisfies most of the other wants. I like technology (when well used), and know how to use it. I just don't feel comfortable with the security of corporate websites in general. Plus, if it isn't CC info getting stolen, it's other companies outright selling their customer's info to direct marketers. So $50 liability limit or not, I really don't care to expose any more credit or other information than necessary, so I'm registered at a minimal number of sites.