I have been purchasing Harbour lights from E-bay for some time now and I am to the point that if the seller does not accept Pay-Pal then I'm not intrested. Don't get me wrong,If it is a rare piece then I will go through the trouble of running to the store,buying a money Order (or getting a free one at my bank) addressing a envelope spending another 37 cents. And then waiting for the buyer to receive it. Then shipping me my piece,Total time about 10 days.
It is just so much better using Pay-Pal.

I guess it depends how badly I want the piece. However, Paypal is my preferred method of payment.

eBay takes around 3% or more for listing fees. Paypal takes another 3% for their fee per sold item, then requires that I either transfer the money they've "collected" for me from their site to my bank account (which may result in my bank charging my account for the transfer fee) or uses the money in my account with them to pay for any item I might purchase on eBay before going to my personel checking account for any balance left. They then make me jump through hoops when I request that they charge my credit card instead of my checking account (I really like getting airline miles).

Used Paypal for "convenience" for a few months until I began keeping tabs on how much was spent on my part to sell what I have to sell at a loss in what has been a terrible market. Am realizing a "lesser" loss since opting out of Paypal. If a buyer is willing to wait longer, I'll accept a personal check. If we've done business without hassle before, I'll accept a personal check without waiting to ship. Paypal may work fine for some, but not for me.

add to that: Paypal is a division of ebay.

we have found that some things just aren't worth listing on ebay with all of the fees that they collect.

of course, if you don't sell on ebay, you don't pay the fees. I only buy, so paypal works great.

I sell every week on E-bay and occasionally buy HLs. I have a personal PayPal account which works fine for me. I can't accept payment from credit or debit cards. But a PayPal balance or bank accnt. tied to PayPal are fine.
I don't pay any sellers fees which is great since as Sandy pointed out, by the time you pay E-bay listing and final value fees, you don't need a PayPal fee, esp. when selling lower cost items.
I can't use the PayPal logo in my auctions but I mention the personal PayPal in my terms of service.
Probably half of my buyers are able to pay me with PayPal. The others send a check or M/O. I don't really care. I've never had a single buyer have a problem with my PayPal limits. Sometimes they don't understand & send payment from a credit card, so I just refuse it and send it back.
It is annoying that I have to empty my PayPal balance in order to access my credit card when I am buying something. PayPal forces you to use your balance or bank account unless your balance is zero. I like to keep my HL purchases separate from my E-bay profits.
Plus a a seller, the mailed checks or M/O's give me some breathing room in order to pack the items. I feel compelled to ship no later than two days after I receive a PayPal payment which is difficult sometimes with my 'real' job and my life.
Just a few thoughts from a four year seller.

Donna

I'm not a member of Paypal. As a matter of fact, I don't have a credit card registered at eBay. I really don't like someone having access to my credit card number.

I have made purchases using a credit card over the phone. I have one separate card for those type of things that I watch like a hawk to confirm the only thing on it are purchases I made.

If I see an auction that says, "Paypal only", I do not bid, simple as that. Listing "Paypal only" will bring you fewer bids on something you have for sale. Fewer bids means less competition which means less money for your item.

I'm not saying that Paypal is a bad thing, and it does work for many people. I'm saying it's not for everybody and it's another few pennies coming out of each dollar you try to make in a sale. One of those"six of one, half-dozen of another" things.

Bob

I intially was suspicious of Paypal but now I stay away from auctions that don't have it. Paypal is one source with my info that will close a deal send a confirmation, emoney, address, and email all within a few clicks. With Paypal as the middle man the 300+ ebay purchases(in 3+ years) that I've made don't have all my financial info (credit card or checking account number.) If you're selling it costs you but you don't have to worry about a check in the mail or a bouncing check, etc.
Bottom line is that it works for me. I wish I would have bought stock in it!
Bob

When I was buying a lot on ebay, I certainly LOVED to take care of my purchases by PayPal. I could be done with it instantly, instead of having to go down and get a money order and prepare an envelope a mailing label, etc.

I was happy to choose PayPal as one of the options for paying for Lighthouse Stickers (you knew this was going to turn into a 'plug', didn't you?)

PayPal offers credit card processing services so whether or not someone has a PayPal account, Pay Pal has the ability to process credit and debit payments.

I think PayPal has a pretty good track record and there are scores, if not hundreds of other companies that offer credit card clearing services on the Internet. I felt that PayPal's name factor was a plus in choosing them as a credit card clearing service.

I avoid Paypal when ever possible. If you get ripped off by a fraudulent seller, you are not protected using Paypal.

When you use Paypal you accept their terms of service. According to these, you waive your rights to credit card consumer protection laws, and you may not issue a chargeback for anything you purchase using your credit card and PayPal account.

Suppose you never receive goods you've paid for via Paypal. You report this to your credit card company who issues a chargeback to the seller and you get your money back. Paypal is not happy with that because it violates their terms of service. They will lock you out of your Paypal account, take any money that is there, and keep any money that comes into it.

Why does Paypal deny you protection against fraud? Because their customer is the seller from whom they get fees - typically 2.9% or more per transaction. When you buy something using paypal, the seller is paid by paypal and paypal is paid by you. Thus paypal cannot get money back from the seller and they're gonna make darn sure you don't get money back from them. If you bypass them and deal with your credit card company, Paypal is not happy with you.

Any personal information you give Paypal (bank account numbers, credit card numbers, e-mail addresses, etc.) they will keep forever.

Have you ever tried to close a paypal account? I have tried. If you remove account information beforehand you cannot close the account.

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