What's with all the "Paypal only" sellers?

I do worry how long the safe part of paypal will last. So far my military as well as federal employee records have all been hacked.
 
I insist on paypal if the buyer wants me to ship immediately. I have no problems with personal check or money order but in most cases the person who is buying something from me doesnt want to wait until the check clears and feels I should ship the second I receive the check in the mail. In those cases I insist on paypal as its instant and I can have the item to them in 2 days.

What is puzzling however is the inability some people have with adjusting their price to have shipping included as well as compensating for fees. To me if you are going to sell a knife for $100 but you want to clear that after fees and shipping make is $110 shipped and be done with it. Dont sit there and say $100 plus shipping, plus PP fees. Especially if paypal is the ONLY form of payment you are willing to accept.

I however you are selling something and you prefer money order or check as your preferred method of payment I understand the asking for the additional PP fees. After all its the buyer who is insisting on the added speed and convenience and I view it the same way i would paying an additional fee for overnight shipping. Its when someone insists on paypal yet has hoops you need to jump through that bothers me.
 
For me, being from Canada, it's pretty much the most convenient way to do transactions with non-Canadians. I don't care for it, but both times I've tried to do money orders with my friends to the south, they didn't seem to understand they had to send me Canadian money orders and I ended up having to send them the mo back and go through the process again. PayPal offers less issues when dealing with international orders in my experience. I prefer e-transfers whenever possible with other Canadians.
 
Firearms are controlled items, registered to your name etc. selling them have protocols set and that very fact gives both buyer and seller protection. Knives on the other hand are more or less freely traded, using Paypal instead of sending cash check wire or money order to a seller you met on some random online exchange offer some peace of mind with the protections it offers. Scams happen everywhere including Paypal but sending a $400 check to someone I never even met before can really turn into a train wreck.

I can only share my experience and Ive used Paypal for over a decade as a buyer and seller on probably thousands of transactions and Ive been completely fine. The one or two issues that I did have were resolved fairly. As far them not supporting the 2nd... Well that sucks but as a CCW holder, more and more places are doing the same. Cant even Mail a knife I sold at the USPS while carrying supposedly. Should I not patronize the post office too? Half the country is anti gun. Your whole state is anti gun AND NY city doesnt even allow knife carry or mail. Do you ban yourself from goin to NY city out of protest?
 
NEWS FLASH! If a seller accepts Paypal goods and services and doesn't say buyer pays for fees he has included those fees in the asking price. The buyer is paying whether he knows it or not.
 
General Knife Discusion is to discuss the knives, not the payment methods, nor the firearms.
Moved to feedback.
 
Divine_Madcat said:
You guys are kidding right? Selling on the bay is a nightmare - Paypal has no problem siding with fraudulent buyers all the time. Read the forums; in almost any dispute they side with the buyer (most of whome know how to game the system), then ship back a brick. I can't believe people still use it so much.

There are other major players out there.. i really wish people used them more personally..
Click to expand...

I do not sell on the Bay.....not sure how you got that from my post.
 
Stays Sharp said:
Cant even Mail a knife I sold at the USPS while carrying supposedly. Should I not patronize the post office too? Half the country is anti gun. Your whole state is anti gun AND NY city doesnt even allow knife carry or mail. Do you ban yourself from goin to NY city out of protest?
Click to expand...

You have other mailing options than USPS, just like you've other payment options than Paypal. Thank you for inadvertently reinforcing the point of my post. I lived and worked in NYC for nearly a decade and carried a pocket knife everyday, somehow I managed to evade the authorities and not go on a murder rampage. Does that count as a "protest"? NY State is NOT ant-gun, NYC is. 50+ counties passed resolutions AGAINST NY's new gun law.
 
Truth is that with modern technology personal checks clear almost instantly now unless deposited via your ATM on a Sunday. Unlike the 'old day's" when the bank would mail hard copy of the check to the other bank and then await funds. Rarely have I had a cheek take more then a day to clear.

That said, I understand the reason most prefer PP. You have instant payment or commitment pay. You don't have to wait for the mail to see if the other party went threw with their promise to pay or if they are going to flake on you. And of course no delays which happen often using the mail service.

As to asking the buyer to pay using gift or pay your fee's I think the practice should be banned. Personally if I see, net to me, gift or add $xx% in an ad I will refuse to buy from that seller. Period! If more did that the practice would go away very quickly...
 
Last edited:
I've posted a PP Only thread Twice on this forum, same types of replies here that were posted on my threads.

I think guys that Have to have PP Only are excluding a lot of potential buyers.:eek::grumpy:
 
Guy Montag said:
I lived and worked in NYC for nearly a decade and carried a pocket knife everyday, somehow I managed to evade the authorities and not go on a murder rampage.
Click to expand...

Amen. I lived in NYC most of my life and worked for USPS over two decades and I always carried a knife.

Misinformation is widespread. But as unfriendly as PayPal is to weapons generally, it doesn't affect knives as much as guns. And people get in the habit of using what they see others using.
 
RevDevil said:
Aside from Paypal, EMT, Checks, and Money Orders what else do people use?
Click to expand...


I think that largely covers it Rev, but wire, check or M.O. are all more economical ways to do an exchange than Paypal. If someone is that reticent about doing business with a new entity, how hard is it to send a cellphone picture to them of the Money Order or Bank Check once you've obtained it and before mailing, assuaging the seller any doubts that funds are on the way? I guess waiting isn't as much of concern to a lot of gun guys, as we're typically used to wait times on builds, parts and components. The politics completely aside, it just appeared a bit odd to me how differently two groups with seemingly much in common view Paypal so differently. As pbcg and clockman said, funds clear very fast these days, and not taking other forms of funds excludes a lot of potential buyers. I'm all for buyers and sellers conducting business as they choose, obviously a lot of guys use this service and don't mind the cost for immediate confirmation of funds received/sent, but I'm not one of them.
 
This is just me, but if someone asks for payment via a money order I have never had any problems going to either the post office or a Wal-Mart (Western Union backed) and buying a money order. When I would sell something I tried to make it easy and would ask for either Paypal, money order, or check. As to those that want to do Paypal only, there is an obvious "haste" factor involved. There was a time when people speculated if Google would create a pay system that would compete with Paypal, but it doesn't seem to have come to term as of today.
 
Like I mentioned on my post, I've done thousands of transactions through PP as buyer/seller and if it did not work so well for me, I would not use it. It isn't perfect, no payment method is risk free. It's convenient,fast,most use it and has slightly more protection than sending a complete stranger a check over the mail.

That's just my experience, that is all I can give here. I suppose that I don't like the fact that they seem to be anti gun but I pick my battles. Half the country appear to be pro gun control whether it be companies or individuals.

Disagree all you want, hate it all you want. Point out how mailing a check is an option... that is good that you do things that works for you.
 
I always list that I accept PP to verified PP addresses, USPS MO or personal check (if I know the buyer). I don't accept livestock or produce!
 
It's very easy to track transactions on PayPal as a seller. If everything goes through PayPal, it all shows up on the same spreadsheet--no bookkeeping headaches.
 
In my opinion, most people selling knives on the exchange are wanting their money pretty quick so they can then turnaround an buy or purchase another knife right then on the exchange or elsewhere. Hence the Paypal only. Also the net or gift option is a deal that is soley up to the buyer if they so choose. Take it or leave it. If the net or gift option offends you then simply don't purchase. As a matter of adjusting the price to include the net or paypal fees your computer has a calculator im sure. When I sell a knife and include the net or gift option the knife im selling 99% of the time is at least way cheaper than you could buy anywhere if not fair market value.
 
paypal, because I can do it all without leaving home, my time is also valuable to me, their fees more than compensate me for MY time saved. There IS a certain level of buyer protection and they also do my international exchange for me. I use it less so here in Aus as most all of us use EFT direct to the sellers bank account.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top