Doug:
Just FYI, the fraud on eBay is less than 0.1% of all transactions. Hardly "wide open to fraud," I'd say. I have done 2000-3000 deals on eBay over the last six years, and I've never (not ever) failed to receive the goods. The problem with what you insist on for payment methods is that it then often costs us Yanks more than the price of the goods plus shipping just in payment fees. Bank fees are outrageous here in the US now. A wire transfer to any other country costs me $50.00 - regardless of amount! And they won't do it in any currency other than US Dollars - which makes it totally worthless outside the US. A check in foreign currency costs $35.00, again, regardless of amount. It's not acceptable.
PayPal is a good compromise - I know they charge almost 8% including their 5% "exchange rate ripoff" but I'm willing to pay a 5% fee to International sellers to offset this. Five percent is way less than any other option costs me.
Fred, USPS won't insure cash AFAIK, how were you able to do that?
Greg Parker Ann Arbor, MIchigan
Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 15:04:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Fred Rafael Rednor <fred_rednor@yahoo.com> To: Doug Smith <doug@kingsweir.plus.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Ebay and scams
Doug,
I think you can relax. There's a big difference between
sending traveller's-cheques/cash/international-money-orders to someone like you and sending that sort of payment to someone who is a totally unknown quantity.
I've sent cash through the mail to CR list members for goods purchased directly from offerings to the list and for eBay auctions as well. I've never had a problem. But I wouldn't send any of the payment types mentioned above to someone who is a total "unknown quantity".
Still, for some really large purchase - an entire bicyle,
for instance - I think you would want some means of tracking the payment. I once sent a thousand dollars through the mail to pay for a diamond. The package was sent certified mail and was ensured, but that was not an international transaction. It was also in an era that preceeded the current one in which mail is examined on a routine basis.
Cheers,
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
> I for one will not have anything to do with the Ebay set up here or world wide one reason as I have mentioned previously is I have never had the need to partcipate and secondly I know of too many people who have never received goods and consquently lost their money. Its
> wide open to fraud in this day and age and in my opinion not worth engaging in something so open to cheat fellow citizens out of their hard earned honest money.You've guessed it I want nothing to do with PayPal or its
> likes thank you!
>
> So I do not think I and anyone like me should be ostracised when we seek other ways to to paid for our goods. I have always requested payments by cheque, bankers order or cash which too date this has presented no
problems. My policy is, if the interested party does'nt want to pay by the methods I choose then they have no sale its as simple as that. If people choose to use ebay and prepare to bid that is up to them but bear in mind its not everyones cup of tea!
>
> Doug Smith
> North Dorset
> UK