Ebay,Paypal,cues and overseas shipping

foxcues

foxcues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have sold alot of things on ebay and luckely never had a major issue.I`m selling my Samsara/Predator SE-5 on ebay now.I have 3 people from overseas wanting to buy it but I have it listed as U.S.A only buyers.One is from spain,one from korea and one from germany.They all have a good feedback and the lowest score I think is 17.I have read some threads on here about issues shipping overseas and paypal scams.One of the people said they will western union the money to me.Does anyone know of any western union scams?I sold a breitling watch several years ago to a guy in germany($4,000) and had no problems,but after reading about scams I`m not sure if I should open it up to overseas bidding.What are some of your issues/non issues with this.Thanks for your input.
 
foxcues said:
I have sold alot of things on ebay and luckely never had a major issue.I`m selling my Samsara/Predator SE-5 on ebay now.I have 3 people from overseas wanting to buy it but I have it listed as U.S.A only buyers.One is from spain,one from korea and one from germany.They all have a good feedback and the lowest score I think is 17.I have read some threads on here about issues shipping overseas and paypal scams.One of the people said they will western union the money to me.Does anyone know of any western union scams?I sold a breitling watch several years ago to a guy in germany($4,000) and had no problems,but after reading about scams I`m not sure if I should open it up to overseas bidding.What are some of your issues/non issues with this.Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...

I have lost a exspensive cue to someone over sea,s.Never will i send something over sea,s unless i know 110 percent thats its a good buyer.
Im not trying to say that everyone over sea,s is a bad buyer but there are ALOT of scamers out there and once its happened to you, you will never do it again.
 
Last edited:
I have did a few international transactions. I always use USPS to ship and never had any problems. You will have to fill out a customs declaration and dispatch form cp-72. Spain and Germany will probably be fine just be leary of S. Korea and Taiwan. Definitely be aware of African countries {Nigeria}. Also the Netherlands and UK. Western Union will be fine as long as you are receiving but not sending. Do not allow a wire transfer into your bank account though. If your the seller you are in a good position but if you are the buyer you can get screwed no matter where the seller is from. Hope this helps
 
Last edited:
foxcues said:
I have sold alot of things on ebay and luckely never had a major issue.I`m selling my Samsara/Predator SE-5 on ebay now.I have 3 people from overseas wanting to buy it but I have it listed as U.S.A only buyers.One is from spain,one from korea and one from germany.They all have a good feedback and the lowest score I think is 17.I have read some threads on here about issues shipping overseas and paypal scams.One of the people said they will western union the money to me.Does anyone know of any western union scams?I sold a breitling watch several years ago to a guy in germany($4,000) and had no problems,but after reading about scams I`m not sure if I should open it up to overseas bidding.What are some of your issues/non issues with this.Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...

If you use Paypal you know the deal - ship to a confirmed address only with insurance and signature required for max protection. There's not much to scam with western union - the money is either sent for you to pickup or it's not.
 
Accepting PayPal from out of the US is tricky (assuming you are in the US). In order for PayPal to insure you against credit card charge backs, you have to ship to the buyer's PayPal address and you have to be able to provide online trackable direct signature confirmation. Last time I checked (6 months or so ago) there was no International method of shipping via USPS that would provide the direct online signature confirmation PayPal would require (including EMS which is a great service but the tracking is not sufficient for PayPal). Both FedEx and UPS apparently (I won't use either for other reasons) do provide the direct online signature confirmation you need for PayPal's charge back insurance but they only come with very expensive shipping methods and in my experience, few buyers want to pay 2 or 3 times what USPS EMS would cost.

The issue is charge backs. If you accept PayPal you are in the same position as any merchant that accepts credit cards, which is that if the buyer should dispute the charge with his credit card company you are out the funds until the issue is resolved. PayPal will insure you against these non-delivery charge backs providing you ship to the buyers PayPal address and can provide direct online trackable signature confirmation. If you can provide it you win, if you don't, you lose, there are no other tests, methods or explanations.

While we are on the subject. All cashier's checks, western union money orders and the like are easily (for those who care to) forged well enough to get past your bank teller. Your bank has the right to charge you back with no time limit if they accept a payment from you that turns out to be forged.

There are those that will tell you that you are safe from chargebacks if you take the funds out of your PayPal account. That is incorrect. PayPal has the same rights to collect money legally owed to them as any banking institution or credit card company. You pay them what you owe them or they take you to court and they win.

Kevin
 
Last edited:
mr_griff said:
Yeah Id say Western Union cash is a fairly safe currency:)
Click to expand...

It is.
But any international transaction of a personal nature (eBay) is inherently problematic.
If you sell and accept paypal you risk a chargeback.
If you buy and pay thru western union you may be dealing with a bogus seller.
Establishing trust to transact with people you don't know is not simple.
 
I sold a cue to a person in Greece, he sent the money by Western Union.

I went to a local Food Lion supermarket, gave them an ID number I received from the buyer, they printed a check to me, I endorsed it and cashed it in the supermarket and left with cash money.

How could I be scammed?
 
billiardcue said:
I sold a cue to a person in Greece, he sent the money by Western Union.

I went to a local Food Lion supermarket, gave them an ID number I received from the buyer, they printed a check to me, I endorsed it and cashed it in the supermarket and left with cash money.

How could I be scammed?
Click to expand...

You can't when you have cash in hand. :grin:
 
On Ebay I look at the buyer's feedback. I look at the things they buy and who they are transacting with. If I feel comfortable about that then I go ahead and make the deal. Having said that I won't usually try to sell or buy anything of high value on Ebay. About the highest priced item I have sold there was a $1500 cue and that one went to the USA.

As for PayPal - I do use paypal all the time and knock on wood there has almost never been a problem. Once last year on a $1500 sale paypal froze the money until the buyer completed some steps, but I knew the buyer personally and so it wasn't a problem.

There are a lot of paypal horror stories and generally they tend to freeze first and ask questions later. When I had my merchant account and someone would initiate a chargeback the card processer would send me the info and give me x-number of days to provide my proof. They wouldn't take any funds back until I had a chance to prove that the sale was legitimate.

I don't like to keep too much in PayPal for this reason. I have just signed up with PayMate which is a credit card processor without the monthly fees. They deposit directly to your bank and as far as I can tell provide more protection to the seller in the case of chargebacks.

I will say that I have sold dozens of cases to people all over the world and had no problems whatsoever with any of the payments through paypal.

The only times I have had to chase the money is when I sent something out without getting paid first.

I guess the best advice is that you have to try to get to know the person you are selling to by doing as much background as you can before you pull the trigger on sending out the product.

By and large I would say that Europeans and Taiwanese are ok to deal with. I sell to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia (although there are a lot of scammers from there so be careful), Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Spain, Poland, France, and Holland and to date have had no issues.

Well, once case was stolen in transit but that's it. It was insured and I just made another one.

So, insurance is a must!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top