Q: Safer to sell through Ebay or through FSFT?

[blade12]

Hello,

I have a couple things I'm trying to sell, and I was wondering if it is safer through ebay or FSFT forums? I have bought many many things over the years from both ebay/forums, but never sold anything. I would hate to get screwed over by a troll. There is no protection if I sold to some individual through the forums & they were to screw me over, right? Is ebay any better? Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid, but I do want to consider the pros/cons of both..

As a buyer, I know there are avenues to report somebody/open a dispute with ebay, but I don't know how different it is as a seller. I have heard that it is not like the old internet days when buyers used to get screwed easily. Now buyers often get the benefit of the doubt with the newer policies ebay/paypal/etc have in place even if the seller was not in the wrong from the very beginning. I don't know how much of it is true, but I just want to be safe. Feel free to let me know if I'm just overthinking things!

Thanks! =]

 

[lilfiend]

There is always the chance of being scammed, personally I prefer selling on [H] since you can pick and chose who you are selling to, plus you can usually take extra precautions like requesting payment through non refundable methods or asking for their cell #.

Do you have any heatware? I assume not so if you do sell on the forum you might need to ship first, in which case I'd just require that they have a high amount of heat.

 

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Ebay effectively offers you 0% better seller protection when compared to using a forum and paypal. They have a, "Seller protection" program, but it is really a sham. They make it sound like they're going to protect you from all sorts of scammers or people with ill intent, but it is all based on a rule system that favors the buyer 98% of the time. You'll also end up paying an additional 10% in seller fees unless you pay $X / month for a store. Depending on the amount and type of items you're looking to sell you would need to do the math to determine if that would be a better deal. The upside of ebay is stuff will be seen by a larger amount of people and has a higher probability of being sold.

 

[blade12]

There is always the chance of being scammed, personally I prefer selling on [H] since you can pick and chose who you are selling to, plus you can usually take extra precautions like requesting payment through non refundable methods or asking for their cell #.

Do you have any heatware? I assume not so if you do sell on the forum you might need to ship first, in which case I'd just require that they have a high amount of heat.

Yes, I have heatware. As a buyer though, nothing for seller. I also have perfect ebay rating but again as a buyer.
I'm using paypal no matter what, just not sure whether to go through ebay or forums.

Ebay effectively offers you 0% better seller protection when compared to using a forum and paypal. They have a, "Seller protection" program, but it is really a sham. They make it sound like they're going to protect you from all sorts of scammers or people with ill intent, but it is all based on a rule system that favors the buyer 98% of the time. You'll also end up paying an additional 10% in seller fees unless you pay $X / month for a store. Depending on the amount and type of items you're looking to sell you would need to do the math to determine if that would be a better deal. The upside of ebay is stuff will be seen by a larger amount of people and has a higher probability of being sold.

Yeah, I heard that. I guess I can try the forums first then ebay as last resort. I'm going to use paypal since it is safest.

Thanks!

 

[buttons]

Ebay effectively offers you 0% better seller protection when compared to using a forum and paypal. They have a, "Seller protection" program, but it is really a sham. They make it sound like they're going to protect you from all sorts of scammers or people with ill intent, but it is all based on a rule system that favors the buyer 98% of the time. You'll also end up paying an additional 10% in seller fees unless you pay $X / month for a store. Depending on the amount and type of items you're looking to sell you would need to do the math to determine if that would be a better deal. The upside of ebay is stuff will be seen by a larger amount of people and has a higher probability of being sold.

While I mostly agree with what you have said, i also want to point out I have never lost a dispute as a seller on Ebay. I have 259 feedback and i think there is a dispute 20% of the time i sell something. Generally Ebay doesn't do anything except freeze the funds, my sales are always well documented, tracked, described -- even so ebay generally doesnt do anything for 2+ weeks. In most cases my buyers end up closing the case from impatience. For example I sold an AMD Athlon X4 631 (quad core cpu, no built graphics, FM1 socket) buyer claimed item not as described because he believed all FM1 processors included integrated graphics. I quoted amd's own website and he still didnt believe me. Ebay never said / did anything eventually the buyer closed the case.

With that said, i feel ebay provides more protection the these forums but these forums don't charge you a 10% fee from sales/money transfer. If you use non refundable payment methods then its pretty safe as a seller.

 

[britjh22]

Jesus Christ, 1 out of 5 sales is being disputed, that is insane. Would you say that is mostly people being dumb, not doing their research, or just people trying to scam?

 

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

While I mostly agree with what you have said, i also want to point out I have never lost a dispute as a seller on Ebay. I have 259 feedback and i think there is a dispute 20% of the time i sell something. Generally Ebay doesn't do anything except freeze the funds, my sales are always well documented, tracked, described -- even so ebay generally doesnt do anything for 2+ weeks. In most cases my buyers end up closing the case from impatience. For example I sold an AMD Athlon X4 631 (quad core cpu, no built graphics, FM1 socket) buyer claimed item not as described because he believed all FM1 processors included integrated graphics. I quoted amd's own website and he still didnt believe me. Ebay never said / did anything eventually the buyer closed the case.

With that said, i feel ebay provides more protection the these forums but these forums don't charge you a 10% fee from sales/money transfer. If you use non refundable payment methods then its pretty safe as a seller.

That is one of the 2% instances. If the buyer states something specificly wrong that is described in the listing; eg: they state it isn't new, but it is listed as used. The other example is item not received claims. If the tracking shows it is delivered, they lose. Everything else, the seller loses. If that buyer had simply said the item doesn't work and didn't provide any details you would have lost that case. You can provide up, down, and backwards examples of the item working perfectly fine, but they won't take a single look at it. In that instance you would then have a negative balance on your paypal account (if you already withdrew the money) and you'd have to pay to have the item shipped back to you. Ebay considers the case decided the moment the buyer asks ebay to step in. I sell a large amount of items on ebay, roughly around $20K / year. With the way ebay screws the sellers you have to have a very specific mindset and understanding of how everything works there otherwise you're going to have a poorer experience. Often times selling locally or through forums will net you a higher profit, but ebay does have the exposure to move items quicker (at a loss of potential income). As I said before, you need to do the math to determine what the best avenue you should take is.

EDIT: As a seller if you accept paypal as a payment you actually get better seller protection then you do when going through ebay. In SNAD or not working cases, they will actually look at evidence you provide and attempt to mediate a solution. Ebay will simply close the case and decide in the buyer's favor regardless of what you provide.

You also have to consider who you're selling the item to. [H] has a very intelligent community full of computer enthusiasts who are on average much better equiped to test computer equipment. Half the people I sell to on ebay can't even type a legible sentence. Every instance of having a SNAD, "Item doesn't work" case opened I received the item back, tested it, and it worked perfectly fine. The probability of having instances like this on ebay are much higher than selling on here.

 

[jackofalltrades]

I wouldn't sell anything on Ebay right now I just have had 2 weeks of arguments with Ebay somehow my account was hacked either on my end or theirs I can't be sure so I did a complete format and then tried to reset my password and everytime I reset it, the password changed again! I got ebay involved and they wouldn't even secure my account until 2 weeks had cleared to process 30 cents they said I have owed for 3 months! I paid them right away stating I was concerned about the the security breach of my account. Then Ebay stated I couldn't close my account until They had a chance to allow uncleared auctions and bids expire! They agreed there were none showing but they still wanted 2 weeks for them to clear anyway! So my account was out of my control

 

[Activate: AMD]

I prefer selling on forums. I've never had issues on Ebay, but i've heard far too many horror stories to feel comfortable doing it for anything other than something I can't sell elsewhere. The big positive for me is that the community here is generally more educated. The pool of potential buyers is a lot smaller, but you have to worry far less about somebody who doesn't know what they're buying (ala buttons' example). Ebay is big, has a lot of mind share among people, including those with malicious intent who actively seek to scam. I'd like to think communities like this are less vulnerable to that, though due diligence is always a good idea.

 

[jackofalltrades]

I prefer selling on forums. I've never had issues on Ebay, but i've heard far too many horror stories to feel comfortable doing it for anything other than something I can't sell elsewhere. The big positive for me is that the community here is generally more educated. The pool of potential buyers is a lot smaller, but you have to worry far less about somebody who doesn't know what they're buying (ala buttons' example). Ebay is big, has a lot of mind share among people, including those with malicious intent who actively seek to scam. I'd like to think communities like this are less vulnerable to that, though due diligence is always a good idea.

This is so true I much prefer our little band of people here.

 

[scgt1]

I'm sitting at 765+ feedback currently on ebay. There are scammers out there but there are tell tale signs of such. The account is brand new or very new, they have little or no feedback, The name looks like jumbled up characters that mean jack. I've been selling digital game keys since the beginning of this year. So far I've purchase a Dell U3415W that was $650 and a bunch of other things just off the key sales. I'm pretty sure I've added about 250-275+ to my feedback during this time and have had only 3 charge backs filed. and about 4 disputes. These disputes are idiots that can't read and need to get an education expecting a game that has a title of BLA BLA Key for Steam DIGITALLY DELIVERED. I then list Selling a Steam key for BLA BLA (DIGITALLY DELIVERED) Will message key after payment is received.
Yet I still get the 4 or so tards that file a dispute stating they didn't receive their item. I go back to my sent messages (which 99.99999% they are sent same day) I screen shot the message which also shows the date and time it was sent showing the item in fact as the auction was listed got DIGITALLY DELIVERED to the message system with full instructions on how to activate the key to their Steam account along with the key itself in plain sight.

Yes some people are that well simply DUMB!

Per Ebay TOS you are to read auctions fully prior to purchasing/bidding on said items. Some people though.

Since I have the 2 recent charge backs filed against me I've added buyer requirements. Why you ask.... Well this takes us back to the beginning of this post with the just made an account or recently made an account people. The lack of feedback or low numbers of feedback. These three charge backs that were filed with the other parties cc company all fit these bills. I now have a requirement of a certain number of feedback listed in the beginning of all my auctions no matter if it's .99 or 700.00. I STILL get idiots that have less then 10 feedback some even 0 with honky user names purchase items. I then turn around and cancel the sale due to the buyers not following my terms of sale listed at the begging of the item description before it even states what they are purchasing.

With these 3 charge backs I've contacted the other members that left feedback for said buyers and verified with them they also received charge backs filed against them also. So I take those screen shots and add them to my case on Paypal. The first one that was several months ago was deemed in my favor by Paypal fighting for me. It took about all of the 75 days but I got to keep my funds for the item I basically instantly delivered. The other two are currently being fought for with Paypal against the CC company to retain my funds. I even got confirmation from MS XBOX chat that one of the 2 keys for one sale were activated added to my case as evidence.

The safer place is well there isn't one. From time to time problems arise here also. Things sell for more on ebay even after the 10% but there is the time it may take to sell said things. I have several P8Z77-I Deluxe and Deluxe/WD boards listed on Ebay because frankly hardware forums just don't bring the coin for me. These I sell for $269-$289 (depending on remaining warranty) on ebay prior to fees and shipping. Here on the [H] or anywhere else I would be lucky for $140 before shipping and PP fees. I sold my delidded 5ghz 4770K for $300 on ebay and the Maximus VI Formula for $300 on ebay to the same guy. Tell me what I would have gotten for that here. SMH.

It's a risk no matter where you sell. CL could net you a gun in your face or a knife in your gut Forums/ebay could net you a chargeback or buyer damaging the product and filing a claim then you have paypal/ebay to deal with in proving things.

If you do forums don't take gift payments your not protected and neither is the buyer unless of course they pay the fee to use a CC then your screwed should they file a Chargeback because PP more then likely won't fight for you with it being a FF/Gift payment. Look for their heat/ebay feedback and make a judgement on if they appear trustworthy or not. If you spend quite a bit of time on hardware forums there are select users you always see and have for years. Then there are a ton of new people that hardly have a post count to sell here and no heatware. Those are the ones that you should steer clear from or at least look back through their posts they made to get to the required amount and see if it's just bs scam posts to get on here, sell, and rip people off or if it looks like they are legitimately contributing to the forum.

 

[Activate: AMD]

I have several P8Z77-I Deluxe and Deluxe/WD boards listed on Ebay because frankly hardware forums just don't bring the coin for me. These I sell for $269-$289 (depending on remaining warranty) on ebay prior to fees and shipping. These I sell for $269-$289 (depending on remaining warranty) on ebay prior to fees and shipping. Here on the [H] or anywhere else I would be lucky for $140 before shipping and PP fees. I sold my delidded 5ghz 4770K for $300 on ebay and the Maximus VI Formula for $300 on ebay to the same guy. Tell me what I would have gotten for that here. SMH.

You'd probably get what they're actually worth to anyone who is involved in the PC building world. That is the flip side of selling to an educated audience, you aren't going to get some nobody who has only a vague idea of what the products worth getting into a bidding war.

 

[scgt1]

You'd probably get what they're actually worth to anyone who is involved in the PC building world. That is the flip side of selling to an educated audience, you aren't going to get some nobody who has only a vague idea of what the products worth getting into a bidding war.

As I stated that is why I sell prime products on ebay instead of hardware forums. Products retain value longer on Ebay then hardware forums. I've been at this a long long time and see the rise and fall of pricing at both venues. Needless to say I've upgraded to Skylake for free from selling my older Z87 tech and that's all that matters to me. Now I will lose out when it comes to gpu upgrade time if EK will ever release a 1080 FTW full cover block. But to upgrade to skylake for say $300 or so isn't a bad jump from Z87. I would probably be in the $600-$675 out of pocket range on my upgrade had I sold my parts on hardware forums when all is said and done after my 1080 purchase.

When my fiances board and cpu sells her sidegrade (z77-h97) will net about $350-$375 profit while my daily skylake (z77-B150M) upgrade/sidegrade will net about $190-$200 profit. Like I said the money is there on Ebay but you may be waiting a month to sell depending on what it is your selling. Then again it could fly off you Selling page in a matter of days. It depends on what it is and how bad someone want's it and your competing pricing with other sellers.

 

[mnewxcv]

fact is, ebay has a larger audience, and often times it is worth the 5% they take to sell on ebay vs a (the) forum. I do like selling in the community, but unless its something with high demand, you just might not find a buyer here unless you are giving it away.

 

[scgt1]

fact is, ebay has a larger audience, and often times it is worth the 5% they take to sell on ebay vs a (the) forum. I do like selling in the community, but unless its something with high demand, you just might not find a buyer here unless you are giving it away.

Spot on other then it's 10% not 5%. Think it's bad here though... check out hardwareswap on Reddit. Jesus they want everything for nothing and nothing for something over there. lol and talk about a bunch of rude ass people too.

I prefer selling here or on other hardware forums also to the "community" but if it means I'll make $40+ then I'm going that route instead. Many times I cross sell between hardware forums, CL, and Ebay. Obviously I would rather sell on CL because it's cash and no fees but people on CL thing it's a F#@@$ garage sale or the damn flea market and want to spend $10 for something that is worth $80. It's quite pathetic to say the least. So next in my choice would be hardware forums because it would just be pp fees. Then your in the making less for the product bracket and again some people are pretty damn cheap but no where like CL or hardwareswap.

This leaves Ebay and their ass raping 10% no seller feedback ability to counter idiot buyers (they used to have this but they claim people were abusing this system) So now if you get scammed all you can do is Leave positive feedback, leave feedback later, or report this buyer. Which ends with leaving it in Ebay's hands to investigate said buyer and more then likely allow then to continue skimming the system while honest sellers can't leave a trail as to how said buyer handles transactions to warn future sellers/buyers as to the honesty of the buyer.

It's become a broken system since the Ebay/PP separation. You used to be able to limit the feedback rating for buyers now they have some stupid system in place for if they have unpaid item disputes over a certain time frame and other petty settings that don't keep you from having the earlier mentioned fraudulent credit card charge backs filed against you. Hence why I add my own buyer requirements to my listings and if they aren't met I cancel the transaction to protect my own assets.

PP charges you $20 for a charge back on top of them pulling the funds you get for your sale. You can call in and more then likely have this fee reversed but it's the principle. On top of that your out what you paid to ship said item to the buyer and who knows what condition it will be in when they mail it back to you. Don't forget that 10% Ebay takes on the initial sale. If the dispute is sided in the buyers favor you loose out on that also.

 

[Archaea]

eBay's protection mechanism DEFINATELY favors the buyer. But you have some protection mechanisms as a seller on Ebay - you can block people from unwanted countries (restrict ship to locations), limit negative feedback buyers, limit low feedback buyers, etc.

But if a buyer is a liar and says your product was bad, you are going to have an uphill battle as a seller on eBay. I've got about 400+ feedback on eBay, buying and selling about equally and I've only had a couple bad experiences.

 

[scgt1]

eBay's protection mechanism DEFINATELY favors the buyer. But you have some protection mechanisms as a seller on Ebay - you can block people from unwanted countries (restrict ship to locations), limit negative feedback buyers, limit low feedback buyers, etc.

But if a buyer is a liar and says your product was bad, you are going to have an uphill battle as a seller on eBay. I've got about 400+ feedback on eBay, buying and selling about equally and I've only had a couple bad experiences.

So true although the limit low feedback buyers option is gone. You only have that option to keep them from buying other items from you once they have already purchased from you. At that point they already have you and it's a pointless option really. They have taken the option to flat out block a certain feedback rating because it's not fair for new members as they put it. AKA everyone has to start somewhere or no one can buy excuse. This should still be an option and seller preference to protect sellers.

"
Buyers Who May Bid on Several of My Items and Not Pay
How this buyer requirement works

Below are 2 examples of how this buyer requirement will affect buyers who bid on or buy your items.

Example 1
You select “Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought ‘10' of my items in the last 10 days.” You also select “Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of ‘5' or lower.” Two eBay members, eBaydaisy (feedback score of 7), and johneBay (feedback score of 3), are currently winning or have bought some of your items and are interested in bidding on or buying more.

eBaydaisy (feedback score of 7) is currently winning or has bought 10 of your items in the last 10 days. When eBaydaisy tries to bid on or buy another of your items, she will not be blocked. Although you are blocking buyers who are currently winning or have bought more than 10 of your items in the last 10 days, eBaydaisy has a feedback score of 7, which is higher than the 5 you set as part of the requirement. johneBay (feedback score of 3) is currently winning or has bought 10 of your items in the last 10 days. When johneBay tries to bid on or buy another of your items, he will be blocked. johneBay’s feedback score is 3, which is lower than the 5 you set as part of the block.
Example 2
You select “Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought ‘10’ of my items in the last 10 days.” You do not select “Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of ‘0-5’ or lower.”

eBaydaisy (feedback score of 7) will be blocked when she tries to bid on or buy another of your items. This is because you are blocking buyers who are currently winning or have bought 10 items from you in the last 10 days, and you have chosen not to apply the block only to buyers who have a feedback score of ‘0-5’ or lower. In this situation, eBaydaisy will be blocked regardless of her feedback score.

johneBay (feedback score of 3) will still be blocked, since you have chosen not to apply the block only to buyers who have a feedback score of ‘0-5’ or lower. In this situation, johneBay will be blocked regardless of his feedback score. In fact, any buyer who is currently winning or has bought the maximum-allowed number of your items in the last 10 days will be blocked, regardless of their feedback score


You do however have the option (which is pointless since sellers CAN'T leave negative feedback for buyers anymore) to:


Buyers with a negative feedback score
Block buyers who have a feedback score of-1
or lower.

This requirement can help you avoid buyers who have received more negative than positive feedback from other eBay members bidding on your item.


Their whole system needs to be re written. Some places say one rule while somewhere else it says another. aka there is an abundance of conflicting rules and information spread through ebay's TOS and such.

 

[trasixes]

Screw Ebay. I will never sell there again. I have had no problems selling here (68-0-0 heatware between here and anandtech), whereas I literally lose my ass on Ebay due to scammers. I take photos of everything, package well while videoing it in case of shenanigans. End result? Ebay and/or Paypal assist the scammer in ripping me off. The last 4 out of 10 sales have left me screwed on Ebay. Never again.

 

[the_servicer]

I wonder if eBay just decided it drives more revenue if people decide they love shopping on eBay because they perceive it is safe from a buyer's point of view. And some seller go along with it possibly because they have no choice.

Ebay and/or Paypal assist the scammer in ripping me off