eBay

widgetc · ‎07-26-2018

I caught an auction about to end and won at 50 cents under my max bid of $121 US plus $4.50 shipping. I immediately paid.

I then received an email:

"Payment instructions:
As you are in Canada, GST/HST is due and payable on this lot. The total due, GST and postage included in US$141.25 or in CAN$ $183.63. Conversion factor is 1.30 for the Canadian dollar. I accept Visa and Mastercard in USA$ and CAN$ directly or email and discuss other payment methods. I DO NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL. Mailing address for payment is (contact info deleted). Payment within 10 days or an unpaid strike."

I already paid but is shows as "pending" even though I had the funds in my account.

Also tax is not mentioned in the listing nor was it present in the paypal payment I made. This is an item purchased to break up and resell and once tax is added it goes over my maximum.

Is paypal acceptance mandatory?

If the seller wants to cancel so be it. Any advive?

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-26-2018

Sellers don't have to accept Paypal but they do have to offer an electronic method. I haven't ever had to pay directly with a credit card but I thought that had to be set up through ebay checkout as well. I'm not certain of that though. I do know that if the buyer doesn't pay through ebay checkout, the MBG isn't valid for that transaction.

However, if the seller had that they accepted PP on their listing, I would report them. As far as them accepting them the PP payment now....it must be pending for a reason. Either PP is not allowing payments or perhaps they don't have the correct PP address in their listing. They may have done that on purpose. I don't know if I would be comfortable dealing with that seller just because of the way that they are handling things.

widgetc · ‎07-26-2018

I really don't want to report anything. I don't think the seller is deliberately causing issues. Perhaps we can both learn something.

eBay item number:

Completed listing 273353944899

It does say no paypal and tax collected in the “see details” section. Still in the time of cell phone purchases think if you do not take the almost universal payment service used here it should be clearly stated in big letters where it can be easily seen.

What do I do about the “pending payment” showing on eBay? I really don’t want to pay again before that is gone.

From seller:

“ I accept Visa and Mastercard in USA$ and CAN$ directly or email and discuss other payment methods. I DO NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL. Mailing address for payment is….”

Could he have blocked receiving payment by paypal so I did not have this issue?

Can he set up payment by credit card through eBay checkout?

I would be jittery about this payment process for many sellers…but I know his outside eBay business has been around for decades.

I post here rather than the buying section as this is where I usually come as a seller and people here collectively know a lot.

femmefan1946 · ‎07-26-2018

Yes sellers who have merchant credit card accounts can use those instead of Paypal.

The cost is about the same.

When we still had our B&M store we offered both, but found that even our in-store customers who knew us by sight preferred PP online. And happily handed over cards in the store. SMH.

But then:

or email and discuss other payment methods.

That's a non-starter. EBay specifically forbids sellers soliciting non-electronic payments. (Buyers are allowed to give up their protections if they are ~~nuts~~ willing to offer.)

More red flags than May Day in Pyongyang.

widgetc · ‎07-26-2018

Red flags for sure...but in this case I don't think anything fraudulent is involved. have seen the seller's ads in philatelic magazines for decades. I think the violation of policy is from not knowing better.

The thing is I am unsure about what to do about the pending payment. It does not show in paypal but eBay shows an hourglass.

Also he has indicated to me that he believes that it is not possible so set up credit card payment through eBay check out. Is that so? Also can he block receiving paypal payments so others do not end up like me with pending payments?

Perhaps with advice here both the seller and I can learn something.

Once the "pending" is dealt with I will decide about whether to proceed with making another payment. If through checkout I will pay in spite of not seeing the taxes section as I at least could have found it. In principle I don't like to make payment outside checkout. He has indicated he does not want to cancel which I did offer.

reallynicestamps · ‎07-26-2018

Yes. He can set up cc payments on eBay.
I didn't do it back in the day, that was Matt the Webmaster, who is still our go-to for Sparks Auctions.

Perhaps @ricarmic knows how? Those stamp guys all know each other, eh?

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-27-2018

Have you talked to PP about how to handle the pending payment? If the seller doesn’t have a PP set up to accept payment then PayPal must have some sort of process to return payments to the buyer.

Here is information for the seller to set up ebay checkout to their cc merchant account. Once they do that, buyers payments shouldn’t automatically go to PP.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/choosing-get-paid/accepting-credit-debit-cards?id=4185

They should also set up gsp/hst on their listings. They have to set that up on .ca but it will still work on .com. If they have a problem doing they could ask somene here.

ricarmic · ‎07-27-2018

Fortunately Pjc picked up the torch!

I've actually in my over 40 years selling never accepted credit cards directly.......strange but true!!!!

widgetc · ‎07-27-2018

Actually the payment does not show up in paypal but eBay says pending. I called eBay...only a little helpful. They said to monitor my paypal account and also my credit card in case a charge goes through and call if it does....for some reason the guy I talked with can't tell if and where a charge was made but he can see the payment pending.

I was told that since payment could not be made through checkout I could ask the seller to cancel. When I asked this previously he did not want to cancel. I was told then that I would be justified in not paying and if the seller filed an unpaid item dispute any strike would be removed upon my calling in.

Basically I guess I will tell the seller if he can set up payment through the system I will pay and otherwise I will not.

I will also direct him to this thread with the links on setting things up properly.

widgetc · ‎07-27-2018

I just sent the following:

Here is a link to a thread on eBay about this issue:
https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Does-not-accept-paypal/m-p/406373/highlight/false#M95926

There is a link there on how to set up payment and taxes via eBay checkout as it should be done.

I just phoned eBay about the all of this. I was told that since it is not set up through eBay checkout any unpaid item strike would be removed if I did not pay. FYI also they said that you cannot mention cheques or money orders in your email unless the buyer requests such payment as that IS a violation of eBay policy.

I will pay if you can set it up properly through eBay checkout. Otherwise you can cancel or file for an unpaid item.

This has been a time waster. Hopefully we both learn something. No hard feelings however it goes.

Bob

widgetc · ‎07-27-2018

Seller says links do not work...they only lead to setting up a paypal account. He says his terms were very clear.

My reply:

Yes...clear as mud!

If you can't set it up properly I will not be paying. If you want to cancel please do so. If not the guy at eBay told me that if I call in and reference your email asking for payment outside the checkout system any strike will be removed especially so because your soliciting payment by cheque or money order was a direct eBay policy violation.

I wish you well. I just do not want to proceed in such an irregular manner.

Bob