eBay

amcdc79 · ‎02-17-2018

I have a possible buyer from Nanaimo who wants to pay via hidden cash in the mail. He does not have a PayPal account, yet has almost 500 feedback, and has been a member since March 2004.

It's for a $15 item with free shipping via letter mail back to him.

I do have a friend in Nanaimo who could collect instead, but do I want him to get involved when the value is so low.

Could this get ugly?

Your thoughts please.

momcqueen · ‎03-07-2018

Thank you, happy_pidgeon for clarification on that point because it was always a point in great contention when it arose.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-08-2018

@happy_pigeonwrote:
I'm glad everything went smoothly and I'm not here to poop on anyone's party (or hand out account sanctions, so don't worry), but for future reference/anyone else with a similar question that might pop in, cash in the mail is against eBay's Accepted Payments policy.

Again, very happy that this buyer was honest, but not all of them are, so be careful!

@happy_pigeon

When eBay changed its payment policies years ago we were told that If a buyer asked if we would accept cash, money orders etc. we could agree to accept payment with those methods. It was made clear that we were not allowed to ask for those forms of payment...the buyer had to initiate the request.

About 3 (?) years ago I asked one of the eBay reps...I believe that it was Raphael, if we were still allowed to accept other forms of payment if the buyer requested it and he said that we were. This was never written in the help pages but it has been said by more than one rep over the years. Is ebay saying now that if the customer asks we are not supposed to accept non electronic payments?

happy_pigeon · ‎03-08-2018

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

When eBay changed its payment policies years ago we were told that If a buyer asked if we would accept cash, money orders etc. we could agree to accept payment with those methods. It was made clear that we were not allowed to ask for those forms of payment...the buyer had to initiate the request.

About 3 (?) years ago I asked one of the eBay reps...I believe that it was Raphael, if we were still allowed to accept other forms of payment if the buyer requested it and he said that we were. This was never written in the help pages but it has been said by more than one rep over the years. Is ebay saying now that if the customer asks we are not supposed to accept non electronic payments?

"Cash in the mail" is listed as the very first of the Restricted methods in the help page I linked. it's against policy. I worked with Raphael when he was still with us--he had amazing depth of knowledge, but in this case, he was either mistakenly recalling past policy (easy to do when you're with a company over 10 years!), or, giving a subtle nod to the fact that it happens anyway by trying to instruct sellers as to how to do it safely.

I only popped in to let folks know that it's technically against policy, and honestly, in this day and age, it's a bit fishy that a buyer would want to eschew any form of payment other than cash in the mail. Seller beware!

momcqueen · ‎03-08-2018

If I may play devil's advocate, can you help to explain the reason(s) Cash in the Mail is against ebay policy when Cash on Pickup is allowed? It will help us to explain this to other users who come to the board in the future with this question. Thank you.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎03-08-2018

happy_pigeon wrote: I only popped in to let folks know that it's technically against policy, and honestly, in this day and age, it's a bit fishy that a buyer would want to eschew any form of payment other than cash in the mail. Seller beware!

There is still a segment of society that refuses to embrace digital payments. They're not crooks either, they tend to be older folks that have lived their entire lives paying with cash or cheque and they're not going to change. These people are not comfortable with digital payments of any kind, they will never ever sign up for a PayPal account, a credit or debit card of any kind. Most are financially responsible, some could even be described as well- off. There are more cash only folks out there than you might think, I know of a couple in my extended family. It's rare for these folks to shop on ebay but occasionally they do.

ricarmic · ‎03-08-2018

My customer base (stamp collectors) still has a significant number of these. I still have a printed mailing list for a surprising number of customers who don't have computers, if one can imagine!

As a note many that don't use PAYPAL have mentioned they avoid PAYPAL because they've gotten zapped by the phishing stuff ....which preys upon people with limited online experience..... so I don't blame them.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-08-2018

@happy_pigeon

I realize that on the help pages that it is not allowed but as I said, that is how it was originally written even though ebay reps said we were allowed to accept non electronic payments if asked.

Griff was also one of the reps who said it was allowed way back when they first started the policy of non electronic payments. Anyway, I've haven't had a customer ask to send cash or a money orders in years and years so it isn't really a concern for me but I just wanted the correct information as it does come up on the boards once in a while.

I'm curious about your comment - sellers beware. The buyer sends cash, the seller receives cash and then sends the item. What would the seller have to be aware of...he already has the money?

reallynicestamps · ‎03-08-2018

I agree, the one at risk is the buyer, who has no proof that he has paid for his purchase.

A crooked seller could take the case, never ship, and even file an Unpaid Item Dispute against the buyer. And win.

Personal cheques would be a bit better, since the buyer has his bank behind him.

Money Orders are about the same as cash, especially postal money orders, which can be cashed at the PO counter.

And both cheques* and money orders cost the buyer to purchase and send.

*Not so much nowadays, but when I was a bank teller circa 1965, the customer purchased the cheque book for something like 25 cents a cheque. To put that in perspective, I earned $3300 annually.

amcdc79 · ‎03-08-2018

I'm sure the main reason ebay frowns on such payments, is because the Postal carriers do not want/allow cash to be sent through them.

Too many things can go wrong. Every transaction for the buyer, is a flip of the dice.

Over the years, I have seen and heard many buyers were not happy with PayPal for a variety of reasons. Maybe ebays new payment plan will be better for them.

I've only had one issue from PayPal, when years ago they asked for a tracking #, I gave them one that had a number wrong, sent the correct one, never heard from them again.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-08-2018

I'm sure there was more than one reason but I doubt that it had anything to do with the post office. When they banned cash, money orders and cheques (other than in certain categories ) they owned Paypal so I'm sure that was a factor as they would get a higher percentage of the sale.

The buyer does have more protection if they use an electronic payment method so that could have been a factor as well although there were more old school buyers around then who preferred not to use any type of online payment. I'm sure that there are other reasons too.

reallynicestamps · ‎03-08-2018

Cheques were acceptable to many in the olden days, when the postal carrier rode to work on his trusty dinosaur.

But all too often, after receiving a personal cheque and shipping, the cheque would bounce. I think I remember at least one of those.

And then there was the 'Western Union' scam, which had nothing to do with the validity of WU MO's, but used fake emails to tell the seller that the paper MO was on its way and the naive seller could ship. Since the real WU was sending real emails... well it was a disaster.

Those made sellers very happy to have BidPay and later Paypal as a verified payment system.

Cash in the mail was great for sellers, the honest ones had no fees and the scammers laughed and laughed.

momcqueen · ‎03-08-2018

"I'm curious about your comment - sellers beware. The buyer sends cash, the seller receives cash and then sends the item. What would the seller have to be aware of...he already has the money?"

I would assume the risk to the seller is counterfeit bank notes. I routinely accept Cash on Pickup but I've no way of knowing whether the $50-bill being handed to me is counterfeit or not... until it would be too late. Not that this has ever happened to me. But, in theory, it could to a seller who's accepted cash either via mail or on pickup for an item of higher value than a $30-toy. Like a $300 purse or something. Leather jacket. Hockey jersey.

vintagenorth · ‎03-08-2018

Well I was never offered cash for anything over $10 or $15 when we were able to accept cash. Always worked out and never had a problem with depositing money orders or cheques. My bank took them all and never once had a problem. I think even 10 yrs or so ago people were more trusting though. I know I used to mail without waiting for payment to arrive sometimes and never waited for a cheque to clear, and they always did. Today, I’m not so sure if I would take cash now. Of course, I’m older and much more cynical (and grumpier) now.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎03-08-2018

The cash buyers are not foolish, they limit their transactions to $20 or under to limit their risk I don't recall ever having any problem with a cash transaction, ebay got paid, seller got paid and buyer received what they likely had a hard time finding elsewhere ... win win win. Usually they don't send exact change and the seller even ends with a small tip for their trouble.

reallynicestamps · ‎03-09-2018

The new plastic bills are difficult to counterfeit, but I have seen one.

The forger took a $10 and washed off the ink, then replaced it with a xerox of a $50.

The hologram was different of course and the Braille would also be, but unless the person accepting the phoney bill was blind, that would not be noticed.

It didn't smell like maple syrup either.

zee-chan · ‎03-09-2018

I guess counterfeit would be a good point. I sell locally twice a year and I take cash only. I don't think I have received any counterfeit yet... Or if I did, the bank never told me about it. My sales are usually about $250-500 total for the day so not a super signification amount anyway.

happy_pigeon · ‎03-09-2018

The risk to the seller is the payment never arriving! Or receiving a bad cheque/money order. Of course, you still at least have the item in these cases (I assume that sellers would wait until payment is received to send it). But you've got to either take the listing down or mark it as sold, which means they're able to leave whatever feedback or DSRs they like and you've got nothing concrete to refute it.

In short, it's not a life-or-death situation by any means, but it can certainly complicate things.

Of course, cash on pickup is different, it doesn't carry the same risks.

ricarmic · ‎03-09-2018

Hi HappyP, a quick comment..I'm thinking backward to your comment, in that the risk to the buyer is the payment never arriving....

If cash is never received, payment is never received which would be handled by a UID opened by the seller.

If a seller held onto the item until the cheque/mo cleared and it did not clear, that would be payment never received and a UID from the seller would ensue.

Personally I think all the risk of cash/cheque etc is with the buyer in these situations.

(As a (medium) old timer, selling stuff for 20 years before there was an internet, I just have to point out that I have lost far far more $$$ to problem paypal payments than I ever did from cheques or cash in mail situations... but I live in the happy stamp collectors world).

weaversofspeech · ‎03-09-2018

I have not received cash in years but used to get it a fair bit. When asked I would say I would prefer they did not send payment that way but if they did it was at their risk I would not be responsible for it if it did not arrive. Never had any payments not arrive

I do know people who will only do a transaction that way. Not trying to avoid anything that's what they feel comfortable doing. A few I know send very high amounts of cash through the mail. I would never even consider it but it does not faze them. These are the same people who will go to a Show and when paying will pull out a wad of bills . Some I know bring large amounts of cash to a show and don't seem to mind people knowing they have it . They wont have it there long they spend it. Largest amount I ever saw someone carrying was $45,000 cash with another $80,000 in the Hotel Safe to be used the next day.

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