Any ebay users?

[server_crash]

I would like to know if there are any ebay users in here. I tried to sign up last night and could not believe the information they wanted just for you to sell something. I mean, I thought a credit card number would suit them just fine, but no they wanted a routing number to a bank and checking account stuff. Did you have to go through that? I don't remember any ever telling me you had to give out so much information for that. Am I doing something wrong?

[Hazel Sibbs]

Sorry, I've only bought things, not sold, but I think you would be ok with eBay.

[dlh6213]

You're not doing anything wrong. I've been buying and selling on ebay for some time now (though not a lot), and went through what you're now going through. I didn't like giving all that info, and didn't all at once. I started out just buying and using a credit card with a very low limit. When I did eventually start selling, a bank account was required. Since I have more then one bank account, I used one that always has a pretty low balance.

I've never had any problems yet, but I know things can, and do, go wrong.

One thing to be aware of is spoofing, there are some very authentic-looking spoofs for both ebay and PayPal.

[server_crash]

Thanks a lot, that really cleared things up for me. I just didn't expect that kind of information to be given out. I thought a credit card would be sufficent.

[MartyMcFly]

I think the bank account is for new PayPal security. They place an amount in your account under a pound, or dollar, and you have to declare the exact amount they put in for the account to be authenticated.

[Zachery]

Hmm.. I signed up with paypal and ebay such a long time ago... (thinks..) I didn't have to go though alot of this :D

[JANINE]

i used to use ebay but not any more... i use amazon. its sooo much friendlier

[MartyMcFly]

i used to use ebay but not any more... i use amazon. its sooo much friendlier

Agreed, wish they would show pictures on all items, not just first ten on page, will have to try and change that.

personnaly its the buy now with one click that I like, you can really shop in a hurry, (most often after spending too long on there)

[JANINE]

Agreed, wish they would show pictures on all items, not just first ten on page, will have to try and change that.

personnaly its the buy now with one click that I like, you can really shop in a hurry, (most often after spending too long on there)

s'pose if enough ppl put the suggestion forward they might reconsider and put more items forward on the start.

i also like the free delivery if you spend so much option that amazon offer
:)

[TheAlex]

I think it's best to build up a bit of feedback buying before you start selling stuff on ebay anyway. I don't bid for things when the seller has 0 feedback.

[Sp!ke]

I think it's best to build up a bit of feedback buying before you start selling stuff on ebay anyway. I don't bid for things when the seller has 0 feedback.

Agreed, but what's the appropriate amount before you start to sell items? 20? 50? 100?

[dlh6213]

Agreed, but what's the appropriate amount before you start to sell items? 20? 50? 100?

There's not really an appropriate amount, it's just that the more you have the better you look to potential buyers; provided your feedback rating stays close to 100 :)

20 would probably be enough; I don't think you would need to wait for 50.

[BILL S]

I've only bought thus far as well, but I was told via eBay email that I may have been the victim of a 'spoof' as pointed out above, asking for new info update, or my account suspension. I would use my checking as I no longer have a credit card active, but have not been asked formally to give new info, and I pointed out I'd even do it via telephone so to avoid internet fraud.

I'm sure they will work with you to make you comfortable as they value their customers. I've used eBay since I got online and love it...although there are other auctions, few match the size and diversity, if any
BILL

[jwenting]

Don't use Paypal, they're a known scam operation. Thousands of people get their bank accounts cleared out every year by Paypal (all legal under the usage agreement too, you give Paypal complete control over your bank account when you sign up with them).
If Paypal is required to use eBay, don't use that either.

[zeroth]

Don't use Paypal, they're a known scam operation. Thousands of people get their bank accounts cleared out every year by Paypal (all legal under the usage agreement too, you give Paypal complete control over your bank account when you sign up with them).
If Paypal is required to use eBay, don't use that either.

Afraid I´m going to have to disagree with you on this one, jwenting. I´ve spent some time investigating your statements here, and even though you are on target with most (not all;) ) of your posts, this one is off base.

I´ve gone through my usage agreement with a fine tooth comb and can find no statements that give Paypal any rights to your bank account at all. They certainly have all rights to your Paypal account. But the only person who can transfer payments in and out of your personal bank account is you. They do certify your account in the beginning by sending two very small transfers in but after that, there is no access to the personal bank account by them.

If you are only using a personal paypal account and not a commercial one, they won`t even allow more than $500US to be transferred per month, so there is even a liability limit involved with the system.

If you are going to make such a blanket statement about their service, I suggest you provide us the source for such an accusation...

[JANINE]

i've used paypal and not had any problems from them. ebay on the other hand.... hmmmmmmmmm let me think about that.;)

[BILL S]

I have some recent problems with my own memory or other events like my car breaking down that sellers or others I'm doing transactions with seem to ignore, I leave room for life getting in the way of online searches, activity, etc, however the one thing I feel truly lacking from this experience in particular is people just taking the time to contact via email or even sharing phone numbers, something to let each person trading know they haven't been left high and dry... A deal went south because I had forgotten to send out the payment for an item, the seller sent the remit payment back and left bad feedback anyway.
Another instance left me with a reciept but no item or contact... If the address were close, I'd go see if it actually existed in fact... It worries me that these are people with established feedback too, very odd!
BILL

[arneson]

I know this is old but I'm using Ebay and so have interest in discussion.
I mostly buy, I mostly buy computers and monitors, I mostly buy Broken computers and monitors, and occasionally sell.

The original post here was the same as my feeling about Ebay/ Paypal checking account access. I did not want anyone in my checking! and I told them so.
But a year later and I'm glad I signed up anyway.
I've found that Paypal is a Painless way to pay for, yes I'll say it, crap.
If your the Home Shopping Network addict type you better stay away.
If your the 2AM, kind of drunk, buying As seen On tv, type, no no.
If your the, I'm not savvy enough to recognize a Phish E-mail, you will be hooked and caught, I was.
Who ever got into my account within minutes had posted hundreds of Ipods and Nokias for sale. To thier credit, Ebay shut them down imediately and informed me to simply change the password.

I do find it to be convenient and fun so like most things I don't take myself too seriously.

[UrbanKhoja]

yer i had the same, it amazes me how much information the `require`, just be sure its `https://my.ebay.co.uk` or .com if ur in the us. :d

darren

[pctec]

Yes, that and paypal both want a ton on info...
Just remember... The only ppl that get rich from ebay... is ebay...

[codejunkie]

Becoming listed as a seller on eBay is a tad more difficult than becoming a buyer. Here's about how it works:
You either have to become a PayPal customer which btw includes PayPal access into a checking acount you own. *or*, you can elect to be certified as existing by an SSL CA, usually Verisign I believe. What eBay is trying to do is prevent shady sellers. Not a perfect system, but about as good as you can figure out with high speed commerce between people who do not know each other.
The problems of reliability of both buyers and sellers, and the candy and cavity of methods of payment is a subject for more detailed discussion and alternatives. Hope this helps.

[codejunkie]

Have to agree (mostly) with Zeroth, PayPal is a *major* international financial player and cannot afford to get a *valid* reputation of messing up peoples bank accounts. There is a lot of negative reports on the internet regarding PayPal, however I am not convinced they are not largely the result of problems *not* created by PayPal.
"With that said", ;-) I have made a couple of telephone contacts with major (thousands of sales, 99.99-100-percent green comments) sellers on eBay as a result of winning bids on their items. Without fail, they say that their problem is having a 'buyer' later (few days) make a cancellation of payment with PayPal, falsely claiming anything that would normally get a sale cancelled. Also, without fail, the merchant has an amount equal to the sale 'frozen' in his account which of course makes it unavailable to him. Also, without fail, the 'buyer' does not return the merchandise, so the seller is out of his merchandise besides all the hassel of being conned.
OK, fast forward to a conversation I had with a PayPal account manager on behalf of one of my webhosting clients. He explained that they (PayPal) dilligently try to negotiate such arguments between sellers and buyers, trying to be fair to both and keep both from getting scammed. He said they had recently established several offices solely for the timely resolution of these difficulties. (Which, I suspect, are an extremely small sub-percentage of total sales.)
The 'rest of the story' from the sellers relating these difficulties is that they began checking the profiles of energetic bidders, to see if they had any negative reports from other sellers, or in the case of someone bidding with only a few prior purchases graded if there was a believable 'About Me' page for sellers to see.
One of the sellers I spoke with said he only kept 500us in his account so that not so much could be frozen. Another one said he quit taking credit cards and only accepted postal money orders and certified checks. (That probably means he had to establish identity with Verisign in the absense of a PayPal account). There is also a difference between a 'bank account' and a 'paypal account'.
I have had no problems with either eBay or PayPal. Of course they are the same entity, eBay bought PayPal, as you know. I suspect that PayPal by now is up among the Citibank etc rarified atmosphere of financial players. But that's just a swag of course.