Selling my first big ticket item on eBay... Ultimate Protection?

[aphex]

I've been selling on eBay for a few years now, but its come time for me to unload my X60 tablet... As much as I love the form factor & the tablet features, I just can't take vista anymore.

So... In my quest for the best protection for my largest sale yet; just wanted to check to see if my soon to be listing is adequate;

Buy It Now Only - Immediate Payment Required
Paypal - Account set to only accept payments from Confirmed US Addresses.
Shipping - via trackable carrier (likely UPS) with Signature Confirmation & Insurance
Buyer Requirements - not from countries I don't ship, no unpaid strikes, no -1, -2, -3, etc...

Is there anything else I should consider? I don't really want to go down the Money Order realm....

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Be very clear:

"Payment in full is due within 24 hours of auction closing through a PayPal account with a confirmed address. You cannot request shipping to an alternate address. I will only ship within the continental United States via Fedex with the item insured for $_______. If you are not in the continental United States, please do not bid, I will not ship to you even if it is a US territory."

Make sure to mention the US territory junk because you'll get some weird little island or something and then they'll give you an obscure address, it's nothing short of a hassle.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Also, don't give the tracking # till it's arrived. I've heard stories (here on AT) about someone calling in and changing where the package should go. I don't know if those were confirmed, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

[AlgaeEater]

Yes, please make sure to state where you are shipping to only. You'll still get bids from people who will try to win the auction regardless and then state that they want you to ship it internationally. That way at least you can re list the item in case something goes wrong for free.

 

[aphex]

Well payment is due immediately in my situation (they can't buy it without paying with a confirmed address), but good call on letting the buyer know. Thanks.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Expect lots of scam bidders and emails.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Expect lots of scam bidders and emails.

Well, maybe the e-mails but there shouldn't be any scam bidders in my situation since there won't be any bidders at all.

 

[Anubis]

i wouldent even take papal, make them use a USPS Money order, takes longer for them to mail it to you but its basicially impossiable to get scammed with one

 

[amdskip]

What about trying to sell it first on craigslist instead? Cash > Payal + Ebay fees

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: amdskip
What about trying to sell it first on craigslist instead? Cash > Payal + Ebay fees

True, but I haven't had much luck with craigslist in the past. Out of the 30 or so messages I would recieve, 29 were crap spam and 1 would be from a person who wanted to lowball. Worth a shot though i guess. But selling something so expensive ($1300-$1400) - asking for cash might be out of most people's range I worry...

 

[rgwalt]

How much are you going to eBay it for?

R

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: rgwalt
How much are you going to eBay it for?

R

Somewhere between $1300-1400 likely, i need to do a bit more analysis on what its worth, but i might lean a bit towards the high end at first since its a core 2 duo LV7400 (most x60's on ebay are core duo), im including a dvd-rw, and two batteries (4-cell & 8-cell)

 

[Dirigible]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: amdskip
What about trying to sell it first on craigslist instead? Cash > Payal + Ebay fees

True, but I haven't had much luck with craigslist in the past. Out of the 30 or so messages I would recieve, 29 were crap spam and 1 would be from a person who wanted to lowball. Worth a shot though i guess. But selling something so expensive ($1300-$1400) - asking for cash might be out of most people's range I worry...

I sold a car and a motorcycle on CL this year. Both went for multiple thousands of dollars. Cash transactions both times. If someone has the money they can get cash.

 

[Hammerhead]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Be very clear:

"Payment in full is due within 24 hours of auction closing through a PayPal account with a confirmed address. You cannot request shipping to an alternate address. I will only ship within the continental United States via Fedex with the item insured for $_______. If you are not in the continental United States, please do not bid, I will not ship to you even if it is a US territory."

Make sure to mention the US territory junk because you'll get some weird little island or something and then they'll give you an obscure address, it's nothing short of a hassle.

What's wrong with shipping to Hawaii or Alaska?

 

[Chryso]

Alaska is in the continental US.

 

[DBL]

Looks good as long as you are willing to take the price hit by not going with a traditional auction.

 

[SuperNaruto]

big bold letters, insurance required, confirm address only, and no third party payments ie fake escrow companies

 

[Ns1]

Sounds good, that's pretty much what I do. If they ask for anything else I tell them money order or DIAF

 

[ElFenix]

this is what another poster suggested in another thread

First off, I only do straight sales. No bidding.

I also utlilize the Immediate Payment Required feature. So, the buyer has to make a payment before the auction will actually end.

In my Ebay seller preferences, I have blocked...

1. Members registered in countries to which I don't ship
2. Members who have a feedback score of -1 or lower
3. Members who have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days

In my PayPal preferences, under Payment Receiving Preferences, I have the following blocked...

1. Payments from U.S. users who do not provide a Confirmed Address
2. Payments sent to me in a currency I do not hold
3. PayPal members who have non-U.S. PayPal accounts

So, in the end, the buyer has to send me payment, with a Confirmed USA address, before the auction even ends. That gets rid of 99% of the scammers and trolls.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Hammerhead

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Be very clear:

"Payment in full is due within 24 hours of auction closing through a PayPal account with a confirmed address. You cannot request shipping to an alternate address. I will only ship within the continental United States via Fedex with the item insured for $_______. If you are not in the continental United States, please do not bid, I will not ship to you even if it is a US territory."

Make sure to mention the US territory junk because you'll get some weird little island or something and then they'll give you an obscure address, it's nothing short of a hassle.

What's wrong with shipping to Hawaii or Alaska?

Alaska is part of continental US, afaik.

As for Hawaii, the issue is that there are some smaller US territory islands and once you make it say that you ship to any US State, they say that they are a US territory and will bid on the auction.

I personally have no issue shipping to Hawaii, it's just the effect I've found by opening it up entirely to any US state is the issue. If someone from Hawaii wants to bid, they can send a message requesting it. I would tell them to go ahead and bid in that case. The main thing you need to get rid of is the guys in nearby places that don't live in one of the US states.

Hopefully what I've said doesn't sound offensive or anything, I don't have any personal issue with shipping to Hawaii.

 

[MrDudeMan]

What is your problem with Vista? This sounds like an awful lot of hassle to hate on an operating system that has a lot of improvements over XP. You should lose the "Vista sucks because it's Vista" attitude and just continue using it since you obviously like it.

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
this is what another poster suggested in another thread

First off, I only do straight sales. No bidding.

I also utlilize the Immediate Payment Required feature. So, the buyer has to make a payment before the auction will actually end.

In my Ebay seller preferences, I have blocked...

1. Members registered in countries to which I don't ship
2. Members who have a feedback score of -1 or lower
3. Members who have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days

In my PayPal preferences, under Payment Receiving Preferences, I have the following blocked...

1. Payments from U.S. users who do not provide a Confirmed Address
2. Payments sent to me in a currency I do not hold
3. PayPal members who have non-U.S. PayPal accounts

So, in the end, the buyer has to send me payment, with a Confirmed USA address, before the auction even ends. That gets rid of 99% of the scammers and trolls.

That's some good info...

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: dmw16

Originally posted by: ElFenix
this is what another poster suggested in another thread

First off, I only do straight sales. No bidding.

I also utlilize the Immediate Payment Required feature. So, the buyer has to make a payment before the auction will actually end.

In my Ebay seller preferences, I have blocked...

1. Members registered in countries to which I don't ship
2. Members who have a feedback score of -1 or lower
3. Members who have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days

In my PayPal preferences, under Payment Receiving Preferences, I have the following blocked...

1. Payments from U.S. users who do not provide a Confirmed Address
2. Payments sent to me in a currency I do not hold
3. PayPal members who have non-U.S. PayPal accounts

So, in the end, the buyer has to send me payment, with a Confirmed USA address, before the auction even ends. That gets rid of 99% of the scammers and trolls.

That's some good info...

I didn't even know you could do most of that. Good to know.

 

[Kanalua]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Be very clear:

"Payment in full is due within 24 hours of auction closing through a PayPal account with a confirmed address. You cannot request shipping to an alternate address. I will only ship within the continental United States via Fedex with the item insured for $_______. If you are not in the continental United States, please do not bid, I will not ship to you even if it is a US territory."

Make sure to mention the US territory junk because you'll get some weird little island or something and then they'll give you an obscure address, it's nothing short of a hassle.

What do you have against Hawaii and Alaska? Both are States of this nation, not wierd territorial islands!

I hate auctions that don't send to Hawaii.

Also Hate when seller try to be cheap and send items parcel post (which takes 4-6 weeks to get to Hawaii) when I've specifically paid more for Priority shipping (which takes about 2-3 days)...

 

[Geekbabe]

Put it on craig's list, you might have to deal with a few low ballers but in the end you'll sell it.Cash and carry sales are wonderful,no ebay/paypal worries,no shipping headaches.