Replies

Pick and choose what you buy on eBay. You _can_ use a cc on Paypal, but a Paypal account has a guarantee and will refund your money from a bad seller. I just had an item I paid for from another website become unavailable. The seller refunded my Paypal account instantly once they knew they could not get the item. The only potentially weak aspect of Paypal is it must link to a bank account. The solution is set up a checking account just for that and always keep the balance as low as possible. You can set up that account with a debit card attached, fund the account when you need to make a purchase on the net and be assured that only that amount is even available. The debit card works online just like a credit card.

I buy and sell on eBay. Just last week, I looked at an item on Amazon and balked at the postage and price. Went to eBay, found a better version, more for less and free shipping. It shipped at the package rate and I got it in a week instead of 3 days with USPS Priority. I usually avoid foreign sellers and don't ship out of the US, but that is just me and my dislike of paperwork. I have many friends who do both and are happy with their transaction.

A note on postage: on eBay and my own website, the postage is set at a flat rate above the cost of the postage. Reason 1) it takes time and materials to pack an item. Packing tape, for example, has become quite expensive. Reason 2) while shipment within a few hundred miles may be under $4, the same package from the center of the country to either coast can be $9+ for the 2-pound rate. I would rather lose a sale than show a loss on the time and materials, but that's just me. I never understood the concept of making up a loss with volume.

I have bought on eBay for over 10 years and never had a rip-off. I buy Amazon all the time, but I check all aspects of the sale and compare around the net, first. Often, with books, I get free shipping and with genre fiction and some other items, I often get 4 for the price of 3. Saves time, saves gas, usually saves money. You have a choice on Amazon, usually. Either you buy from them or you can choose to buy from an individual who has an Amazon store.

I have sold on eBay, off and on, for 3 years or so. You must make sure as a seller, to account for fees and packaging or you are wasting your time.

My husband won't use Paypal because of the checking account requirement. So what does he do? He asks me to buy the item for him or he uses a credit card through Paypal. I have to add that while I signed up for Paypal in 2000, I did not have the account verified until last year when eBay mandated Paypal. I have a Premier account, so I can sell as well as buy. I prefer it to using a credit card. As a merchant, I pay 1.69% for a Paypal transaction and 5% if the customer uses a credit card. But I have no statement fee, no other fees, no security requirement fees and no cancellation or inactivity fees. I no longer have a merchant credit account and I am saving money.

I want to thank you guys and gals that answered it helps.

I've bought many times from retail establishments that have an online presence like B&H Photo, Dell, Circuit City, Best Buy, FarmTek, Springhill etc. but never from an online only retailer. I like to know there is a place I can point the Attorney General to if I get ripped.

But my main concern was Borders. I buy almost all of my books, DVD’s and CD’s as impulse buys well kind of, I usually have a mind to spend some money on something when I go there. I like to browse the store, find something interesting and buy it.

Online just doesn't have the same feel for those things. I would probably just do without rather than buy without the pleasure of the hunt.

My kids buy online all the time, they never hit the stores but I guess I'm an old fart set in my ways.