buying on ebay question.

[mandasmom]

I see others were answering your question the same time I was.

even if I wanted it and was willing to pay the "no way to know" mimium reserve I couldn't get it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Even though you were the only bidder, you could still enter other bids til you hit her minimum amount, if it was something you really wanted. You might want to wait til just before the auction ends to do it, so you don't drive the price up, but you can bid again on items, even if you are the current high bidder.

[PhDfamily]

Originally posted by mandasmom:
In regards to the minimum bid, the seller doesn't have to sell the item if her minimum isn't met. It won't matter that you are the higgest bidder. I believe it may be a little cheaper for sellers to list with a minimum reserve rather than to start the auction out at the lowest price they will accept-listing fees are based on you opening bid-the higher the opening bid, the higher the listing fee. You won't be required to purchase the item if you are the high bidder but the minimum hasn't been met.

As far as the seller not emailing you to tell you your item has shipped, I sell on ebay and don't email my buyers unless they requested it in an email or in a comment with their paypal payment. How can you tell that the seller hasn't accepted your paypal payment? I know if buyers use a bank transfer it takes 4-5 business days for payment to clear, just like a check-paypal tells sellers not to send the item til the payment clears. I've always wondered if buyers understood that.

IMO, you would not be pestering the seller at all if you sent a friendly email asking if your item has been sent yet.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Basically I have looked at my pay pal account and it has been "sent" but not accepted. (taken out of my account, but not placed in hers.) It says waiting transaction, so I do wonder if there is some mistake on my side, after all I am new at this. I did try to contact her again though the ebay webiste, and asked her to just let me know she got it and if everything was alright. (being new and all.) I also said I understood if she was't able to ship it right away, I just wanted to be sure everything was alright with the transaction. (this is the 2nd time I have tried to contact her, but the 1st I requested a return email.)

I guess if I don't hear form her by monday I will contact ebay and ask for a phone number. I hate to do that though, that does seem intrusive.

I guess I am a "what you see is what you get person." I would much rather people just ask the minium they want for something. That does make sense that you could ask the seller what it is though. That would be dircet. My guess is someone else will bid on this hight then what I set as my minium and it won't be an issue for me anymore. It should be interesting to wacth though.

[Miss_Nellie_OMalley]

As for how long to wait before reporting with ebay. Give it no more than a month. I had a seller that gave me the run around one time.. "Oh its in the mail... just wait be patient" and before i knew it too much time had ellapsed and I was out my money. They never sent it. If you file a complaint its not going to hurt them (just don't leave feedback immediatly)you can always resolve it with no ebay strikes to anyone, but you have started the process if it ends up being a problem.

Goo' Luck!

[Melissa*Olivia]

Like "Nana" said -- if you are really interested in the item and have a definite maximum amount in mind of what you can/will pay, just e-mail the seller. Tell them you would like to know what the reserve price is so you know if you should even bother watching/bidding. There is no reason why the seller should not want you to know this info.

[brazilian_girl]

Originally posted by AG Seamstress:
Brazilian_girl......I don't usually sell internationally, but I have sold to Canadian customers, and most of them have checking accounts set up in US banks, just for Ebay purchases. I don't know if that's an option for you, or not. I think you can also transfer money INTO a Paypal account, and pay for an auction as a transfer payment, to anyone that doesn't accept credit cards, but accepts Paypal transfers.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmmmmm.. will have to find out how to transfer money into my paypal account, don't know if it's possible to me. When paypal opened I was so excited but it didn't work with Brazil [img]frown.gif[/img] Then some years later they started working with Brazil but only with credit card and only to the buyer, I suppose I can't receive money through paypal, but I will check it out, thank you for the information!!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

BTW, I think every seller should accept credit card payment and state on the auction that there is a fee when the buyer pays with this form of payment, and it's up to the buyer to choose to pay the fee or not... It's a bit like handling fees, I suppose. I don't say that only because that's the only way I can pay, but sometimes people can't pay right away and prefer to pay with credit card... So the more options a buyer have to pay, the better!

You couldn't imagine how sad I was when Bidpay closed... That was an option to me, even with the fee they charged (up to 10.00 dollars) sometimes it was worth it. Now I only have paypal (credit card) or sending cash, which is very risky [img]frown.gif[/img]

[mypinkmermaid]

"BTW, I think every seller should accept credit card payment and state on the auction that there is a fee when the buyer pays with this form of payment, and it's up to the buyer to choose to pay the fee or not... It's a bit like handling fees, I suppose. I don't say that only because that's the only way I can pay, but sometimes people can't pay right away and prefer to pay with credit card... So the more options a buyer have to pay, the better!"
Oh dear, that is so illegal! Not only for ebay, but the credit card companies will take away a vendors account if they are caught charging fees for use. Sounds like a good idea in principle, but you can't do that!

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 03, 2006 11:17 PM: Message edited by: mypinkmermaid ]</font>

[SanFen]

Hmmmmm. . . .I think that when you decide to accept credit cards, you have to agree to not charge the consumer any credit card fees.

Sandy

[brazilian_girl]

Originally posted by mypinkmermaid:
Oh dear, that is so illegal! Not only for ebay, but the credit card companies will take away a vendors account if they are caught charging fees for use. Sounds like a good idea in principle, but you can't do that!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh, I didn't realize it, yes, you are right! [img]confused.gif[/img] I am getting accostumed with reading some sellers state that they will charge additional fees for MO outside the US and things like that, and I usually pay so much for handling (sometimes I pay twice the value of actual shipping), sorry... Here on some stores you get a discount or a gift when you pay cash or with a check...

Well, I am glad that there is paypal anyway, even if it doesn't allow me to add funds!!!!

Edited to add that it was me, not AG Seamstress who wrote that!!! [img]smile.gif[/img] I am to blame, hehehe...

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ March 03, 2006 10:32 PM: Message edited by: brazilian_girl ]</font>

[stebbarry]

I would definately send a quick e-mail to the seller of the item you won. You can do it through the auction page by clicking on ask the seller a question (even though the auction has ended you should still be able to do this). We had the same thing happen once where the seller put the incorrect paypal id in their auction so even though we paid right away, the seller could not see the transaction (as it didn't go to their account) and therefore did not know that we had paid. I would let them know that you paid via paypal and that you want to verify that they received your payment. Don't wait too long because if this is the problem they'll think that you are just not paying for the item. Good luck! - Meg B.

[mypinkmermaid]

Be patient, it's been less than a week. I know, I hate it when sellers don't communicate, but by ebay rules they have a week after close of auction to ship, and then you have to allow time for transit. Keep emailing them, and I'm sure they will get around to responding.