Taking Paypal on eBay
Accepting Paypal as a payment method might increase your
selling prices and your profits. This depends on what you are
selling. I sell collectibles to collectors. My clients are like
junkies. They will buy regardless of the payment options, so not
offering Paypal won't make much difference in the final selling
prices.
If you sell items with high competition, accepting Paypal will
make your auctions more attractive. This also holds true for
impulse buys. Plus, you can get paid instantly through Paypal.
Here's a few suggestions for increasing your profits by
accepting Paypal:
1. Select accept Paypal in the auction listing process to get
the Paypal logo into your auction. You can put in the auction
description that you accept Paypal, but unless you use the
Paypal logo some buyers will miss this Payment choice. Many
buyers look specifically for the logo and expect to find it in
certain areas of the auction listing.
2. If you only accept bank account transfers, and do not accept
credit card payments through paypal be sure to mention this in
your auction description and the payment types area. Even after
you mention this, you will get credit card payments from some
Paypal users. This causes confusion with buyers.
3. One problem that may come up is your shipping schedule. I
ship once a week. Some eBay buyers feel that I should drop
everything and go to the post office as soon as they send me
money through Paypal. This used to cause problems.
Now when a buyer sends me money, I quickly email him and tell
him when to expect his item. Because I ship on Thursday or
Friday, I can tell them their item will be delivered by the next
Tuesday, if not earlier. Instead of telling the buyer I will
ship the item on Friday, I tell them to expect it on Monday.
This changes the buyer's focus from when I will ship to when
they will get the item.
One last thing before I finish up. I recommend eBay sellers use
guarantees. If you take a credit card through Paypal, and later
refund the buyer's money, you will be out the Paypal fees if the
refund is done more than 30 days after the initial transaction.
You need to require your buyer to return the item quickly.