Just purchased something (small) through ebay for the first time in a long time.

What. The. Hell?

me> Ok, sure, I'd like to purchase. <CLICK>

ebay> Do you wish to commit to this purchase? If you and this purchase are joined in legal matrimony, no man may put them asunder. If you do this, you can't take it back, and if you reneg, we will haunt you with lawyers and werewolves until the end of days.

me> Um, ok. Yes. Yes, sure. I mean, that's what I just said on the previous screen right? <CLICK>

ebay> So, how would you like to pay? Here are your options:

-PayPal
-PayPal
-PayPal
-PalPay (actually PayPal)
-PlayPa (processed by PayPal)
-Your Pal (secretly PayPal)
-Some other method

me> huh? Ok, some other method <click>

ebay> Other payment methods available are:

PayPal
PayPal
PayPal
PayPal Visa Mastercard etc.
Visa Mastercard, etc. Processed by PayPal!!
FirstBorn
VitalOrgan [click for details]

me> what the hell? Can't I just pay with a credit card, you know, like I do everywhere else on the web? Why does PayPal have to be involved in everything. And what's the difference between PayPal Visa Mastercard and Visa Mastercard Processed by PayPal.

What the @#$ is wrong with you people?

OK, Visa Mastercard etc Processed by PayPal <CLICK>

ebay> We see that you have a PayPal account. Wouldn't it just be easier if you paid with PayPal? Your options are:

Yes
Absolutely
Indubitably
Probably

me>ARRRRRRRHRFHGHGHGHGHG!!!!

probably? <CLICK>

ebay>Did you mean yes?

Yes
No

me> no <CLICK>

ebay>Look, you are clearly pretty dense, so we'll spell it out for you. You have a choice of all major payment methods on ebay. But if you don't use PayPal, things could become ... difficult for you. You might be more likely to have a nasty accident or to have the details of your frightening taste in, ahem, erotica published on facebook and in your local newspaper. You could get a weird and undiagnosable disease that would make you miserable but not keep you from being able to work, so that you fall into that gray area where neither health insurance nor disability will pay. The choice is yours, dude. We're just providing information. We're here to help.

me> close window <CLICK>

I will not use it. i try to contact the seller and ask if he will take an MO. I have even sent cash when < 25. If I cannot contact the seller I will just bid (unless he says Paypal Only) and then worry about it after the auction. Too many people I know have been screwed over by Paypal.

This would be a five star post, if we could rate them anymore

Aw, shucks.

I like paypal

If there weren't any Craigslist or Ebay threads, the C&V would be no more

Me too.

Never, ever had a problem, nor do I know anyone who ever had a problem.

PayPal is great, I've been using eBay since 2002 with PayPal and never a problem. Since I don't have any credit cards I look for PP sig. when I shop on line.

It's also how I collect money from my 19 year old son to pay his cell and auto insurance bills.

Me likey the PayPal.

Since Paypal, my non-paying bidders have gone from 15% to zero. Sure, they're a pain in the ass, but I don't long for the days of waitiing around for money orders to arrive.

Without ebay and paypal most of us would not have any of the stuff we discuss on this forum.

I've never had a problem with eBay or PayPal either. But I hate the ridiculous fees; they get you comin' and goin'. I've pretty much stopped using both, at least for now.

I like Paypal too. People complain about the fees, but I've overdrawn my Paypal account many times by $1 or so and a bank would've charged me $30, but paypal doesn't charge me anything and that alone has more than compensated for the fees they charge. I'm not responsible with money though. I give them about $500 a year, but it allows me to take peoples credit and debit cards and every other online merchant has had the same fees, so if someone knows of a cheaper one, I'd like to know about it.

Ebay fees combined with Paypal fees are another story though. It's ridiculous having to pay fees to two companies owned by the same people, but it's what I have to do to make money.

Actually, I just looked into it more and I give them $800 a year. Maybe I should find something else!

a real auction would take what 20-30 percent? ebay only takes 9, sounds good to me

There are many things wrong with the world. And there are things wrong with ebay, and with paypal, and with this forum too. But ebay, paypal, and this forum have all made my life a better place. There are a million other things in this world that I'd fix before doing anything to Paypal.

I completely agree. But to split hairs, the combination of insertion fees + 9% ebay seller premium + 3.5% paypal fee, it is closer to a total of 15%. Still a bargin compared to the typical 30% an auction house will take.

Wow! I'm staying away from auctions in Phoenix I guess. Auctioneers in Missouri charge 10%.

thats a bargain! I have never seen an auction charge that little. I don't even understand how an auction could make money at 10 percent

If you like fees, you should see what my wife pays consignment shops for selling high end clothes. She gets 40%, shop gets 60%.....

Local bike shop charged me 25% to consign bikes. 9% to reach a global market starts looking pretty reasonable. Sure, I wish it was lower.

I've had no significant problems whatsoever with PayPal, over a decade of heavy use, buying and selling, business and personal.

That said, I wish I didn't have to pay them a cut, but that's no different than paying a bank to take your Visa or Mastercard chits, so it's a cost of doing business. I use PP enough so that they actually give me a better deal for moving the electrons (which is all they really do!) if I don't extract the money, but zap it around the internets that Al Gore invented instead. And that preferred rate is lower than the bank takes for VISA/MC....
YMMV.

Hey, that is a great idea!

Correct. Agreed....

You should see what Amazon takes, though, for someone that is small-potatoes in the "Sporting Goods" category (not sure if Nashbar pays less, but I would hope so). They take care of the credit cards fees, but take a 30-percent cut. No thanks (is what I told them)!

Ouch! Tell her to start a website, so she can reduce that from 60% to 4%....

She actually loves to sell her stuff on ebay, for the 15% fee mentioned above. Unfortunately, in the high end clothing area, only a few brands really bring decent $$ on an auction. So she cherry picks her stuff, ebays some of it, consigns the rest.