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Best Practices for Selling Equipment

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Last week I sold my two M8.2 s and I had a devil of time with a number of buyers. I could only conclude that I don t know what the heck I am doing. What better place to ask that the GETdpi forum....home of the most experienced equipment traders in the world.

Here are a couple of issues I had. My first two buyers could not get paypal to accept a credit card payment for $3500. They became angry about it with paypal and canceled there commitment as if I was part of the problem. :wtf:

Then over at FM I had a fellow agree to wire the money Monday morning. He sends me a note on Sunday saying my wife thinks I should get the M9 so I am not sending the money. At FM I couldn t even leave negative feedback because the transaction was never completed.

This of course screws up the negotiations with other potential buyers who are making offers right and left.

I always operate with the intent that "my word is binding". When I indicate I want something , I am good for it and you don t have to ask me to pay . Isn t backing out of a commitment a good reason for negative feedback.

But this is a general question about how you sell your equipment.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Limit on Paypal I believe is 3k per month but need to check that or 3k per transaction. Make it two transactions to clear the limit.

Have to check the limit though I knew one time that is what I had on a Amex card but that limit came from Amex not paypal.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
BTW good topic and knowing more about paypal helps folks out a great deal.

I only buy and sell here because I love our members and they are good people so that makes life easy. Is that bias . YES it is. LOL

Reality is I think many folks would agree. This section of the forum is really awesome with very very very few complaints.

Let me add to be perfectly honest I only use e-bay when I don't want to sell to a friend on this forum. If it is not the highest quality than it goes to e-bay and let me say i think many think the same way. Be careful out there.
 

billbunton

Subscriber Member
Not sure about the paypal credit card thing. I recently sold one item that required a payment of $3150 and the buyer did it fine -- but I don't know if he used CC or not.

I used to sell on FM quite a bit, but the last few years it's been the second or third place I try (and I've got a few items I may try selling here rather than there :). But the problem you encountered there is more widespread, I've seen it quite a bit (and getting more prevalent) at TPF.

When someone has committed to buying, I tell other interested parties I have an offer, but if payment falls through they're next in line (or next to next in line). That's actually worked pretty well, because I've had to fall back a number of times.
 

jlm

Workshop Member
you have my sympathy; i've been squeezed on both sides of the buy/sell deal.

i think in the end, money talks, money in hand. having held off other buyers because:
the first to offer needed to get his $ into paypal;
offer accepted, but the buyer wouldn't be able to transfer $ until tomorrow
etc.
should all be trumped by any offer that can pay first.

for example, i accepted an offer from a local guy who needed two days to get his $ together. then another earlier offerer went ahead and transferred my asking price to my paypal account without notifying me, so i sent it to him. local guy was unhappy. normally, I would have held it for the first guy, but i have done that as well, only to have that first offer disappear.
I even had tow buyers both send funds to me via paypal, again my asking price, no notice except the paypal deposit. item went to the earliest depositor, I was still answering other buyers, wheeling and dealing, and didn't notice the deposits for a bit.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
I really hope we don t have to get to the money talks stage here at GETdpi . I have committed to buy items over at FM and asked for the paypal id so that I could send funds.....only to be dumped because I wasn t home for a few hours to get the email on the ID. Generally if we agree to price and terms it should be Ok to give a person a day to move funds .

The paypal issue is complex. If you don t have a "verified" account linked to a bank account ..you have a "sending limit" imposed by paypal. The limit is shown on your account next to the balance in your paypal account. (I know for most of GETdpi a balance in the paypal account lasts a Nano Second!) This is primarily seen in accounts that are only linked to a credit card not a checking account.

The other limitation is imposed by the credit card company and it seems pretty common that they use $2000 for charges thru paypal. This is not displayed and you can only find out when you try to complete a payment. If the buyer has any issue with his credit card (I had the good thru date change and it killed my credit on paypal until I changed it) . The reason this becomes a Catch 22 (means a problem with no solution)...is that the credit card companies policies often conflict with paypal and they point fingers at each other. The lousy economy has them cutting off credit first and asking questions later.

Unfortunately I am going to fire up my eBay account because when you commit to buy you are committed ...no excuses . Pay or you get negative feedback which will kill your ability to both buy and sell. I will sell the big high demand items here but for the smaller stuff its off to ebay. Three out of five buyers backing out is too many.

Interested in what others think about this .
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
I'd just have a more relaxed attitude to people saying that they are selling, like with my wedding bookings, until the deposit is in your hand, the date is still open. Until you're paid, you don't take the FS: notice down, you don't believe anything until you have that money in your account.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Roger, please excuse, but what is your point?
Tex

I think the point is that its acceptable to tell I seller "I will take it" and then change your mind later and don t pay? The way around this seems to be to only accept an order after you see the money.

Even on eBay you can t get away with that. If you click buy it now or win the auction you have a set amount of time to come up with the money or you can expect negative feedback. This impacts your ability to buy or sell on eBay.

With people I know here at GETdpi ....we buy and sell using a check. It seems worthwhile to build a reputation for honesty and fair dealing.

So the point seems to be that "best practice" is first person that pays gets it.

I am not asking for advice ..really just interested in how others do business. It doesn t matter what I think .

Roger
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Please don t limit your comments to my situation as its only an example of a handling payments. Guy gave an excellent example of how he sells his equipment and he has pretty good experience. Besides GETdpi how are you moving all the stuff you bought last year(month?).
 

ecsh

New member
I just use a paypal cc, and pay it off when it comes in, so, my balance is set by that. But, to not know what you can or cannot charge is ridiculous in this day and age. I also get people on FM that will say I'll take it, and then they want to pay in 4 days. That is why you will see the "I am not holding this item for days" for anyone to pay. I know what you are saying about Ebay, as i do alot over there, but, being able to post negative feedback for someone on FM or here if they back out would not do anyone the monetary harm that it does on ebay.
 

Tim Ernst

New member
When I sell something here on DPI I always ship the item first and let the buyer have a look at it and then mail a check if he/she is happy. Never lost a cent this way. I wish more folks would do business this same way - especially on a forum like this one where most folks know at least the names if not the people.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Tim BTW you have a fine reputation of doing that as i have heard several folks mention this and it does show your faith in people. Good on you my friend. Here have to admit it is kind of easy, we know each other and most cases trust or believe people will do the right thing. Forums tend to be like that in a way since people participate in the forum section and let's be honest we are all pretty savvy and smell a rat at a 100 paces. I tend to agree with money talks people walk thoughts for sure. Your selling something and you want to get paid in a reasonable time period that YOU are comfortable with and that is the sellers choice. One idea is to lay it out on the line in your ad. If you are in a hurry than say you need instant paypal payment. people can read and if they come back with 4 days from now than say your sorry but that is not acceptable and move on down the line until you meet YOUR comfort zone. Obviously the buyer has his comfort zone also and nothing beats a good reputation of being a good seller. But also price is something you have to consider either way. If it is a good price it always seems that the money is there on the spot but a price that maybe a stretch seems to create the well I need to dig up the money and it will take 3 days. Certainly does seem that way does it not. For sellers you want to sell fast price it accordingly and least hassle same thing. That does not mean give it away but you have to think buyer and how they will look at the price too.

some things that do go a long way is also someone that is nice , fun and has a nice attitude in there posts. Have to say it helps a great deal. Sure it is a sale but it does not have to read like a poster board either. Just some more thoughts
 

dmabry2010

New member
New to DPI.

New to my M8, for that matter.

In reading the thread, what is "FM", where some equipment is bought and sold?

Thank you,

Dmabry2010
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Best practice is to have your word be your bond.
-bob
I agree, end of story. The problem is when you are of that belief and none of the folks you're dealing with are, it can be very frustrating. Honestly, it's why I prefer selling my gear here at GetDPI, and usually sell it at a discount just to have an easy, friendly and even fun time -- there is a certain pleasure in knowing a good piece of gear goes to somebody who is actually going to enjoy and appreciate it.

Which brings me to eBay. I absolutely HATE it now. Unfortunately, when you need to sell something arcane, it is about the only choice. I avoid it like the plague now, but sometimes have no option. Like I just sold my Silvestri there. The only serious bids all came out of Asia. And of course I have a huge international disclaimer in there about only accepting paypal, only shipping via insured carrier, and for expensive items the only real choice is FedEx international, so check the rates to your country in advance because they can be expensive, and I won't lie about the value for your customs, blah, blah, blah.

So of course the guy who wins it first thing he says is FedEx is too expensive, why can't I ship via regular mail. I explain they won't insure it or confirm delivery in China, and I need that for PayPal protection. He ends up arguing with me for three days about he doesn't need insurance, playing like he has no idea why I need it insured. I say I'll ship it uninsured via regular mail if he pays by direct wire transfer. He says he'll take that but pay by PayPal. Sheesh... Anyway, I finally tell him we're done and I'm reporting him to eBay as a non-paying buyer and going to relist it. Then and only then he agrees to pay for FedEx, but can I please say GIFT on the outside of the package for customs. Here we go again... I explain I cannot lie about the value and around and around we go. Finally, I figure a way to show the customs value and say it's a gift, so I figure he can argue with his customs on his end. Honestly, next auction will be US sales only, and I don't care if it costs me a 30% loss on a piece of gear; the hassles of dealing out of country are simply not worth it to me anymore...
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Best practice is to have your word be your bond.
-bob
Well said. I thought that was well understood but I can tell you its not the practice over at FM ...this has happened to me as a buyer and seller a half a dozen times.

It is a good place to sell Canon and Nikon equipment if you can tolerate the non sense.

I understand the situation as the credit squeeze is making people crazy. Image a world without GAS(gear acquisition syndrome). :ROTFL:

Jack s point on pricing is good. I try to find about what things are selling(not listing for) on Ebay then take 5%-10% off the lowest price. That makes it a good deal for someone and I net about the same after eBay fees.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Re FM... I think the best practice over there is as a seller say something up front in the ad like, "First to actually send me the payment will get this item." I did that the last time I sold something over there, and it definitely eliminated the "gimme more time" excuse.
 
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