WON THAT CAB!!!

[pickinatit]

Paypal is easy, but the fees are a pain and some sellers refuse to deal with it (such as the one I bought my Beta footswitch from, he wanted the money order).

I agree with both of you.  This seller wouldn't accept pay-pal.  I've learned some valuable lessons here myself. 
(1)  I will only buy if I can pay by pay-pal from now on.
(2)  If I was mailing check/money order I would only send by some sort of priority mail with a return receipt requested. (that was a mistake on MY part that has compounded this situation).

[JoeArthur]

Not all sellers are out to screw over buyers.

There are some other reasons for sellers not wanting to accept paypal.

Some of that is related to the additional fees ($0.30 plus 2.9% of the total payment including shipping). After all, eBay has already taken roughly 5% of the winning bid price not to mention the fees for listing the auction in the first place. But on the other hand, sometimes it is worth the cost of business to use paypal.

Paypal has sort of a SPP - seller protection policy. The theory is that if a seller conforms to the requirements of the SPP, then the seller is protected against scams by the buyer. This is not always true, but in the majority of cases it is better than nothing. However, most of the SPP requirements do at times seem to be nothing more than jumping through unnecessary hoops.

One requirement is that anything costing $250 or more be sent with signature confirmation of delivery. This either means that the buyer has to be home to accept delivery or take a trip to his post office. I did this once and had an angry buyer on my hands, luckily he calmed down and left positive feedback once I explained the reason to him - but the possibility of an angry buyer not wanting to join the seller in jumping through a paypal hoop isn't in the best interest of a seller. So I learned that if I believe the cost might be around or more than the $250 mark, I don't accept paypal.

Another requirement is that the seller must ship to the paypal confirmed address only. You must specify this in the auction's TOS (terms of sale) in order to require paypal buyers to have a confirmed address. You cannot block them from bidding on your item, but you can block them from paying for the auction through paypal.

This could give you another angry buyer if they didn't read the TOS, but they do have the option of having their paypal account address confirmed prior to paying. But if they did read the TOS and don't have a confirmed address and do not care to get one, then you have effectively only limited the bids you will get for your auction.

Along the same lines, confirmed addresses can be PO boxes.  UPS cannot deliver to a PO box. There is no way to block a PO box confirmed address. So if I am going to ship the item UPS, I do not accept paypal for the auction - so as not to further limit my bidding pool... or find out after the auction that I can't meet the SPP requirement by having to ship to their street address.

And the requirement for confirmed address shipping can prevent a seller from honoring the wishes of the buyer, like the reason they won your auction in the first place. The best example I have of this is the mom in Tucson that bought my model T head as a present for her son in California. She asked if I could ship it to him.  If I had taken paypal I would have had to say "No".

Just a few additional things to consider if you only want to pay with paypal.

[stanner]

...The best example I have of this is the mom in Tucson that bought my model T head as a present for her son in California.

Geez i wonder if that Model T is being played today...
i hope if anyone has a Model T(old ones) for sale and is on this list they offer it here first.
its so hard findin good ones
i'm just sayin
s

[pickinatit]

Not all sellers are out to screw over buyers.

There are some other reasons for sellers not wanting to accept paypal.

Some of that is related to the additional fees ($0.30 plus 2.9% of the total payment including shipping). After all, eBay has already taken roughly 5% of the winning bid price not to mention the fees for listing the auction in the first place. But on the other hand, sometimes it is worth the cost of business to use paypal.

I understand there are legitimate reasons for sellers not to want to accept paypal.  But the buyer needs some protection too, obviously.
My son bought something off e-bay and the seller claimed he never received the moneyorder.  An inquiry into the money order revealed that it had been cashed.  The signiature was unintelligible, so he was just out.  So, I understand the reasons,  but I think I will be very, very reluctant to accept the risk again since my family has been burnt once and maybe twice now.

[JoeArthur]

Once bitten, twice shy. I understand that!!

For both buyers and sellers, nothing is completely safe. Not even paypal.

I'm not anti-paypal, not by any means. Most of the time everything goes well and there are no complaints. But when things don't go well, it really is a crap shoot as to how paypal will handle it. They are very inconsistent in how they apply their own policies, and many buyers have lost their money. Paying with a credit card through paypal is probably the safest, at least if paypal decides against you there is always the option of doing a chargeback through the credit card company.

If I have to send a money order it will always be a postal money order. If it is cashed at the post office, the person cashing it must present ID and sign it in the presence of the postal employee. And of course anything deposited into an account will have the account information on it. The chances of anything wrong happening with a postal money order is pretty slim, and I like to think that it may have something to do with the seller being subjected to a federal investigation for mail fraud.

What amazes me are the people that send me money orders for items with nothing in the envelope except for the money order! Not only that, but absolutely no return address on the envelope either!!

I guess that's because it seems that they are not even taking the minimum of reasonable precautions as it's very easy to see the money order through most envelopes. At least wrap it in a sheet of blank paper!!

Of the 20+ money orders I received for eBay sales, only one had any sort of delivery confirmation. I had to sign for that one since it was sent express - as I understand it "he" and "she" thought the other was going to send it.  "she" got nominated and sent it express so I would get it the next day after they realized neither had sent it. The express cost was around $16 if I remember correctly.

[made by hand]

you got a good deal...as a proud owner of two 2000s sunn amps with cabs, and 5 2oos sunn amps with cabs...no..none of them are for sale..when i die....they go with me...ok..back to your deal...you did good....us sunn owners will back up any stuff you buy with the sunn name plate on it...we'll even talk with your wife to tell her...it's a sunn owners thing..she wouldn't understand....it's like...jewlery to them..amps to us...enough said....Bob...from mass.

[stanner]

ummm..... what do you do w/ all them beauty amps and cabs?
of course the perfect answer is:
i use all of them ina pick up band i'm in

[pickinatit]

I did send a Postal Money Order, but so had my son when he got burnt.  They're evidently not always as careful as they should be about checking identification. They didn't mark anything on the money order such as his drivers license number or anything that could be used to verify that it was the seller that cashed the check and not someone else, so we'll never know.

I'm going to call the seller tonight and see what, if anything,  we can work out. 

[JoeArthur]

I did send a Postal Money Order, but so had my son when he got burnt.  They're evidently not always as careful as they should be about checking identification. They didn't mark anything on the money order such as his drivers license number or anything that could be used to verify that it was the seller that cashed the check and not someone else, so we'll never know.

I'm going to call the seller tonight and see what, if anything,  we can work out. 

It is not necessary, although several postal employees do, to mark something on the money order verifying ID.  The mere fact that they cashed it is sufficient to establish identity.

The verification of ID to cash a postal money order at a post office is a federal requirement - not an option. If a postal employee ever cashes a postal money order without verifying identification, then that employee will be subject to disciplinary action - including termination and possible federal jail time.

If the seller doesn't make good, file a mail fraud complaint.  You can even do it online. The USPS will investigate and they take their job very seriously.

[pickinatit]

I did send a Postal Money Order, but so had my son when he got burnt.  They're evidently not always as careful as they should be about checking identification. They didn't mark anything on the money order such as his drivers license number or anything that could be used to verify that it was the seller that cashed the check and not someone else, so we'll never know.

I'm going to call the seller tonight and see what, if anything,  we can work out. 

It is not necessary, although several postal employees do, to mark something on the money order verifying ID.  The mere fact that they cashed it is sufficient to establish identity.

The verification of ID to cash a postal money order at a post office is a federal requirement - not an option. If a postal employee ever cashes a postal money order without verifying identification, then that employee will be subject to disciplinary action - including termination and possible federal jail time.

If the seller doesn't make good, file a mail fraud complaint.  You can even do it online. The USPS will investigate and they take their job very seriously.

Wow!  This is Very good to know.  I didn't get a chance to call last night
(I had a 2 mo. old Grandchild taken to the hospital - everything is fine there).  I will try today/tonight.

[mc2]

I actually didn't bid on that cab because the seller was not responsive. Asked what speakers and the dimensions of the cab and go a "will chekc and let you know." Asked a few times and he emailed in the final hours saying he forgot.

As far as Postal Money Orders....There are a few interesting things about them.

1) They NEVER expire or go out of date.

2) Up until last year, only the person who originally bought the money order could trace it. So, if yu were a seller looking to trace a missing money order sent to you, you were out of luck is the buyer/sender did not cooperate. Fortunately the USPO changed that so either side can trace it.

3) I believe it's 90 days that you must wait for a money order to be considered "missing" nad then you may request a replacement. They do it from St/ Louis, MO.

4) If they send you a replacement...it actually says on it something to the effect that "if the original M.O. is ever cashed, whomever the replacement is made out to and cashed by IS RESPONSIBLE FOR REIMBURSING THE USPO FOR THAT AMOUNT!!!!!

5) I know all of this from tracing over $5000 in USPO Money Orders that a scamming tenant claimed he "sent me" from two doors away. It was all a con to not pay rent and he'd done it to others in the past. He didn;t realixe that they'd changed it so now either side could trace the money orders...he TOTALLY flipped out when he realized I'd traced them all and had received AND CASHED the replacements. Even thought they do read that I would have to reimburse the USPO if they originals ever got cashed....he screwed himself because he was the only other person who could cash the originals...and the USPO investigators said that if he DID cash them after claiming he'd sent them to me, he would be committing US Postal Fraud and be arrested!!

  Ironically, he flipped out about me getting the money and actually went up to the local post office demanding that the clerk who signed and submitted the trace request for me BE FIRED!! When that didn't happen he returned a few days later and threstened to KILL the clerk...and they called the cops and he was arrested anyway. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Scamming ittle weasel.

  So...you may get lucky and it'll work out.

[jaywalker]

After the excitement of making a purchase it's a huge disappointment to have so much trouble I hope it all works out. Remain calm and hope for the best. One lesson I've learned was taught by the Postal Service. My confirmed addy is a P.O. box and I've had very little trouble. For items too large for my box they either put a key to a larger box or a pickup slip in it which I then take to the counter. One time they put the pickup slip in someone else's box then gave them the item which they never returned (two JJ 6l6's...may the recipient choke on the glass...some people's children!). The seller had a tracking number (properly addressed) and delivery was confirmed to this someone. Since then I ask the seller to also add signature confirmation (they usually ask for ID if they don't know you) and I'll pay the extra couple of bucks. I do the same if sending money orders for payment.

[pickinatit]

I spoke on the phone to the seller this weekend.  I am convinced that the guy is on the up & up and made an honest mistake by moving and not changing his "payment to" address on e-bay.  (Although he insists that he thought he had and doesn't understand what happened there, but I believe him).

He says that at his old address they told him that any mail that comes into the apartment complex addressed to a tenant that no longer resides there is "returned to sender"  as a matter of course/procedure.

So we have agreed to wait a little longer to see if the postal money order is returned to me or if the time (about 30 more days now) elapses without it being cashed so that I can get a refund from the Post Office.  I'm in no rush for the cab in the sense that I don't NEED it right away.  So I think as long as we stay in touch with one another we will end up working this out to our mutual satisfaction provided my Money Order doesn't get cashed by someone else somehow.

I'll  Post down the road if there any more further developments

[pickinatit]

Miracle of Miracles!!!  My Money Order for the cab came back to me yesterday "returned to sender" !!!   I think I'm finally going to end up getting that cab that I won what seems like oh so long, long ago!!

This time the Money order will be sent by some kind of priority mail with a return receipt requested.  OH HAPPY DAYS!!