How does PayPal work?
PayPal is a payment service in which members can send & receive secure electronic payments through an email address using a credit card, bank account or funds in their PayPal balance.
How do I receive payments for an eBay auction?
On the 4th page of the Sell Your Item (SYI) form on eBay, is the PayPal credit card logo's, below them is a box to add your email address to you want the payment to made to. It is very important that you spell the email address correctly & it is the email address that is registered with your PayPal account. Once a buyer has won your eBay item, they can use the Pay Now button from the closed auction or from your invoice to pay that email address. Later on, this article will address what to do if you made a typo in the email address on the 4th page of the Sell Your Item form or have changed your email address & the payments problems associated with it as well as how to correct it.
How do I get my money from the PayPal account?
There are several ways to obtain money from your PayPal account. These are the main ways: You can withdraw the funds to your bank account (3-4 business days for completion), Request a check from PayPal (1-2 weeks with a $1.00 fee), or use your PayPal Debit Card at an ATM machine, fees apply.
To withdraw funds to your bank account, login to PayPal's site & from the Overview section click on the Withdraw subtab.
Information & requirements to sign up for a PayPal Debit Card: https://www.paypal.com/debitcard
To view the PayPal Debit Card Policy: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_debit-outside
How do I protect myself against claims from buyers?
PayPal Seller Protection is available to members in the US, Canada & the United Kingdom.
In order to have Seller Protection with PayPal you must do the following for each transaction, you cannot skip a step.
- Ship within 7 days of receiving payment
- Ship to the confirmed address on the transaction page from PayPal (verified does not count)
- Ship with online tracking such as Delivery Confirmation with the USPS that shows delivered. Payments over $250 require Signature Confirmation.
- Have a verified Premier or Business Account
- The payment must display the Seller Protection Eligible icon for a seller to be covered. (Thanks gartduv!)
SPP Eligible looks like this.
SPP Ineligible looks like this.
- If your buyer wins multiple auctions, they must pay in one consolidated payment to ship in one package. You need a unique tracking number for each payment.
When using Delivery Confirmation from the USPS, your package must be 3/4" thick at it's thickest point to get this service at the USPS (unless you are using Priority Mail or Express Mail) use mailing peanuts or chunks of shipping Styrofoam in the package if you need height.
The USPS insurance over $50.00 is NOT a substitute for Signature Confirmation even though it requires a signature from the buyer. The USPS is the ONLY one that can access the signature on their computers, it is not viewable online to the public so you would need insurance AND Signature Confirmation for payments over $250.00. DO NOT let the USPS worker tell you otherwise!!
Read the Seller Protection Policy by going here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_spp-outside
Seller Protection protects you from claims of Non-Receipt of Goods as well as credit card chargebacks for Non-Receipt of Goods & fraudulent use of funds claims.
Make sure the name that shows up on the buyers statement is one they will recognize, most claims of unauthorized use are due to the buyer not knowing who the charge is from on the statement.
To check this........
PayPal.com > Login > Click on the Profile subtab > Click on the Payment Receiving Preferences link > Towards the bottom:
The Credit Card Statement Name is the name that will appear on your customers' credit card statements.
Make sure the eBay is 1st so the buyer knows it is an eBay transaction
Credit Card Statement Name: ebaykathies (11 Character Maximum)
Extended Credit Card Statement Name: ebaykathiesklown197 (19 Character Maximum)
When selling overseas, you ONLY have Seller Protection IF the member is in the UK or Canada & has a confirmed address with PayPal. PayPal has been increasing the number of confirmed addresses in the last few months.
If a member from overseas files a complaint against you, you will have nothing to fight the claim with unless you have followed the Seller Protection Policy. Postal receipts do not count, "Proof of delivery" matters along with the other SPP requirements. If you had a *confirmed* address with a member in the UK or Canada, you would need to ship it using Global Express Mail to provide PayPal with online tracking. If you are using FedEx, DHL or UPS their online tracking works as well. Try not to ship using these carriers as they can impose Brokerage Fees onto your buyer that are above & beyond the normal customs duties & taxes. Brokerage Fees are fees that the carrier charges to the buyer for Custom's clearance. If you use FedEx, DHL or UPS for global shipping, make sure that you state this in your auctions & state that the buyer is responsible for the Brokerage Fees so there are no surprises for the buyer.
If you are not willing to take the risk of selling Internationally without Seller Protection with PayPal or to an Unconfirmed Address for a US member, then check off the following while you are still in the Payment Receiving Preferences section of your PayPal profile:
- Block payments from U.S. users who do not provide a Confirmed Address
- Block payments sent to me in a currency I do not hold
- Have non-U.S. PayPal accounts
And state in your auctions: "I only ship to the *Confirmed* address that is on the details page for PayPal payments"
You need to setup your preferences on eBay too:
https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html
Click on the Buyer Requirements in the link & setup all your preferences. Before clicking on the Submit button, make sure you check the box that says: 'Apply to all auctions'.
How do I protect myself against claims of Not As Described from buyers?
It is very important to list your item as accurately as possible as sellers do not have Seller Protection against claims of Not As Described. Use good photographs of the actual item & detailed descriptions. Here are some things that should be included in the description: Color, Condition, Quantity, Weight (i.e. Net Wt 0.09 oz), Height & Length.
https://pages.ebay.com/education/sellingbasics/photos.html
Do I have Seller Protection if I am not in the US, Canada or the United Kingdom?
You do if you are a member of the World Seller Program. The countries that qualify are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, & the U.S.
Requirements are:
***Have a registered Premier or Business PayPal account
***Consistently sell the equivalent of $5,000.00 USD or more in any of the PayPal accepted currencies for the past three months to buyers outside the seller's home country
(The above information about the World Seller Program is copied from the PayPal website.)
PayPal.com > Help at the top right > World Seller in the search box
Changing your email address to receive payments.
One of the most common problems I see on the boards is a seller who changes their email address & forgets to change it on the Sell Your Item form (SYI) listing. You should never remove an old email address from your PayPal profile until you know for sure that you changed it everywhere, even if you will not have access to the email address any longer. You can have up to 8 email addresses in your PayPal profile at one time.
On the 4th page of the SYI form is the PayPal credit card logo's, there is a box there to change the email address. If you are using the Sell Similiar or Relist option from old auctions, you will have to change the email address there as well everytime you click on an old auction that you have not used since you changed email addresses!
What if I did not change the email address & my payments are Unclaimed on the buyers end & Pending in My eBay?
1st do this: Go to the closed auction & in the header of the auction, click on the Relist option. You are not relisting anything, just looking. Go to the 4th page where the credit card logo's are, what is the email address in the box? Is it correct? Click on the X to close the window once you know the answer, nothing has been listed.
If you still have access to the email account, add it back to your PayPal profile. PayPal.com > Login > Click on the Profile subtab > Click on the Email link > Confirm the email address. The funds will appear once you complete the confirming of the email address.
If you do not have access to the email account any longer, the buyers will have to Cancel their payment on the PayPal site & submit payment through the Send Money tab on PayPal, they will need your correct email address for this. If the buyer does not cancel their payment with PayPal, it will remain Unclaimed until 30 days have past from the time they paid then the payment will be refunded to the buyer. In order for the buyers to have the Free PayPal Buyer Protection (if your auctions qualified) they must use the Send Money tab & select that it is an eBay auction, then follow the steps.
What if I entered the wrong email address (typo) on the SYI?
Example your email address is ~seller1234 at anyisp dotcom~ and your email address is really ~seller12345 at anyisp dotcom~ try creating the email address that is wrong to see if someone owns that email account. If it is not taken, create it & add it to your PayPal profile using the directions above, once you confirm the email address, the funds will show up in your PayPal account.
If the typo is in the second part of the email address after the @ then the buyers will have to Cancel their payments & pay again using the Send Money tab on PayPal's site.
Please keep in mind that not all buyers will cancel a payment & pay again, they are not obligated to do this so be VERY nice & apolgetic when you email them.
What if the payment went to another person that DOES have a PayPal account?
Eek! If you entered the wrong email address & it is another PayPal members & the payment is complete, the buyer needs to email the email address asking them to refund the payment through the Details section of the payment where the Refund link is. If the other person does not do this, the buyer will have to file a claim against that account. To do this: PayPal.com > Login > Security Center at the very bottom of the page > Click on the Item Not Received link on the right side & follow the steps
