I sell alot of car parts on ebay and over the net and I also do quite a
bit of buying aswell. From a selling stand point I've had to adapt a
policy of "moneyorder or pay-pal only" for payment and ship only after I
receive the payment. In the beginning I used to ship COD, accept
personal checks and in some cases ship before I receive payment. I
quickly found out that the hand full of dishonest people out ther were
ruining it for the rest of you. I would get refused COD's(which means
I'm in the hole for shipping), bounced checks(I'm out the part and the
bounced check fee) and sometimes No payment at all!! Needless to say I
put an end to it and to be honest with you, I haven't lost any
business. If people want references I tell them to check out my
feedback or I forward them to a few web sites where I'm known. If
that's not good enough, I let them walk away. It's not worth the
aggravation or loss of money to me.
As for buying on the net....for ebay I won't bid on any item where the
seller has a feedback rating of less than 10 or 2 negatives in 6
months. I've NEVER been burned this way! For other sources, simply do
your homework by asking for references. This system has worked quite
well for me for the past 3-4 years.
Al
Alex Harris wrote:
>
> That's an interesting notion, Cal. In all the cases I've purchased over the
> net, I've always had to pay first and then cross my fingers and hope that I
> was dealing with a reputable person. And you're right, sometimes this
> involves hundreds of dollars.
>
> Obviously it would have to be voluntary, there's no way to regulate usage.
> And someone would have to be willing to do it. Pay would come from where, a
> surcharge on all transactions? Would people be willing to pay that for the
> peace of mind and security it adds? I would be tempted to use an escrow
> agent, especially for higher-ticket items. But then again, for many
> transactions it might be unnecessary. Also, what if someone returns an item
> that they used and/or damaged, who will be responsible for the dispute
> between the vendor and purchaser as to whether money should be refunded?
>
> Would there be enough transactions to make it worthwhile? I just don't know
> if the volume is high enough to warrant someone committing resources to it.
>
> My $.02
>
> - Alex
>
> > From: Cal Hyer <clhyer@hom.net>
> > Reply-To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
> > Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 05:37:34 -0800
> > To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
> > Subject: DML: DML, Trust & a Thought for Discussion : Please Read
> >
> > I am going to ramble for a few minutes, but I hope that you will stay with
> > me.
> >
> > I do a substantial amount of my purchasing over the net. And until last
> > year, I had my own Internet business with custom woodworking. I have
> > purchased many (100+) items from ebay ranging from a few dollars to over
> > $100. I have been burned twice on small ticket items. I have purchased
> > used tools from $100-$300 from individuals that ran classified ads on my
> > favorite woodworking site: Woodmagazine.com without a problem.
> >
> > This brings me to my Dak and the DML. I have upgraded and added accessories
> > that I have purchased through ebay and online businesses. Without problem.
> > I have traded trinkets and advice with many of you - without a catch.
> > Unfortunately, when it comes to a business deal with "some" fellow DML'ers I
> > cannot say the same thing. Why is this? In no particular order, consider:
> >
> > 1. The number of people "unhappy" with QuickD recently due to a lack of
> > communication and no parts being shipped and the DML messages.
> > 2. The number of people "unhappy" with R&D Performance for past (and
> > recent) transactions.
> > 3. I recall 1 or 2 other incidents with folks on the DML having a tough
> > time getting parts ordered from other DML'ers.
> >
> > Generally, I believe that we are talking about items over $100 here. A
> > throttle body, an intake, shift kit, core charge or whatever.
> >
> > I have an idea to throw out. Patterned after ebay's "Tradenable". If you
> > want to do business with someone (be it Tony, Patrick or anyone else) but
> > you are uncomfortable because of reputation or simply because of the amount
> > of money involved - we establish the following: A third party to act as an
> > escrow agent. If you are unfamiliar with this type of process, it would
> > work like this:
> >
> > 1. You place your order with (for illustration - R&D) for the part and
> > notify R&D and our escrow agent that payment will be placed in escrow.
> > 2. You send payment to the escrow agent, depending upon payment type, the
> > escrow agent will then:
> > a. with a personal check, wait a given number of days (Tradenable uses
> > 10 days) for the check to clear and then notify R&D that payment has been
> > received.
> > b. with certified funds, immediately notify R&D that payment was
> > received.
> > 3. R&D ships the product, upon receipt,
> > 4. You notify the escrow agent to issue payment to R&D, or
> > 5. If you are unhappy you send the product back and notify the escrow agent
> > to refund your money.
> >
> > You can immediately see the advantages. The escrow agent is a disinterested
> > third party. If you get your product you are happy and the seller is happy.
> > If you don't get your product, you can at least be assured that you will get
> > your money back. If you are interested to see the info at ebay, check this
> > link: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/escrow.html
> > You will note that there is a fee for this, depending upon the amount of the
> > transaction. We would also have to pay for this. The escrow agent would be
> > devoting time, postage, and a bank account (which are not cheap in this
> > area) to the process. This would be a totally optional service, but for a
> > fee to the buyer. Also, the seller would have to agree.
> >
> > The only downside that I can see is that it might slow up a transaction, but
> > then it may not.
> > What do you all think? Would you use it if it was available? Our vendor
> > choice for good accessories is a very small pool. This may help us to get,
> > and keep, more.
> >
> > Please give me some feedback!
> >
> >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:59:56 EDT