I'm thinking of adding a paypal button to my site. I was trying to avoid paypal because of the fees and lack of seller protection.

What do you guys think? Does it make a difference when you shop?

Dan

For me if I have money in my Paypal account I will sometimes buy some items I normally would let go by, its much easier than getting a money order.

So yes, it does make a difference, depending on the rarity of the item.

It certainly influences me. Paypal is great for the buyer but not so great for the seller (in terms of both fees and also dispute resolution because paypal sides with the buyer about 99.9% of the time). Especially for a Canadian buyer of ebay items sold by US sellers, paypal is so much more convenient versus paying extra for money orders (if the seller is Canadian and accepts checks, then that negates the paypal benefit somewhat).

From a buyer-protection standpoint alone, I am more willing to bid on items if the seller accepts paypal AND more willing to bid a little higher for that item.

Ray

Dan,i hate to say this but as of this month Paypal has become mandatory for sellers to use.
i just did some listings and my template had Money Order etc.. as forms of payment,when i pressed the button to go ahead and list my item a pop up from ebay appeared warning that they may pull the listing as money order is no longer an option.

but aside from the above comment,paypal has made it very easy for me to buy stuff knowing i can pay within seconds and be protected in my transaction.so yes it did make a difference for me.

also as a seller in the past when Cash/Money Order/Personal Cheq's and Paypal were in the mix,about 95% of payments from buyers were from PAYPAL,so that tells you a lot right there.

I have had quite a few people e-mail me asking me if I accept checks or money order for certain auctions. I think alot of sellers still accept other forms of payment so I hope people are smart enough to at least ask a seller if they accept other forms of payment before passing up on an auction because of paypal. It is a very convenient way to do business so I would recommend it for your site. You can always get rid of it later if it doesn't go the way you like.

Yes--I was under the impression the PayPal had become mandatory on eBay now.

PayPal is great for the buyer. Since I am mostly a buyer, I can pay for a card right after an auction is over and the card can get to me within days sometimes. I remember when I first started bidding on eBay, nobody was taking checks. I was making trips to the post office/gas station a few times a week for money orders. I avoided PayPal at first since I wasn't sure about having my credit card info on some website that I hadn't ever heard of before. Now I'm used to PayPal, but I can really see why a seller might have reservations. That being said, I have only filed 2 claims on PayPal and I had 1 claim filed against me when a buyer claimed that a package I sent never arrived. Most of the time, PayPal works. Unfortunately, it has loopholes that can be used by dishonest buyers. This is the same kind of problem that retail stores face. No matter how careful they are, they are going to lose a certain amount of money

Part of the benefit of selling on eBay is the vast number of people who might bid on your auctions, but the downside is the 3 separate fees--listing fee, final value fee, PayPal fee.

Yes, I refused to open an account with them, so I left eBay. They wanted my Social Security number and other personal information when I tried to register. Here is an New York Times article from two days ago detailing what they're up to.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/why-paypal-wants-to-know-where-everybody-lives/

I read the article, and I can't see anything shocking or devious. I don't think that I was ever given a credit card without providing my social security #. So far, PayPal hasn't ripped me off or stolen my identity, so I'm not worried about it.

My only complaint with PayPal is the fees they charge me for such a simple service.

I would hate to quit eBay. I don't know where I would get new cards. Sure I can buy some stuff on this forum or directly from a dealer, but that's hit or miss with some stuff. It's fun to go on eBay and just look around sometimes. Sometimes I do sell stuff on craigslist. I can sell locally and not pay any fees to anyone, but not cards!

Absolutely!
If a seller does not accept PayPal I will not buy from them.

With PayPal I know that I have the protection of the Dispute Resolution process or the protection of my credit card charge-back protection.

Money Orders are a thing of the past!! They are slow, they can get lost in the mail and if the seller is dishonest - good luck getting your money back! You can trace a money order but so what! It does not give you any protection!!

PayPal has high fees - which is my big problem with them but for the protection and convenience they offer I am fine with PayPal.

Paul

I haven't used paypal in awhile, so I'll have to find out if I can transactions in CDN $$....or it's like ebay and all in USD.

Dan,

Yes you can use CDN $$$ with PayPal. You can use about 10 - 20 different currencies.

Paul