Greetings Chris,

Interesting. Let us touch lightly on #7, here are some reasons that one may not want to accept PAYPAL payments. I am not saying I agree or disagree with the following issues, but raise them , as food for thought.

1. Lack of familiarity. Some sellers do not like having another financial account open, an account with a whole new set of rules to learn. Another account to have to manage. Like anything else new, it can be intimidating until you have a working knowledge of the PAYPAL system. Some sellers can barely put a sentence together as is evidenced by some listings. A highly educated person can get lost in PAYPALS nuances. Some sellers still keep their money under their mattress, they do not even trust a brick and mortar bank, much less a nebulous cyber space money creature.

2. It costs money, people that only buy items may not realize this, or care. Sure, as a buyer, I can send money to a seller without any fees. However, a seller has to agree to have fees automatically deducted when a payment is received. The fees vary. It depends on the type of PAYPAL payment that is sent(credit, balance transfer, E check....) and the type of PAYPAL account the seller has set up(personal vs business accounts). The fee structure is listed in detail on PAYPAL'S website. Often times, the higher the payment, the higher the fee is for a buyer to accept that payment. Some people are just fed up with fees. Some sellers just pass along the cost of these fees to the buyer in the form of higher shipping and handling. Listing fee, final value fee, PAYPAL payment fee.......There are obviously no PAYPAL fees when you accept a check or money order. On the flipside, there are dishonest sellers out there who want to avoid PAYPALS buyer protection plans that could disrupt their schemes.

3. PAYPAL has their own set of rules. There are many good rules but an occasional loophole has led some honest sellers to get burned by scammers. A seller can list the terms of a sale in their item description, but those terms can easily be trumped by PAYPAL'S policies. PAYPAL often uses canned text in their disputes. The dispute system is very rigid and can be frustrating. A honest seller can lose a PAYPAL dispute even when they did everything promised in the listing.One bad experience through a system can create permanent distrust of that system.

4. With phishing scams, there have been naive sellers with PAYPAL accounts who have fallen prey, and given their account information in response to a bogus phishing email. They have had their PAYPAL accounts drained . These stories do not get publicized often. What seller wants to admit to an embarrasing incident like this? PAYPAL certainly would not publicize them. Why is Phishing popular? Because it sometimes works.

That is my contribution of chum this evening.

Hello Dave!
Thank you for the well-thought-out response.

I totally understand your thinking on the whole Paypal debate. I guess it comes down convenience. Does the convenience factor of Paypal outweigh the disadvantages? I will be the first one to tell you that Paypal is not perfect, but it is what it is. A quick, and fairly secure, way to receive online payments.

I will comment on each of your points in the same order you wrote them.

1.) “Lack of familiarity.” There are some people that just don’t like change and still like to do things the “old fashion” way. These people are not going to change and that’s fine. Although, if they are using eBay, they must be somewhat computer savvy, so Paypal probably wouldn’t be that far of a stretch for them. Also, you said that some people may not trust the “cyber space money creature.” I agree with your point, but I would think people have a better chance of getting burned by a fraudulent money order than Paypal.

About three years some crook actually hacked into my Paypal account. I discovered this after I realized there was about $3,000 missing from my bank account. I called Paypal and they were on top of it already and got my money back within a couple days.

2.) Your second point is well taken. It does cost money. I believe it is about the same cost that a credit card company charges any merchant to accept a credit card. The two or three percent isn’t something I really enjoy paying, but say for instance a five-percent average increase would occur to the realized price if a seller accepts Paypal or credit card. Then wouldn’t it make sense to bite the bullet and pay Paypal its fee?

3.) Your third point I can agree with more than any of the others. It seems Paypal’s system favors the buyers more than the sellers. If you are an honest seller and ship an item without a tracking number, no matter if the buyer received the item or not, if the buyer disputes the charge and says it didn’t receive the item the seller is out of luck. That is why it is very important to use delivery confirmation or some form of tracking.

4,) As far as your “phishing scams” point, eBay has many more of these scams going on than Paypal. If a person is avoiding Paypal because of phishing scams, then they better rethink using eBay as well… How many fake second-chance offers did you get this week? I got at least three or four.

Dave, you made some very good points… I truly hope you and others will chime in on a regular basis.

-Chris

Happy 2007 Opening Day to you, Let's Play Ball!

This day should be a national holiday, I take it off every year.

Hopefully, we will get more and more contributors as people discover this forum. I think one thing you may stumble across is that all three blogs have a auction component. It is fascinating to read and I for one enjoy it. However, the audience that is going after very high end items is a fairly small, ecclectic group. In many cases, the major players in these auctions are not going to be willing to chime in on items that they are considering bidding on. Even after the sale, some of the winning bidders wish to remain anonymous.

Here are a few questions for you:

What are some are your best deals found on EBAY?

What is the coolest thing on EBAY you bought(irregardless of price)?

If you collect autographs, what are five favorites in your collection and why?

Dave

Hey Dave,
Today may as well be a national holiday, as the majority of my sports division colleagues are out of the office and are enjoying themselves at Miller Park for the Brewers home opener.
Honestly, I am not a baseball fan. I love the history of the game, but I would much rather watch old Packers highlight films than a live baseball game.

Q: What are some are your best deals found on EBAY?
A: I have been using eBay since 1995. I have gotten many deals and passed on many more. The one that always sticks out in my mind was one I made last year.
There was a group lot of items that included a No. 1 1954 Sports Illustrated, some other odds and ends and a Super Bowl I full ticket. As many people know, there are many Super Bowl I reprints out there, but I could tell by the scan that it was authentic.
I purchased the lot for a little over 1K. I received the package in the mail and the Super Bowl I full was wrapped in a piece of toilet paper! Nevertheless, it was still in great condition.
I sent it to PSA and the folks in California and it graded a PSA 8. It was now the highest graded Super Bowl I full ticket in existence.
About one month went by and I sold it to a very notable ticket collector for quite a bit of money.

What is the coolest thing on EBAY you bought(irregardless of price)?
Some of the coolest and most undervalued pieces, IMO, are wire photos. I have purchased many vintage football wire photos on eBay. My favorite one has Curly Lambeau, Bo Molenda, Walter Kiesling and Don Hutson standing in front of the Packers’ infamous training facility, Rockwood Lodge.

If you collect autographs, what are five favorites in your collection and why? Curly Lambeau, Johnny Blood McNally, Red Grange, Cal Hubbard and Bronko Nagurski. All five are on my 1963 Hall of Fame program and are high-grade signatures too.

Dave, how bout you? Have you made any notable deals on eBay?

Hello there Chris,

That's some good stuff, the stories behind items are what I like to hear. I just ran into a bunch of your Packers at the recent Chantilly CSA show. Although I am a Steelers fan, I too appreciate the history of a sport and you have to give a nod to Green Bay's history. Some guys appearing were Max McGee-got him on a football, Forrest Gregg, Willie Davis, Willie Wood, Tom Brown, Paul Hornung, Ted Hendricks, James Lofton and Bart Starr. Got a little one on one time with Bart in the backroom, what a treasure that guy is. The conversation I had with him was one of my highlights of the show. We talked about his Rawhide Ranch project as I have made a few contributions to the cause over the years and wanted to acknowledge the great work he has done there.

I have been on EBAY for a few years, some buying, some selling. I just bought a perfectly signed Jim Palmer Perez Steele postcard for .99 cents. Not a museum piece but we will take it. Lots are great places for deals. I bought "six Steelers cards" listed in the non autographed card category for $20. They were all six certified Hall of Fame autographs, including a Dan Rooney 2000 TOPPS certified Hall of Fame card which I sold the next week for $125. I usually don't flip items like that but could not pass it up. Deals like that enable me to feed the collection.

The items I get on EBAY that are my favorites are the ones that make me laugh or smile. I bought a "Bill Mazeroski for County Commissioner T shirt" that was issued years ago when he made an ill attempt to run for office locally. He signed it recently at an offseason Pirates caravan event, he was a bit stunned to see one . One of my other favorites was one of those old style leather football helmets signed by Sammy Baugh, just an awesome piece.

Other EBAY moments? My collecting sometimes goes down the oddball track. I have offered some weird, regional items and have sold a few things to pro athletes family members, it is always cool to sell to someones mom, dad, brother, sister, uncle.....and have them say "Where did you get that?" That is also my favorite phrase to hear from an autograph guest at a show if I am taking something in to sign.

Favorite autographs, how much time have you got Chris? I like a 1979 Sportman of the Year Sports Illustrated signed by Terry Bradshaw and Willie Stargell and a signed Cal Ripken 16x20 of his 2131 game , I was at the game. That has to be one of the top ten moments in baseball history.

In 2002, I was driving back to Pennsylvania after my mothers funeral. Upon returning home, I opened my pile of accumulated mail in a less than enthused fashion . Bill, bill, sale, sale, and one SASE mail autograph request.It was former Packer Ron Kramer. Not only did he sign my card, he threw an extra two signed cards, one of which was signed by Paul Hornung. It made me smile during a tough time. On a related note, I had a ticket to a Pittsburgh Pirates game 2 days later and was still wandering if I felt up to it. Well, I went, and caught my first foul ball ever, and I had been to several hundred games. Got the ball signed later by the guy who hit it, Rob Mackowiak, that is one of my favorites. I also like vintage photos, that market will really take off in the future. Actually, I think it is already starting.

If the blogs survive longer than Chevy Chase's talk show, perhaps down the road we can have a Collectors Room blog. Shelving, displays, humidity controls, matting, framing, lighting,storage,etc and an avenue for one to post pictures of their rooms. I would recommend a screening process for the pictures..............

Thanks for sharing!

Dave

Hi Chris,

I have a problem with #4 in your list. I sell vintage sports cards on eBay. I rarely get cards graded because I find it frustrating, expensive, and I hardly ever profit from it. When I send in a card I think is a PSA 9 it usually turns out to be a 6. So when I sell a PSA 6 on eBay I end up getting the same price I would get with an ungraded EX listing plus I'm out the $15 grading fee. I have been buying and selling cards since 1979 and have never liked professional grading. I offer some nice deals on some really nice cards. I think it is a big mistake for collectors to avoid my listings because the cards are not graded. I also buy cards on eBay and my rule of thumb for buying non-graded cards is that the card is always a grade lower than what the dealer describes in the listing. I have only had one problem in six years of buying cards on eBay -- I bought a '56 Topps Roy Campanella that was listed as EX. I receved the card and it was creased. I sent it back and received a refund. I too offer refunds and have never been taken up on the offer.

-Tony

Tony,
Thanks for your comments... I guess I stated that I would avoid cards that weren't graded more because I would be afraid that they may be trimmed or altered.
I would like to add that if the cards being sold were "mid-grade," that I would have no problem buying them ungraded.
That said, if a fairly high-priced vintage card is on eBay and is described as "Mint," the first thing that comes to my mind is "why isn't this card grade?"

Regards,
Chris nerat