Usually when I've baought stuff in the past from ebay I've just sent a cheque or paid by card.
But when I was searching for anew mp3 player there, I noticed that a lot of people only accept Paypal payments so I've signed up for a paypal account.

Does anyone else use this??
If so, did you have to go through all this rigmarole of puting in your bank details then having paypal deposit 2 small amounts in your account for you to check etc etc?

Also, when paying with Paypal, do you have to actually transfer money from your bank account into your Paypal account or does it do all that automatically for you?

Yep PJ, had to go through all that.
I've no idea what the two deposits were all about, but you had to do it to join up.
But I pay everything by paypal on E-bay now.

It's easy to pay, when you've won something you just click on the link and follow the instructions and paypal basically takes the money from your bank account and puts it in your paypal account. Then automatically sends the money from your paypal account to the seller.
That way the seller doesn't get to see any of your details.

I use Paypal all the time and I did get verified - the depositing thing - but I'm not sure how necessary it is to do this.

I can't remember if they can take the money from your account - I usually use switch to put money in.

IMO Paypal is excellent as it speeds everything up - no posting cheques off, no waiting for them to clear etc - just instant money transfer - and if you are buying it costs you nothing!

But why not just pay for the things using a switch/credit card? Is it just so the seller won't see any of your bank details?
Are there any other benefits?

But why not just pay for the things using a switch/credit card? Is it just so the seller won't see any of your bank details?
Are there any other benefits?

You can't pay a private seller by switch or a credit card. By using Paypal you can!

Paypal's good cos you can pay instantly so you don't have to wait for the seller to receive your cheque and for it to clear so you usually get your stuff posted to you really fast.

When we used to sell stuff we would just leave the balance in Paypal and use it to buy things but, of course, once our balance went down to zilch then they started taking it out of the bank account. I only remember putting in our debit card number though. I don't remember doing any of that verification with the bank. Maybe it's a new thing or an alternative to debit cards.

They send you reminders if your card is due to run out too which is good cos when you get issued a new debit card you tend to forget all the accounts that are holding your old debit card number :laugh:

You don't have to be verified to use a Paypal account to pay for something bought on E-bay.

Just register a credit card and then when you buy something the amount you owe is taken directly from your credit card.

I've never used ebay but I'm tempted becasue I'm thinking about a car boot sale soon, and the thought of standing in the cold for hours while people by my stuff for 50p is not a good one. Only thing about ebay is it must cost quite a bit to send things through the post. How do people make any money on really heavy items?
BTW I know it's the buyer that pays but if it cost an extra £20 for postage you might pick up something similar new.
Any tips please

Bob, if you search on the web there are a lot of mail firms that will collect and deliver huge parcels for about £12.50 inc VAT. Smaller things will go by Royal Mail quite reasonably.

Hubby used one I got off the internet when he sent a huge parcel up north (it was a model boat but a BIG one).

Here's a link to one of them (and of course you state the postage on your advertisement).

http://www.postvan.com/uk/

Remember that they add VAT to the price quoted on this one if I remember rightly. It was good and reliable.

A lot of people on ebay seem to make more on the postage than the sale of the item. People do moan on their feedback about the fact that they charged, say £3.00 for postage and it came as a stardard packet for about £1.50 but the argument is there is time and packaging and it's stated on the auction so if you don't agree to the postage then don't bid.

Also sellers tend to put a blanket price on stuff to save keep trolling down the post office to weigh and price individual items. You win some, you lose some kinda thing.

Thanks Critque.
Does anyone know of a postal service for delivering plants, hanging baskets etc