Accepting credit cards on auctions: Am I covered as a buyer?

ellie101

Hello,

I've just become a business seller on ebay. As a private seller, I once had someone do a reversal (or chargeback?) on me via paypal, but I'd covered all the rules so got my money back e.g verified address. So I tend to be a bit suspicious now.

Had someone register yesterday, and bid on something I'm selling. If they pay by credit card and rip me off am I covered? I can't find the info.

I should have set the preferences for buyers I accept, thought I had so will change. I also wanted to only accept paypal but think as a business seller I have to accept cards?

If anyone can point me to the rules or know them would be great. I've been searching but getting confused.

Thanks.

theonlywayisup

ellie101 wrote: »

Hello,

I've just become a business seller on ebay. As a private seller, I once had someone do a reversal (or chargeback?) on me via paypal, but I'd covered all the rules so got my money back e.g verified address. So I tend to be a bit suspicious now.

Had someone register yesterday, and bid on something I'm selling. If they pay by credit card and rip me off am I covered? I can't find the info.

I should have set the preferences for buyers I accept, thought I had so will change. I also wanted to only accept paypal but think as a business seller I have to accept cards?

If anyone can point me to the rules or know them would be great. I've been searching but getting confused.

Thanks.

Business sellers have to offer paypal, as do personal sellers. But no one can force you to accept any other forms of payment.

As a paypal user a customer can opt to pay by credit card via paypal but the seller receives the payment in the same way and has no idea how it is funded.

If you have customers who are in person or who telephne you can use paypals virtual terminal which is £20 per month and will allow you to input card details yourself, but this doesn't apply to people paying online. I use this rather than my merchant account with my bank as it works out cheaper. If you use your bank or another merchant to process payments, then you need to check their terms on chargebacks as all are different.

As far as paypal protection goes, it has moved on since your chargeback. No longer do you need to send to a verified account. As long as the transaction says 'eligible' and 'ok to send' it is fine to send to the address the customer gives in the transaction, verified or not. Still follow all the rules on keeping your certificate of posting for 180 days and obtaining a signature for anything over £150. Royal mail now cover up to £46 with a cop, so up to you if you want to add a tracked service under that.

soolin

The rules for private and business sellers are basically the same, so the basics are here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1623183

AS above, you do not have to take credit cards, or indeed any other payment method apart from paypal.

A business account though need a full business address shown in the business section on the listing and a full refund policy

For seller protection on paypal the rules are here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3146680

You need to set your own comfort levels as regards postage, but remember that for a business the stars are mega important to weigh up the real costs if you choose to use recorded on cheaper items as it may hit your stars.

ellie101

Thank you both, I appreciate the clarification and links.