General control line discussion > Open Forum

This is the notice i just received from Ebay. About their new seller policy.

<< < (2/3) > >>

Mike Griffin:
I dont use PayPal anymore and I certainly do not use EBay.  I closed my account there several years ago.

Mike

RC Storick:
A while back I had an auction site here. Would you like me to put it back? I think is was a buck to list an item and SH got no fees for the sales. Of course, it would not be as big as eBay but everyone could point people to it. Just a thought

Dennis Leonhardi:
Meaning absolutely, positively, nada, zip, no disrespect ...  Me thinks for at least some here this is much too worry ...

 D>K

   [ONE]
If you absolutely, positively don't want anyone to have your social security number, bank information, yada yada ... well, maybe you best get off the internet!

At one time both my wife and I were covered by THREE (yes, 3) identity protection services provided by entities that experienced DATA BREACHES.  It happens every day.  You really don't want to know!

I worked for the IRS for a time.  Took calls from folks who wanted information on their accounts.  Naturally we went to great pains to insure the caller was actually the person they represented themselves as - and, to be clear, we weren't offering exactly top secret stuff over the phone.

You might be amazed by how often bookkeepers, accountants, lawyers and others think they can pull this off - and I feel it's usually pretty easy to pick out the "phonies".  In those cases I asked lots of questions, which often led to the caller asking "How many more questions are there?"  I might even answer something like "Oh, we're just getting started - wait until I ask the names of the last 3 dogs you've had".  In rare cases I might even say "Well, if you run into John Doe, please tell him I'll be happy to provide the information if he'll call and identify himself".  NEVER, EVER had an adverse reaction in those cases - the caller usually said something like "I'll call back when I have more time" and ended the call.

My point is this: I could ask so many questions about the individual, family members, yada yada ... and know if the caller's answers were correct.  Most of us don't really have many secrets in this area.

   [TWO]
Taxes - golly gee whiz, talk to an accountant or tax preparer if you're worried about that!  You're not taxed on the gross sales, only on any gain/profit after you deduct cost of the item, shipping, packaging expense, mileage to the post office, labels, eBay and PayPal fees, mileage you incurred shopping for the item or delivery costs, yada yada.

eBay has actually done sellers like myself a big favor.  I don't think anyone has mentioned here the monumental drive to collect sales taxes.  The courts have ruled if I'm using the internet to sell and make more than x number of sales to buyers in states y and z, I must collect sales tax.  Does anyone here have an idea what a mess that is?  Which part of a city is in county A and which part is in county B - and what are the current tax rates in each?

eBay is allowed to calculate, collect, report and pay those sales taxes for me - I never see any part of it except for a monthly sales tax report eBay provides - if I even want to look at it.

Oh, and if you "lose" money on your sales, IRS will likely disallow it as a "hobby loss".

   [THREE]
Managed payments - wonderful!  When buyers used PayPal I transferred the funds to a bank account - and PayPal had that info.  Now eBay collects and remits to a bank account - and eBay has that info.  Doesn't look much different to me.

But deciphering PayPal's accounting became something of a major task, literally analyzing every payment.  The accounting they provided at first glance lumped the sales tax collected together with the actual PayPal fee - a time-consuming mess!

eBay now reports just the total for the item plus S&H and the fee they deduct.  Funds are sent to my bank account virtually every day and usually reach the bank in 1 or 2 days.

As one who has sold on eBay for 20 years, I have LOTS of complaints about their system - but they really don't include the concerns spelled out here.

Frank Imbriaco:
An auction site interests me.

Paul Wescott:
I would love to find an auction site that extends the deadline if some sniper makes a bid at the last minute.  GunBroker does it and it seems to keep the final sales prices fair to the seller.  I have no idea why ebay doesn’t do the same.  They would probably make more money in fees as the sale prices crept higher near the end.  Also they might even charge for the feature.

Yes I might be interested in an auction feature here.

Paul W.

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