"Paying through EBAY"

If you've ever gone on ebay, you'd probably notice how different sellers accept different payments. Some will only accept online payments, while others may accept money orders and checks. This article is going to give you a description of how each payment process works and hopefully it will help you in the future.

On ebay, there are several ways of paying.

• Paypal - This is the most popular way of paying online. The process is quite simple. The buyer can send payments online through their credit card to any email address with a paypal account. There is no fee for sending payments. You can set it up so that it can take money from your checking account or charge it directly from your credit card. Either way, over one million buyers use this method and that's how it got its reputation. While Paypal is very efficient for buyers, it does have its disadvantages. Sellers are charge a fee for receiving money, and it's somewhere around 2.2% + $.30. It's not too bad if you think about it, but every single auction is charged that fee. Also, if you want to extract money, you must either request a check which will arrive in 1-2 weeks. There's a $1.50 added on regardless of the amount, or you can have the money send to a checking account after you verify it. The checking account method requires you to verify it, but it's free of cost and only takes 3-4 days to transfer the money. So while Paypal may be efficient for buyers, it has its disadvantage for sellers.
• Billpoint - In my opinion, this is the most efficient way of paying on EBAY. Although this payment process is ending at the end of 2002, billpoint is the fastest and cheapest way of receiving money. First of all, you must verify billpoint by giving your checking account # to ebay. Many people do not trust this, but you should. EBAY keeps your information confidential, and no one will know about it. What happens is, the buyer pays through billpoint and your money is automatically placed into your checking account. This saves both time and fees of transferring it over like Paypal. The fees are also cheaper on billpoint. So not only do you save time, money, and effort, but you become rich in the process.
• Money Orders/Cashier's Checks - This is another simplistic way of paying through EBAY. You can go to almost any store, bank, or business and get a money order. There is usually a small price added on, but money orders are instant cash. You go to a store, you give them the money, they give you the money order for that amount, then you send it to the seller. Money orders are guaranteed so you have no problems about redeeming them for cash. This is another great way of paying on ebay if you don't trust the internet, but it does take a few days to mail a money order to an address. I'd recommend this only if you can't pay through the internet.
• Cash - This is the second to worst method of paying. Cash is not highly recommended for ebay. First off, cash can be visible in envelopes unless you can hide it between some paper. Many times, if cash is noticed, a low-income mailman may steal it. That's why I'd never recommend paying through cash. Also, you run the risk of the seller taking the cash and saying he never got it. Just don't pay with it.
• Normal Checks - Definitely not the way to pay. Even though checks are reliable in stores and other businesses, they don't cut it on ebay. When you pay with a check, many seller will let the check sit for 7 days or so to let it clear. If the check doesn't clear, that means your check bounced, and they never received any money. So not only do you have to wait for your check to get to the seller, but it almost must cash and be valid. Simply enough, if you want your item right away, do not pay with a check.