Auction Houses that accept PayPal and/or credit cards

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

CC companies generally prohibit this discrimination. However, what I find it funny is that my card works just fine when I tell them that's all I have and start to walk out.

That is because the person behind the counter is being nice to you. They are just an employee and losing money on your small purchase means nothing to them.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by bnorth

That is because the person behind the counter is being nice to you. They are just an employee and losing money on your small purchase means nothing to them.

The store doesn't lose money on the transaction, it just makes less of a profit. Profit margins on a CC purchase may be smaller than with cash but it is larger than no sale at all.

Let me give an example to illustrate the point. My wife and I walked over to a local Chinese restaurant to get some take out. The meal my wanted came with shrimp fried rice but she prefers chicken fried rice. The store refused to substitute despite the fact that I offered to pay more to do so. I explained to the manager that we were about to order $30 worth of food. However, if they would not work with me on the substitution, for which I would pay more, then I was going to cancel my order and leave. They stuck by their guns and I went elsewhere.

As a pragmatist I don't understand their decision. They gave away a sale despite the fact that I was willing to pay more. The profit margin of 0 was worth more than a smaller (but not really) one.

[honus94566]

It's definitely the risk of chargebacks. There are way too many shady people in this hobby, that's just a fact.

When a person charges back a transaction, the original seller will lose. It is that simple. They may have to show tracking that the item was returned, but the credit card companies ALWAYS side with the buyers. PayPal is a bit better, as their seller protection is significantly more than credit card companies offer directly.

As a merchant (in a different industry) that accepts credit cards, paypal, and is intimately acquainted with disputes and chargebacks, I do not blame these auction houses one bit for not accepting cards or paypal.

Factoring in what they have to "gain" by offering it as a payment method, and what they potentially have to "lose", it's a sound business decision.

That being said, I love how LOTG accepts paypal.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by honus94566

It's definitely the risk of chargebacks. There are way too many shady people in this hobby, that's just a fact.

When a person charges back a transaction, the original seller will lose. It is that simple. They may have to show tracking that the item was returned, but the credit card companies ALWAYS side with the buyers. PayPal is a bit better, as their seller protection is significantly more than credit card companies offer directly.

As a merchant (in a different industry) that accepts credit cards, paypal, and is intimately acquainted with disputes and chargebacks, I do not blame these auction houses one bit for not accepting cards or paypal.

Factoring in what they have to "gain" by offering it as a payment method, and what they potentially have to "lose", it's a sound business decision.

That being said, I love how LOTG accepts paypal.

Obviously someone who has dealt with Merchant Services. Have I said recently how much I hate CC companies?

That aside, the story of not losing money on a sale by taking a credit card isn't quite correct. Simple business math says if you make less than 3% GP on a sale AND you take a credit card, you are taking money out of your pocket to pay. That would be a big fat LOSS. And in some businesses, margins can be that slim. If you don't think so just ask a C-Store owner who sells gas.....

Last year, after I sold my restaurants, two months later I got a charge back from Mastercard for almost $80. It came straight out of my bank account because they had a tie in to the account (as is very customary). My restaurants average tab was about $8.25 (cheap food). The next day I closed my bank account and opened a new one. I also had a few other small gotchas too. But after closing it and opening a new one, Since then not one MF'er has taken money out of my account. Live and learn.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Leon

Since then not one MF'er has taken money out of my account.

MF'er?

Meal Fraudster?

[steve B]

I can see why an auction wouldn't take cards.

It's necessary in retail. The bike shop didn't take cards when I started, and we ended up writing down the stuff we didn't sell because we didn't take cards. Once we were setup, cheaply since we already had a machine of sorts, it was ok. Basically more than tripled our sales. But the deal she had was probably the worst. Something like 3.5% plus 35cents per, plus if we did less than $50 in a month there was a $50 fee. Not great for a seasonal business. One of us would go in once a month from Dec-April and charge ourselves $50 for something, I usually bought parts, or cash. At the time Paypal was actually much cheaper.
(And Amex charges way more. we've never taken it)

We started by having a $10 minimum, but a lot of people don't have enough cash when they're out riding or jogging. Unless they weren't at all local, I'd just let them take a water or soda, and bring the money the next time. Especially in the summer.
Nearly everyone did, some even gave us a bit extra.


Unless the auction figures they'll make more by taking a card it just doesn't make sense.

Steve B