Circumventing eBay Fees to Save Money

[paininthenuts]

Honestly, what a great bit of business. I recently came into a few\quid, not a fortune but enough to treat myself. I decided to replace my very old Ping G2 irons (albeit in great condition) with something newer, and preferably with graphite shafts, because I am not a big hitter. I found someone on ebay selling a set of G15 irons with graphite shafts in the correct lie to suit me. He was only asking £130, and the clubs look in great nick. This is about half the normal asking price for these clubs in the UK. Apparently he had been let down by a buyer on auction, so he set a low "buy it now" price to get shot of them quickly. I sent him a message offering £120. We agreed by phone to do a transaction outside ebay for the aforementioned price. Before putting my existing clubs on ebay I decided to let "Golfbidder" give me a quote on mine. For those of you outside the UK, Golfbidder is an online business who buys and sells clubs. I have been offered £110 for the irons I only paid £82 for in the first place. This means I have upgraded my clubs for a total of £10. What a bargain !!

I know similar threads have been on the site before, but I am so excited by this transaction I thought I would share it with you

[14ledo81]

2 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

Honestly, what a great bit of business. I recently came into a few\quid, not a fortune but enough to treat myself. I decided to replace my very old Ping G2 irons (albeit in great condition) with something newer, and preferably with graphite shafts, because I am not a big hitter. I found someone on ebay selling a set of G15 irons with graphite shafts in the correct lie to suit me. He was only asking £130, and the clubs look in great nick. This is about half the normal asking price for these clubs in the UK. Apparently he had been let down by a buyer on auction, so he set a low "buy it now" price to get shot of them quickly. I sent him a message offering £120. We agreed by phone to do a transaction outside ebay for the aforementioned price. Before putting my existing clubs on ebay I decided to let "Golfbidder" give me a quote on mine. For those of you outside the UK, Golfbidder is an online business who buys and sells clubs. I have been offered £110 for the irons I only paid £82 for in the first place. This means I have upgraded my clubs for a total of £10. What a bargain !!

I know similar threads have been on the site before, but I am so excited by this transaction I thought I would share it with you

 

Isn't this against the rules of Ebay?

[bkuehn1952]

2 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

...I am so excited by this transaction...

Christmas in November!  When the deals are final, report back on whether everything went well.

[Club Rat]

23 minutes ago, 14ledo81 said:

Isn't this against the rules of Ebay?

The auction could have been BIN or Best Offer.

But "We agreed by phone to do a transaction outside ebay for the aforementioned price." is definitely. But many work the system to avoid selling fees and PayPal fees.

[Hacker James]

12 minutes ago, Club Rat said:

The auction could have been BIN or Best Offer.

But "We agreed by phone to do a transaction outside ebay for the aforementioned price." is definitely. But many work the system to avoid selling fees and PayPal fees.

Paypal for example, charges the seller to receive money, while you can send to a friend or family and there are no charges. OTOH, the buyer in the former case has some protection through paypal.

[chilepepper]

1 hour ago, 14ledo81 said:

 

Isn't this against the rules of Ebay?

Probably.......but for the fees they charge between them and pay pal to sellers......pffffft

[14ledo81]

1 hour ago, chilepepper said:

Probably.......but for the fees they charge between them and pay pal to sellers......pffffft

If someone doesn't like there fees/costs, don't use the system.  

Because someone thinks the cost is high, that doesn't justify the fact that it is basically stealing.

[dennyjones]

There have been several potential scams that have occurred from this same type of transaction.   Paypal and Ebay offer piece of mind in the fact that if you get scammed, you'll be compensated.   I hope everything works out but I have read about people sending money and not receiving products and they are just out.

[billchao]

5 hours ago, Hacker James said:

OTOH, the buyer in the former case has some protection through paypal.

This is the #1 reason I would never circumvent PayPal or eBay in a transaction. They are your shield.

For your sake @paininthenuts I hope it works out for you because you'll end up with a really cheap upgrade, but I'd honestly just pay the extra £10 and go through eBay. It's still a good deal at £20 for your upgrade and you didn't steal anyone's services in the meantime.

[paininthenuts]

7 hours ago, billchao said:

This is the #1 reason I would never circumvent PayPal or eBay in a transaction. They are your shield.

For your sake @paininthenuts I hope it works out for you because you'll end up with a really cheap upgrade, but I'd honestly just pay the extra £10 and go through eBay. It's still a good deal at £20 for your upgrade and you didn't steal anyone's services in the meantime.

I have done this many times, and never had a problem. Ebay's fees are scandalous, especially when you add on the Paypal costs.  

[billchao]

2 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

I have done this many times, and never had a problem. Ebay's fees are scandalous, especially when you add on the Paypal costs.  

EBay doesn't charge the buyer fees and you're using their service without paying for it, which is stealing. Remind me never to play a money game with you.

[14ledo81]

47 minutes ago, billchao said:

EBay doesn't charge the buyer fees and you're using their service without paying for it, which is stealing. Remind me never to play a money game with you.

Agreed.  If a consumer (or in Ebay's case seller) thinks a product (or in this case service) has to high of a price, don't buy it.  I don't see how that can be the justification for stealing.

[JxQx]

So what exactly are you gonna do if you send him the money and he doesn't send you the clubs? He could very well do that with no repercussions. Those fees are for buyer protection and the use of service for ebay.

[Vinny Cap]

Unless you can meet him locally it is better to go through the bay.  I had a putter that wasn't exactly what they advertised and the seller worked with me to make me happy.  I also had a set of irons that were not what was advertised and the seller refunded all of my money.

[Hacker James]

21 hours ago, Club Rat said:

 

 

4 hours ago, Vinny Cap said:

Unless you can meet him locally it is better to go through the bay.  I had a putter that wasn't exactly what they advertised and the seller worked with me to make me happy.  I also had a set of irons that were not what was advertised and the seller refunded all of my money.

call it poetic justice, but the system can help. I once listed a set of Adams clubs and the buyer was not satisfied with the condition. Even though he registered his complaint late and beyond the normal protection deadline, I had him send them back and refunded his purchase. I then re-listed and received an even higher price on auction. I think what happened was, he found a better deal.

[iacas]

4 hours ago, JxQx said:

So what exactly are you gonna do if you send him the money and he doesn't send you the clubs? He could very well do that with no repercussions. Those fees are for buyer protection and the use of service for ebay.

Right. The fees - which come out of the seller's end - protect the buyer more so than the seller.

He may have had a reason to go outside of the thing (because it'd be easier for him to screw you over than for you to screw him over, especially if you send the money before he sends the clubs), but you didn't.

[paininthenuts]

4 hours ago, JxQx said:

So what exactly are you gonna do if you send him the money and he doesn't send you the clubs? He could very well do that with no repercussions. Those fees are for buyer protection and the use of service for ebay.

The clubs have arrived, and they are brilliant, almost like new. I use ebay all the time to sell and buy, but like I said, their fees are disgusting. They would have made about £8 from the seller, and it would have cost me about an extra £10. I am an extremely poor person, and this money may have been the difference between my children eating for the next week or going without. ebay don't care if my children starve to death, so why should I care about their profits ?

[iacas]

5 minutes ago, paininthenuts said:

The clubs have arrived, and they are brilliant, almost like new. I use ebay all the time to sell and buy, but like I said, their fees are disgusting. They would have made about £8 from the seller, and it would have cost me about an extra £10. I am an extremely poor person, and this money may have been the difference between my children eating for the next week or going without. ebay don't care if my children starve to death, so why should I care about their profits ?

Keep on trolling.

P.S. Today is opposite day. Your actual choice is to stop trolling or to find another forum.