Kind of ironic I just posted the other day about ebay and paypal seller protection and disputes and then have another issue. Wondering if you guys run into this.Lately I've had a lot of people instead of opening up ebay or paypal claims just disputing with their credit card which most ofthe time paypal doesn't even ask for info disputing custoemrs dispute just gives money back.

Recently had a stupid buyer. Where is my package. I tell him your tracking shows delivered, check with others in your household if someone didnt grab it for you let me know and Ill help you file a dispute, you'll get your money back paypal will cover the loss and not me since shipped and show delivered.

About 6 emails and ebay message from him, I'm out my money!!! etc, etc, etc. I keep telling him your not out money, send him the link to open a dispute guy can't figure out how to do that. Finally I tell him just open a dispute directly with paypal. Sure enough the guy does a cc dispute so now instead of paypal covering the $316 loss I get to cover it.

Okay, so typically I don't ship outside of the US. I don't like packages getting held up in customs, I don't like buyers complaining about how long packages take to get to them when it's totally out of my control. Typically if I'm going to ship outside the US, with the exception of Canada, I require people to pay by Cashiers Check and tell them the risk is on them I'm not going to replace a lost package out of my pocket but people want what I sell and can't buy outside of US so all agree.

Anyhow, had someone in south africa want to buy from me. Told them only cashiers check. They message me back 3 more times, I see you accept paypal I wanna pay paypal. She claims you can't buy USD cashiers checks in south africa. Anyhow, not really expecting her to even know what they are I tell her, I've already told you 3 times, I only accept Paypal from US customers, I can take a cashiers check...or I'd be happy to accept Bitcoins as well. Never expected her to have any but sure enough she did and I'm able to ship today. Nice thing is bitcoins hit my wallet this morning so there's not chargebacks and no taking them back.

btw, I'm not trying to screw people but I don't trust foreign post offices or that go between period when its getting shuffled froom USPS to the foreign post office and I don't wana take the risk of lost packages. If customers are willing to take that risk knowing I won't cover lost items thats on them.

Just curious if anyone has ever tried selling on the deepweb as in the one you need a TOR browser to access. Obviously its more meant for black market goods but maybe if someone mainstream hopped on they'd have no competition? I guess that also brings up why need the anonymity to buy a toaster but heck who knows.

lol, okay just wanted to vent. As usual going to roll with the punches and make it through this but long story short I get a call yesterday from Paypal Merchant Risk Department. Worried I was going to get shutdown. not that bad but pretty bad. They tell me my business in the past 60 days surpassed my entire year last year and that I'm in a high risk industry so they are going to immediately seize $10,000 from my account and hold 30% of my monthly incomming payments and hold for 90 days. In August I did $220,000 in sales. That's $55,000 they are holding plus the $10,000 they took up front.

We are a small business, we constantly are turning over money and inventory. This potentially could end my buisness, however the one saving grace the paypal people said they dont want to destroy my business they are willing to work wth me but I'm going to have to bring some more cash into the business or raise prices.

It sucks.

Hey guys, I know some of you on here are somewhat handy and crafty. I just recently have been getting into finding ways to reuse stuff that would otherwise be junk. Occasionally I'll find wierd stuff like closet doors and stuff which are a hit or misson craigslist, I wind up using them as firewood, throwing them out, etc.

On pinterest there's tons of good ideas to reuse things like old doors, old shutters, etc. I recently got a new puppy and already have  a 100 pound bulldog. Dog gates are expensive like $150 for one that covers a big gap. I had some doors I found in a storage unit, painted them and used them as a gate. Another cooll idea with old shutters is paint each one a different color, attach them with hinges and make a kind of foldable gate. Really cool and works well.

Just some ideas for those of you who like taking on projects and reusing stuf which may otherwise be junk

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/09/james-bonds-submarine-car-forgotten-in-storage-sold-at-auction/

Hey guys I know alot of you guys get frustrated with ebay, hate thier policies, hate paying their fees. I used to be this way and I still do hate alot of the annoying things on ebay but its working. Obviously what I take home is no where near as impressive as the overall sales number. Part of that is product cost plus all the fees but still thats good money. Dont give up on ebay, just learn the policies, protect yourself and make ebay work for you. Also try to convert your ebay customers too off ebay customers.

Hey, I know with storage auctions you kinda get a little bit of everything, toys, clothes, electronics, etc. This is great and you can make great money as you generally get your merchandise at very low prices. Problem being it doesn't get you repeat customers. The guy who buys your Thomas The Train Toy Set is probably not going to be interested in  your Coach Purse.

Basically everything in ebay revolves around volume, lower paypal fees, lower shipping fees, this allows you to offer more competitive prices and rise above the competition. Also, the more volume you do, the more people look at your listings the higher you rank in searches and both these things raise your ebay score which inspires buyer confidence and also helps in searches.

The only way to truly rise to the top on ebay is to have repeat buyers. Why are repeat buyers good, because once someone has dealt with you they trust you, you build a relationship, they wont harrass you when the post office runs a few days slow, they wont open cases against you, not only will they not leave you negative feedback but they will go out of their way to leave positive feedback to help you.

An example I give as one of the best product categories is silver. It's got a huge market and its something people want and consistantly will buy. Some people will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars each paycheck or each month and will keep comming back to you. Obviously this is a tough market, changing prices, hard to find sources not saying you should get into silver but just an example of a category you will get repat buyers on.

If you do storage auctions yes your going to get random merch, however try to have a niche if its electronics buy auctions with electronics try to get merchandise elsewhere as well to add to your store whether its returned palates from best buy or something else.

Just some advice.