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For those who may doubt the value of Paypal to sellers, check this out.

Last week saw two collectable items listed on Ebay within half an hour of each other, and remained side-by-side throughout. One was mint-boxed and the other loose. These are not "rare" but are uncommon, and the comparison between their performances was illustrative, I thought.

The mint-boxed example, with very restrictive payment terms - cash only from overseas, no Paypal - earned 5 bids and sold for £22.00. The other loose set, with all payment options (cash, cheque, Paypal, Bidpay, etc.), drew 15 bids and went for £46.00. This is the reverse of the way it's supposed to work! Lookers can't be compared because the M/B set didn't have a counter.

The only logical assumption one can draw from this anomaly is that most people were put off by the "No Paypal/Cash Only", and if you want to get the highest price you need to offer the most versatile payment methods possible.

I'm not complaining, I bought both (thank you AS) and got that one at a bargain price, but it's a valuable lesson for me for my future sales.
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"No PayPal" is absolutely a turnoff for me as a buyer, Gardengnome. It tells me that the seller wants to milk the last dime of profit from his sales and/or doesn't care about convenience for the buyer. Unless it's an item I really, really want (i.e., something I'm willing to drive 12 miles to get a money order for with the extra expense for the m.o. plus the delay in shipping occasioned by the time in transit for same) I'll pass up the auction. And when I start selling again (as soon as I get this ferschlugginer scanner to find the TWAIN function) you betcha I'll accept PayPal!
I remember about two years ago there was some kind of backlash against PayPal... maybe something to do with this class-action lawsuit just after PayPal's IPO:

http://news.com.com/2100-1017-842240.html

I recall many ebayers halting acceptance of PayPal as a result. In any case, PayPal got all their problems straightened out, but it seems some people have long memories.

Like you said, unless I really, really want something, I'm not too willing to bid on a non-PayPal auction.

--Rob
Problems with paypal must have been before my time, I certainly have no complaints - yet.

As Steve says, it's usually just not worth the bother to obtain a money order or foreign currency and risk sending it by mail and, ordinarily, I too would pass it up. In this case however, just because others couldn't be bothered, I scored the item at a bargain price and that made it worth the effort. If the loose one made £46.00, what should the mint one have realised? Obviously a lot more.

In trying to maximize his return this seller is a "loser" in more ways than one.

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