Ebay advice needed!

[Mkia]

I don't understand why she can't deposit whatever money she has to get a money order into her bank account, and then use PayPal? I mean...she has to have the money to get the money order...so why not just deposit that and use the Paypal.

[Sebby6]

I imagine because she's already overdrawn, and so any money paid in would just get swallowed up.

Personally I'd take the postal order or wait til Friday. Even if you cancel and relist you won't get the money any sooner. I don't see anything wrong with the message.

[PinkRosedust]

Wait, I was under the impression that you couldn't use anything BUT paypal on ebay anymore. Can you actually still use money orders without ebay getting on your case?

[rosierjay]

Wait, I was under the impression that you couldn't use anything BUT paypal on ebay anymore. Can you actually still use money orders without ebay getting on your case?

think it depends on if you report it.
but i do know you can't request something to be paid with a money order.

ebay and paypal probably have some kind of contract.

[Sebby6]

think it depends on if you report it.
but i do know you can't request something to be paid with a money order.

ebay and paypal probably have some kind of contract.
[/quote]

That's it. Ebay and Paypal are the same company (or as good as) and they make money on the fees.
Sellers can't request money orders, and you can say no to accepting one.

[Teddy]

I'd wait until Friday so she can PayPal you the funds. Even if she sends a Money Order, it will arrive pretty much at the same time the PayPal payment would. And PayPal is always safer to deal through.

[Squirrelypaws]

Thanks for all the great advice, everybody. ^_^

We're pretty desperate for money right now, so we wrote back and told her we unfortunately needed to be paid through Paypal ASAP, especially considering it'd already been two days since she won the doll and we hadn't heard anything from her.

I feel bad that it's going to end up costing her that much extra (almost double what she won the doll for), but at the same time, I feel like she should have known beforehand that she'd be short on the payment and should have contacted us before she even bid.

[ponylady]

I think you are doing the right thing in waiting for Paypal. Although her message sounds sweet I can find quite a few discrepancies with it. First one being she should have contacted you prior to bidding to see if you were ok accepting a MO. Because according to EBay's accepted payment policy it is prohibited in certain categories, which is almost everything except Motors, Industrial and Real Estate:

 http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html

I am not saying people do not do it but you will not be covered under EBay's Seller Protection if something should go wrong. 

But in that being said, if you do decide to accept the MO, make sure it is a USPS MO. They're the kind you get from the Post Office.  I would not suggest accepting any other kinds of money orders.  Forging a USPS money order is a federal crime.  Forging a MO from the Quickie Mart is not.  When you receive a USPS money order, you can go down to your local PO and they'll cash it for you.  This takes care of two things, you know the MO is real and you have cash in hand.  You can then mail out the high bidders item.

[Arianna]

Ebay owns PayPal, so they get twice the cut.  They don't want anyone else getting the money. Still, that's something that should be known by those who use either or both services. *shrugs* What can one do.  They provide a decent service, I feel, and while I don't like it - a fee-for-service is to be expected.

[Radha]

I can understand some frustration with Paypal, but as someone who worked as a bank teller for a couple of years out of college, I would say never accept a money order for an online transaction.  They are so very easy to fake, our orders were to put holds on them whenever they came through, as they would so often bounce.  The post office money order does sound different- if you can cash it before you ship, that's fine.  However, I'm a little confused as to why she has the money to buy a money order but not pay via Paypal, and that also makes me suspicious. 
I think waiting for Paypal is completely acceptable, and in the future you might state that it is all you will take and put a timeline on getting paid.  Good luck 

[goddessofpeep]

I don't think there's anything particularly suspicious about this.  I used to pay with money orders all the time, and I've accepted them before.  Actually, if I were selling, I'd probably prefer postal money orders to Paypal.  Money orders don't have fees, and dishonest buyers can't do chargebacks on them:p 

Also, even if she goes down to the bank and gives them cash, most banks don't apply deposits right away.  Even cash can take time to "clear".  It might say that it's in there, but the cash deposit would be pending, and any new transactions could overdraw her again.  And if she's got a really bad bank, the overdraft fee could be counted as another  transaction, triggering another overdraft fee.  It's not unheard of for once transaction to create a chain reaction of fees that can skyrocket to the hundreds of dollars.  Banks are really prompt for taking money out of an account, particularly if they can collect fees.  They are not nearly as quick putting money back in!

[tulagirl]

I don't understand why she can't deposit whatever money she has to get a money order into her bank account, and then use PayPal? I mean...she has to have the money to get the money order...so why not just deposit that and use the Paypal.

I totally agree with this and for this reason I would not accept a money order.  There is no protection with this form of payment.  No, I would not take mo for ebay sales.