In the last 2 month I had to open 4 cases with paypal/ebay. 2 times the buyer did paid very late, 1 x the transaction was “under investigation” due to security reasons and 1 x it was also a bit my fault (as I did a wrong item description) and the buyer wanted to get a refund of his paid sum. As it was my mistake he got the refund in full of course.

For me 4 cases in 2 month is too much but, ok – it can happen. But the main issue here is the processing of ebay/paypal which is the worst customer support you can experience. This is not only my experience but also from other fellow collectors and you can frequently read online reports from disappointed customers.

But it`s geeting more worse in future as ebay/paypal will introduce new higher fees and a new (slower) payment system. as reported by different websites the buyer will pay (via paypal) in future direct to ebay and not any longer to the seller! During the test phase huge time delays happen. The seller got his money weeks in delay. ebay explains it will make the transactions for safe in future as ebay will release the money only then when the sold item is shipped. Commercial dealers will pay a 2% higher fee!

I can imagine that the ebay calim handling team will be more challenged in the future…

ebay is the biggest fish in the pond and if you want to sell/buy collectibles you need to deal wth the new setup but I am thinking about to dismiss paypal as payment method as the fees increasing and in case of trouble paypaal is not really supporting you (my experience). For me moneybookers is a suitable alternative.

Tell me your opinion/experience.