Buying parts on FABO

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wirenut

wirenut

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Hi All,
I am new to purchasing parts online from individuals. The pay pal thing makes sense. So if someone is selling and they dont have a PP account, are they scammers? I mean could someone expect someone else to send them money and hope to get a part back? Enlighten me.
 
No, not everyone likes paypal, and not everyone is able to get it. Me for instance, I have parted out a few cars, and sold a lot of parts, and never had any negative feedback. My credit card doesn't work with paypal for whatever reason, and I don't want to get my bank involved.

Money orders are another option. I always send money orders, and have never once been scammed for something. And I probably spend a couple hundred every couple months on parts.
 
Paypal fees are approaching what should be considered loansharking rates. But we all love our convenience, and immediate gratification, so we pay it.

Like 70DartMike said, I won't let them have access to my bank account, so I am still "un-confirmed" after 600+ transactions.

You have to learn to recognize the scammers up front, prior to sending a money order. I came close to getting ripped off by one once, but since I travel a lot, it worked out.
 
Is'nt a money order just a bank check? meaning anybody can cash it. Forgive my naivete. I just have never been faced with this. Everything I purchase is via CC or on account that I pay via check or CC.
 
i have bought thru pay pal and money order here from guys and everyone has been great. just like a great site should be for us car guys and gals.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ lmao... you travel alot". that is funny. must have taken a detour.........?
 
I like Postal Money orders and will take paypal but the fees make them less than desirable.
 
340plot said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ lmao... you travel alot". that is funny. must have taken a detour.........?
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Yes I do, and a local call can bring some more immediate urgency to the situation.
Be in Southern California some soon, but with 20+ supposed to fall tonight, I wish it was this week. :D
 
all out of principle. i hear ya.lol
 
Agree with Mike and Ed, you just have to feel buyers out.
Ask questions, pay pal is not fool proof I was stuck once by e-pay, because I was 2 hours over the disputed time limit.
USPS postal is safe, but I had a gentlemen that sold me a 8.3/4 (legit, from this site, good transaction) ask me for the number off of the USPS because he got burned, so they are duplicating them also.
You kinda have to have a "6" sense when buying parts unseen.
 
wirenut said:
Is'nt a money order just a bank check? meaning anybody can cash it.
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It is, but not anyone can cash it. Only the person it is issued to. When I get a money order from the bank, I have to give the person's first and last name, and the bank prints that name on the money order.
When I recieve a money order, I take it to the bank. The bank knows me, and knows my name, but if say I was a new member, they would ask to see ID to verify I am the name on the money order.
 
One benefit over using U.S. Postal Money Orders is that you invoke federal jurisdiction if it's sent across state lines (as most internet transactions are). I've only been burned once by a woman on ebay who went from 100% positive feedback at the time of my purchase to having 18 other people as pissed off at her as I was when I didn't get my passenger side Cuda mirror. Ebay's buyer protection policy covered all but 12% of the purchase price, and the post office reimbursed me for the full amount of the money order so I actually came out ahead on that bad deal. But I'd still have rather had my mirror.
 
I personally like postal money orders for a couple reasons. First, it is like having a bank in every town, and I like to use them to pay to ship the buyers parts. Also, I like to use the post office for a couple reasons. I like the fact that the actual shipping amount is posted on the shipping label, giving the buyer confidence in knowing that the amount that I charged them is the actual amount the shipping cost. Second is the fact that they are in every town, so if I am working out of my zone, I can take my shipping items with me and know that the town has a post office to ship from.

I agree that only through honesty and integrity do you garner a reputation that puts buyers at ease. Anybody can check my feedback on ebay and see that I am an honest seller that goes the extra mile to securely package my items, completely describe them accurately and sell them at a fair price. If a seller doesn't openly communicate, describe items thoroughly, and follow up during and after the sale, I tend to shy away from their items.

Case in point... I recently attempted to purchase a 1973 B200 van grille from a seller on ebay. It was priced right but the shipping was stated as "just a guess" and the seller said he would "charge actual shipping". After a couple communications with an intent to purchase the item, I messaged him asking to have an accurate shipping quote and included my zip code for calculating. He responded that he "ships a lot of trim" and "guessed" that the shipping would be another $30.00 over his initial "guess" in his listing, and another $20.00 on top of that for him to package the item securely. This was with a little over a day left before the end of the auction, at a time when he should have already had it pre-packaged for shipping, knowing I was an interested buyer. I wrote him back stating that I was not going to bid without him providing accurate information, and his item ended with no bids!!! He lost a buyer by not doing what he was eventually going to have to do anyway, provide an accurate shipping quote!!! Yea, I lost an item I really wanted, but without honesty and integrity on his part, he is the actual loser in this deal!!! Geof
 
Money order, paypal, personal check, done all three I usually go with what the seller wants. I find paypal easy and quick but will be avoiding it for larger purchases as I understand that we will now be taxed on it as income.
 
cosgig said:
I personally like postal money orders for a couple reasons. First, it is like having a bank in every town, and I like to use them to pay to ship the buyers parts. Also, I like to use the post office for a couple reasons. I like the fact that the actual shipping amount is posted on the shipping label, giving the buyer confidence in knowing that the amount that I charged them is the actual amount the shipping cost. Second is the fact that they are in every town, so if I am working out of my zone, I can take my shipping items with me and know that the town has a post office to ship from.

I agree that only through honesty and integrity do you garner a reputation that puts buyers at ease. Anybody can check my feedback on ebay and see that I am an honest seller that goes the extra mile to securely package my items, completely describe them accurately and sell them at a fair price. If a seller doesn't openly communicate, describe items thoroughly, and follow up during and after the sale, I tend to shy away from their items.

Case in point... I recently attempted to purchase a 1973 B200 van grille from a seller on ebay. It was priced right but the shipping was stated as "just a guess" and the seller said he would "charge actual shipping". After a couple communications with an intent to purchase the item, I messaged him asking to have an accurate shipping quote and included my zip code for calculating. He responded that he "ships a lot of trim" and "guessed" that the shipping would be another $30.00 over his initial "guess" in his listing, and another $20.00 on top of that for him to package the item securely. This was with a little over a day left before the end of the auction, at a time when he should have already had it pre-packaged for shipping, knowing I was an interested buyer. I wrote him back stating that I was not going to bid without him providing accurate information, and his item ended with no bids!!! He lost a buyer by not doing what he was eventually going to have to do anyway, provide an accurate shipping quote!!! Yea, I lost an item I really wanted, but without honesty and integrity on his part, he is the actual loser in this deal!!! Geof
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X2 with the postal money order. They rock! Just bought and recieved my sure grip unit from badlilred79 no problems, great guy!
 
I recently got screwed out of 75 bucks here. Just makes it more difficult to trust everyone else. I know one bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch but... I know there are more bad apples to be found. So I look for warning signs. If a seller says" paypal me and mark it as a gift" to avoid fees, they have hinted to their dishonesty. i will not risk loosing my Paypal account or take part in cheating. No deal
If I get screwed again, at least I can sleep well knowing I didn't deserve it.
 
Well, I've been burned with a postal money order. Didn't get my intake and the p.o. just sort of shrugged it off...
Leanna, how did you get your money back???
C
 
PayPal charges the seller about 3%.

I do not package items I have for sale before I am ready to ship, because people seem to always want more pictures. I package the living crap out of stuff, and won't do it twice. I do, however have the ability to come up with a good price to charge, and if I'm short, I eat it.
 
mtandrews said:
do Paypal charge a % or a flat fee? I've paid chingo's via PP but I'm not set up (yet) to receive.
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Paypal charges me a 3.89% transaction fee. I don't know if my account is typical but it is associated with my powder coating shop.


clhyer said:
Well, I've been burned with a postal money order. Didn't get my intake and the p.o. just sort of shrugged it off...
Leanna, how did you get your money back???
C
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Shrugged it off??? That's ridiculous, and you aren't getting what you paid for (and neither is the government if they hire employees like that!). Cal, just go to your local post office and file a claim; I believe they call it a "fraudulent transaction claim." Bring your copy of the money order receipt with you since the clerk will need it for the paperwork. I don't know if there's a time limit involved like ebay has (theirs is 45 days from the transaction date if I remember right) but it was a very short time -- a couple weeks -- before I had been reimbursed through the Postal service. It was pretty painless.
 
I tell buyers to pay using paypal up to about $125 or so and after that,get a money order. It makes sence as the paypal rate is a % and the m/o is a flat rate.
 
RedFish said:
I recently got screwed out of 75 bucks here. Just makes it more difficult to trust everyone else. I know one bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch but... I know there are more bad apples to be found. So I look for warning signs. If a seller says" paypal me and mark it as a gift" to avoid fees, they have hinted to their dishonesty. i will not risk loosing my Paypal account or take part in cheating. No deal
If I get screwed again, at least I can sleep well knowing I didn't deserve it.
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That sucks hard that you got screwed, it really does. I would spend several hundred myself, to recover the $75, out of principal as mentioned earlier.

But I do not see how it is wrong to send as a gift, I do it all the time. All it does is transfer the Paypal fee to the buyer, instead of the seller. Paypal still gets their crazy percentage. I had never heard of it until this place, but have done it many times.
 
If someone is going to screw you over, it doesn't matter how you pay. They are going to do it. Ask for pictures of the item with that days newspaper so someone can't pull a generic picture to send, read on as that's how I got burned 5 years ago.

I got nailed for $1000 on a set of cylinder heads along with about 250 other people in the world from the same D-bag. Never got a penny back, but, learned a valuable lesson. Oh he did get an 18 month sentence in jail, big whoop... he got out and did the exact same thing again.

I ask people all the time to send $ as a gift in paypal. Does that make me dishonest? If paypal stood by their word about covering things, I wouldn't ask it to be that way. paypal wants to make the vig, but, not accept any of the risk... Paypal makes me incur a fee for whatever I receive, not just credit card payments anymore. You want to eat that as a buyer, cool, if not, go get a money order or send it as a gift.

You can ask about people and their rep before you buy. Bottom line, if they are good at it and going to screw you, you'll likely never see it coming.
 
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