Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
PayPal Drawing Money From Bank Account Instead of Credit Card
What happened was that PayPal had taken the funds from my bank account instead of the credit card. This situation has happened to others too, who have both a credit card and bank account connected to a PayPal account.See this link to a discussion on eBay's PayPal forum.
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I emailed PayPal support and told them about the problem,but no relief was offered. Then I decided to look at eBay's PayPal forum to see if anyone else was having the same problem. They were.Someone posted PayPal's telephone numbers, and I called a representative.
1-888-221-1161 (Toll Free for Premier/Business Accounts)
1-888-204-4481 (Toll Free for Premier/Business Accounts)
1-402-935-7733 (Personal Accounts)
1-402-935-2050 (Personal Accounts)
The customer representative admitted no wrongdoing on the part of PayPal, but gave me a one-time customer courtesy payment of $25 to repay the insufficient funds charge that the credit union had charged me.
Charging a bank account instead of a credit card appears to me to be violating PayPal's 2006 agreement.In September, 2006, the Texas State Attorney along with 27 other states reached an agreement with PayPal to improve customer service.
"Among users’ chief grievances addressed by the attorneys general is PayPal’s failure to clearly disclose the consumer’s funding source for a given transaction. Consumers complained that the company did not clearly disclose the funding source for each purchase, and thereby withdrew money from a consumer’s bank account, even if users submitted their credit card information when signing up. As a result, many consumers learned that money had been withdrawn from their bank accounts only when they received their monthly bank statements, even though their intention had been to use a credit card."
At present,the only solutions to prevent a similar scenario is for a buyer to open an account that just links to a credit card and not to both a credit card and bank account. The PayPal representative also suggested that I could also remove my bank information from my existing account before I paid, and then add it back later when I wanted to receive payments. Still, inconvenient.I think I prefer the first solution of separate accounts.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
At Texas State Capitol Rotunda, Memorial Day

Lithebast went to the Texas State Capitol on Memorial Day to listen to the Austin Chord Rangers, a men's barbershop choral group and to take photos. I took the bus downtown, and I was delighted with the excellent service.

I met an enchanting veteran from Louisiana, VFW Post 5735, who knew how to pour on the charm! He looks great in his orange shirt and cap.

These ladies look patriotic in red. The woman on the right is a member of the illustrious Red Hat Society and the woman on the left is the wife of an officer in Austin Chord Rangers.

The Tejanos-In-Action Veterans Color Guard presented the flag. This is a photo taken shortly after the event and includes family members.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Leadership & Changes at eBay
Thus it is not surprising that sweeping changes are accompanying John Donahoe, who will officially take over as eBay’s new CEO on March 31. Nor is it surprising that many dislike the changes that are being implemented.
Some of the most controversial changes involve the new final value fee (FVF) increases, detailed seller ratings (DSR), and eliminating seller feedback for buyers.
EBay buried the final value fee (FVF) increases under the news that gallery photo fees would be eliminated and that insertion fees at certain levels would be reduced. However, after doing the math, many eBay sellers learned that their costs of doing business on eBay would increase, and that their ability to be seen in eBay’s searches would be affected by the detailed seller ratings (DSR) left by buyers. While at the same time, eBay would be eliminating sellers’ options to leave neutral or negative feedback or ratings for buyers or transactions.
The Deutsche Bank teleconference with the Internet Merchants Association (IMA) on February 6, 2008, was particularly enlightening about eBay’s changes. Ben Mandell, Vice-President of the IMA, predicted that many eBay sellers would see their DSR numbers decline and consequently their visibility on eBay decrease as newly enboldened buyers leave lower ratings for them. Mandell said that he thought that the ratings for eBay sellers would not exceed the ratings of the top rated department stores in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). In 2007, The ACSI ranked Kohl’s at 79% satisfaction and Nordstrom at 80% satisfaction.
All of these changes mean that eBay sellers have or are looking at other sites including setting up their own.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Google Base
I suspect that I haven't sold anything on it, because it doesn't have as much traffic as some other sites, and perhaps I have not promoted my listings on Google Base as much as I could.
I had a store on ecrater for a short time, but I canceled it, because I didn't like the small photos I was limited to. I didn't sell or buy anything on ecrater either.
I think that Google Base has improved its listing lay out. So I've started listing some of my items there.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Greetings
I have collected, bought, and sold collectibles for many years. I have bought and sold on eBay for more than six years.
The following are my buying tips.
lithebast's buying tips
Buying Clothing
Among its recommendations are that people buy second-hand clothing and textiles and that they lease clothing that they would not wear regularly.
Clothing Sizes
If you're buying a lined winter coat, measure the inside of the coat, not the outside. The inside dimensions of the coat usually will be smaller. If you go by the outside measurements, the coat may be too small. I found this out myself the hard way.
What do you do if you don't have a garment that is similar? If you're buying non-stretch garments allow 2"-4" for ease in addition to your body's measurements, unless you like to wear tighter clothing.
If, you're buying knit or stretch fabric clothing, you might be able to get by with less ease.
Recycling
eBay Search Tips
When too many similar items show up on an eBay search, I use advanced search with the minus (-) sign to exclude certain sellers and/or items. For example, if I search the term, Burberry, and find hundreds of the same item by the same seller, I can place a minus(-) sign immediately before the seller's name to exclude his or her items. To do this, go into advanced search and check the Search Title and Description box.
All I have to do is enter Burberry -Johndoeseller (no space before Johndoeseller) in the keyword field and check the title and description field, so items listed by Johndoeseller will not appear. You also can use the minus (-) sign to exclude new, used, or reconditioned items. -new or -nwt or -used. This saves a lot of time searching through hundreds of listings.
eBay Bidding and Buying Tips
The argument for private auctions is that they offer privacy for the buyer, so no one but you and the seller know that you are bidding.Still, I would advise staying away from private auctions, unless you know the seller well and/or the item very well.
If you do bid and then win an expensive item (say over $500 US dollars) you may want to check the email and phone number for the seller before sending money. If the email bounces and/or the phone number is incorrect, don't pay.
Instead, file a complaint with eBay for incorrect contact information.