Forum Buying/Selling/Paypal etiquette

hi wondered what the usual sfgss user policy is on when paying some1 thru paypal as a gift. PP still charge a small fee but we are given an option on who pays. does seller or buyer pay this here on lfgss? wud just like to know the etiquette as upto now i have been paying it as buyer.

As the buyer you should pay the fee i think.

It's entirely up to you.

I would say that if you have any concern and want to be covered by paypal resolution stuff then you should always "Pay for Goods".

If, and only if, you are willing to accept the risk of losing your money... then you could consider gifting it. If you gift it, realise you're now operating on honour... you're expecting the seller to effectively gift you the item. See the predicament there? I hope you know and trust the seller.

Who should pay the fees? Well this is not eBay, and a lot of transactions take place down the pub or are quick "meet after work" and exchange cash. So default is cash and offline, in person.

As such, the price agreed is what the seller reasonably expects. If you both agree to make the transaction online and involve postage, then just like the buyer covers the postage and packing my personal opinion is that the buyer should accept the PayPal fees too. In fact you are probably getting it cheaper here because on eBay the sellers factor in these cost and just charge more by default.

PayPal fees are 2.9% + 20p. So if the item is £17 then the fees are 2.9% of £17 = 49p + 20p = 69p in fees.

It's pretty easy to work out.

Basically it boils down to this: Are you willing to pay 2.9% + 20p to keep the transaction as a transaction and be covered by PayPal's resolution process... or would you rather save yourself that and take the risk?

thanx for the answers boys/girls. i dont know any of u guys personally so i take the risk if someone asks to be paid by gift. the couple times i have paid it this way is coz they have asked me to (the last time they didnt spec this but i did gift pay prob outta habit) plus i have noticed few sellers mentionig to be paid by gift so i just wanted to know if there was an ettiquette in place. Thanks for the responses buys/girls

The basics are: don't load the seller with a fee. Whether you want to pay it or avoid it yourself by gifting it is your choice.

Good that someone brought this up. As a buyer I always pay the fees.
Recently I sold a few items on the forum and I was quite disappointed that one buyer didn't pay the fee. I didn't contact him about it as it wasn't a lot of money but nonetheless, it felt a little rude.

I usually offer two prices, one for cash/collected and one for PayPal/posted, factoring in the PayPal fees. A couple of people have paid me as "gift", but my working assumption if there's no explicit agreement otherwise is that I'll get paid "for goods" and the fee will come out of my side.

Play by the rules. What's all this gift nonsense? Anything that leaves me unprotected isn't worth doing IMHO.

I just wanted to get a few opinions on this as it is the first time I've sold a bike in London and I'm not sure what people expect.

I'm about to stick it on eBay or Gumtree for collecton only with the idea that potential buyers can come round and look at the bike and check it's the right size etc and I was wondering what the concensus is on test rides?

I don't want to appear too hostile to buyers but I live in Hackney and I'm not stupid. The Stolen Bikes thread and Brick Lane have made me pretty aware of what people are capable of. So do I refuse a test ride? Ask for the guys wallet and ID like some shops do?

Opinions please.

tbh a person should be able to see all they need to just by looking at a bike - dont see the need for a test ride

edit - ...or fix the bike to a turbo trainer and they can have a test ride- and get a sweat on - in your living room.

Full cash up front before test ride.

Use some common sense.

^ yup

all the money in your hand first. If the buyer isn't happy, buyer can get money back. If buyer crashes it, you've got monies

Just in case...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKWL1md7Dv4

Why don't you save yourself the eBay fees and sell it on here and make a donation to the forum.

Keep it in the family, as it were.

tibbly, what kind of bike...? maybe the members here might be interested.

We are a much better class of scallywag here methinks...

tibbly, what kind of bike...? maybe the members here might be interested.

We are a much better class of scallywag here methinks...

Bianchi Pista Via Condotti 2010. (The celeste version.) Only a few months old.

I was going to post it on here but there doesn't seem to be much interest for complete OTPs (for obvious reasons.) Thought Gumtree might be a better bet with the large nodder contingent.

If anybody is interested I might post it here instead and make a contribution to the forum. haven't really made my mind up about the price yet though. Would probably want £350+. I reckon that's reasonable.

Just in case...

YouTube - How To Tie a Shoelace Really Really Fast

Thanks for popping in Dovvles but my shoes are actually velcro. It's easier to wipe my dribble off the plastic.

tbh a person should be able to see all they need to just by looking at a bike - dont see the need for a test ride

Yes, I buy televisions by checking the picture whilst they are unplugged. I mean, what's the image on-screen got to do with anything?

I also buy computers based on the design of the manufacturers logo and how it blends with the case colour.

OP: bike shops tend to take a wallet with ID and stuff in it but you would want to check that it's the ID of the person obviously. Full cash up front might also work but some people would be wary of handing that over to you.

Yes, I buy televisions by checking the picture whilst they are unplugged. I mean, what's the image on-screen got to do with anything?

what would a test ride tell you about the condition of a bike that you couldn't find out by looking at it / handling it in situe?

What good is having a frame in good condition that is four sizes too big and rides like dutch shopper?

i'm supposing that if you are going to look at a bike to buy it you will already know that its what you want and you just want to check the quality / condition of it.

i'm supposing that if you are going to look at a bike to buy it you will already know that its what you want and you just want to check the quality / condition of it.

You're supposing that all buyers will already be cyclists with a good idea of their required frame size and preferred geometery. Many arn't. I'm not entirely sure myself...

I don't bother undoing my shoe laces in the first place.

Full cash up front before test ride.

Use some common sense.

At the same time, if I was buying I wouldn't hand over the money before I had tested it, on the basis that it's shit and the seller denies all knowledge of the transaction.

What good is having a frame in good condition that is four sizes too big and** rides like dutch shopper**?

ed will always buy it off you?