Viper187

I'm considering selling off some of my VHS, DVDs, etc. and I'm curious how everyone handles this stuff. I'm trying craigslist first, since I don't look forward to figuring out shipping rates or dealing with paypal. When you sell in the exchange forums here using paypal do you need a business account or will a personal one suffice? I never understood the point of multiple account types on there anyway since they're all free to sign up for. Is Amazon Marketplace better than ebay for sellers? Do sales on Amazon Marketplace just add credit to your amazon account that you can turn around and spend at amazon without getting taxed on it? That would be useful. I read somewhere that paypal is supposed to start reporting large scale sellers to the IRS at some point (next year?), but not everyone.

g

Half.com is another suggestion. it is far less competitive with other sellers and a little cheaper to use.

tonyc3742

Sales on Amazon Marketplace build up your account on Amazon; twice a month you can either cash out and get paid via direct deposit to your bank account, or convert it into Amazon.com gift certificate balance.

I think the personal Paypal account doesn't allow you to take credit cards. If you sell on Amazon, they pay you in their Amazon Payments system so you don't need a paypal account.

I'm not a huge seller, but I've probably sold a couple hundred things online.
I rank them thus;
Craiglist - pros: local, cash on delivery sales; con: cheapskates, limited market size, and your ad times out.
Amazon.com - pros: huge market size, great visibility, people pay more, you can list something till it sells, no charge until/unless it sells; payment in cash to your bank account or your Amazon.com cert balance; cons: Amazon's commission is very high, and postage credit doesn't necessarily cover entire shipping cost.
Half.com - similar to Amazon, although people are looking for better deals
Ebay - I haven't sold here in years, pros: Can get good prices for rarer stuff; cons: you pay even if it doesn't sell, from hearsay it sounds like the scumbags-to-decent citizen ratio has increased recently. Also, it's very much a buyers marketplace now.

Adboy151

Amazon stopped gift certificate conversions for sellers last year. It's strictly EFT now.

Kent2000

I tend to alternate between Amazon and Half. Amazon is more visible and offers a higher shipping credit, but Half is less competitive and charges fewer fees. What I also like about Half is that it's programmed to suggest a recommended sales price based on last and overall average sales price for each condition level, so it gives you a better idea of how likely an item is to sell. And you don't have to worry about the other sellers consistently undercutting you by a penny every time you lower your price.

As a last resort, I'll either send a box of items to Second Spin, or I'll attempt to trade for other titles at Swap-a-DVD.

Viper187

That sucks.

Troy Stiffler

I definately recommend Amazon.Com. You can download Ship Rush and you'll never have to wait in line at the PO.

PayPal is going to be reporting $20k+ accounts, I think.

Al_Tahoe

Won't Amazon be doing that too?

Obi-Wanma

I sell on Amazon and ship via USPS and I don't wait in line at the post office. I print all my shipping labels on PayPal.

Viper187

Well, it's a small town, so lines aren't much of a problem at the PO here. Anyway, I still haven't heard an answer as to whether people on the exchange forum here all use personal paypal accounts to sell or business/premiere? Also, aren't ebay/half putting BS holds on payments now until the buyer leaves feedback or some shit? I wouldn't be in a hurry to empty my account anyway, but I don't like the idea of arbitrary crap like that. I hate all these feedback systems on the major sites even as a buyer. I just want to rate the goddamn seller good or bad. I don't want to leave comments unless they piss me off.

Dexter Douglas

Here, you can obviously specify only non-cc paypal in your sale/trade thread. I see it all the time, so you shouldn't need a business account. Of course, you can only pull out $500 a month or whatever the current limit is, but it doesn't sound like it would be that big a problem for you.

Viper187

I always use my CC for paypal. I'd never give those assholes my bank info.

hindolio

i had a personal paypal account for a while before i "upgraded" it to premiere. its been years, so i dont recall the details, but i do remember a personal account being very limited - almost to the point of being useless.

i could be wrong, but i dont believe that is a widespread practice. i still think typically, when someone paypals you $ for a greedbay transaction, the payment goes straight to your account, less any fees.

Viper187

Anybody have any suggestions for shipping? Like how many DVDs/VHS fit in certain size flat rate boxes. Hearing others' experience in that department could be helpful. I don't really have a scale to play with for figuring out other rates, and I'm not willing to do media mail. Everything I sell will have to go first class/priority/UPS.

Obi-Wanma

I just guess the weight of my items based on the weight of similar things I've sent before. I've never had anything returned for insufficient postage. Even if I overestimate a little bit sometimes, it still comes out cheaper to print the labels myself online than it does to take them to the post office. (Espeically if you're doing delivery confirmation, which is like 70 cents at the post office, but 19 cents online for first class, and free for priority).

Viper187

Maybe it would make sense to just upgrade to the premiere(?) paypal account. Is there any reason NOT to upgrade? I mean I can't find any difference in anything looking through the policies. On the other hand, premiere/business account include that paypal debit shit. Do not want!