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PAYPAL PROTECTION & Other TIPS to have a SAFE and WORRY FREE shopping experience!

WORDS OF WISDOM  from a 9 year eBay member and POWERSELLER!

Here are several tips, especially in the sports card and the autograph world, to always keep in mind when purchasing items on eBay.  If you are unsure the seller of a particular item is actually selling the item listed you can look for several things to avoid fraud and headaches down the road:

1.  If the seller truly has the item in their possession the he/she will be able to provide you with additional scans of that item.  For example, I was interested in purchasing a Michael Jordan autograph from a seller.  The seller had questionable feedback (and a few other factors that I will speak about later) and a questionable photo that was too small and poor quality.  This was a high dollar item and naturally I wanted to see the condition and signature better so I asked for a better scan of the card front and back.  He/she gave me an excuse as to why they could not and that the card was not in their possession. I wanted the card REALLY bad but I had to move on.  I mean, think about it, who does not have a $800 card in their possession if they are selling it.  Even if on consignment (a seller selling a card for someone else) the seller should be able to produce scans.

2.  Always look at feedback before you buy.  I saw a seller with 99.9% positive feedback one time that had a card I wanted.  I looked at the feedback and the last 2 transactions had negative feedback that the seller stole the buyer's money.  They were done with eBay and trying to make off with people's money as a last hurrah... Some say it does not matter but it DOES! Always look at feedback first!

3.  PAYPAL offers buyers up to $2,000 in protection.  That is say you buy a card for $1,600 and something happens like you did not get it, it was totally damaged, etc then at least you have a fighting chance and PAYPAL has your back and will help you recover the funds.  If you send a money order, cashier's check or cash then really the seller can just cash it, say he sent your card and you really have limited options as to your recourse.  So in the above example with the Michael Jordan, even I went ahead and bought the card and he took my money I could potentially recover it via PAYPAL as they would freeze their bank account.  This particular seller wanted a Money Order and he said he wanted it within 5 days FAST!  Red lights went off for me when he said that.

There are tons more tips that I have which I will be including in later installements. 

Please, if this guide was helpful, please vote "YES" right below.  Also, check out my other articles on various topics!