Procedure for buying on the FPN market?

[Philip1209]

I'm considering going after my first pen purchased on the FPN market via a "WTB" post. I don't really understand how the transfer of money works. I'm not really familiar with paypal, but is that the standard method of payment? Does the seller give me an account number that I can put in the paypal page or is there a purchase page like one would find at isellpens or Richard Binder's site? If using paypal, how does the charge look on a credit card?

Also, how does one know that the pen actually exists and is coming before paying?

If there is a little 'tutorial' page on this that I haven't found yet, please post the link.

Thanks!

[Titivillus]

I'm considering going after my first pen purchased on the FPN market via a "WTB" post. I don't really understand how the transfer of money works. I'm not really familiar with paypal, but is that the standard method of payment? Does the seller give me an account number that I can put in the paypal page or is there a purchase page like one would find at isellpens or Richard Binder's site? If using paypal, how does the charge look on a credit card?

Also, how does one know that the pen actually exists and is coming before paying?

If there is a little 'tutorial' page on this that I haven't found yet, please post the link.

Thanks!

 

There is no tutorial but heck I can give you an outline!

 

Paypal does seem to be a relatively standard method of payment because it can be instantaneous and adds a layer of security to the transaction as they can review a disputed transaction.

 

If you are going to pay through paypal you need to goto www.paypal.com and register an account- then you transfer funds from a bank account into your paypal account or link a credit card to paypal ( and the card will be billed).

 

The seller will give you their paypal username and you then go to the paypal site and send money. Or they can send you a request for funds.

 

hope this was helpful,

 

Kurt

 

 

 

[NABodie]

Hey Phillip

Sellers will usually take PayPal or a MO or even a personal check just depends on the seller. Paypal is a quick way to transfer the funds. All you need to do is set up an account at www.paypal.com and add a CC or Bank account to transfer funds from. The seller will give you their paypal address and you just make the payment to them. The transaction comes up on your CC bill as a paypal payment.

 

Hope that helps.

 

NB

[Aslan]

Philip,

 

The second part of your question seemed to do with whether or not the pen is really there and the deal is not a scam. If someone had been around FPN for a while (check number of posts) they're probably safe.

 

There seems to be a self-policing that goes on. Even though there are 15,000 of us we are, as you know from your 400+ posts, a pretty tight group when it comes to pens. One bad deal would be known by the entire group overnight. The scoundrel among us would only get away with it once.

[mehitabel]

Sometimes you cannot use a credit card at Paypal. If the seller only has a personal Paypal account, he/she cannot accept credit card payments (many sellers sell only very occasionally and don't need the hassle and expense of a Paypal businesss account).

 

You can feel quite confident in buying from an FPN member who has been a member for some time (check boxes under avatar). I would not buy from a brand new member. You can also check whether the seller has sold other pens on FPN in the past - go to the member area and look up the seller's previous posts - browse through them.

 

mehitabel

[ethernautrix]

Sometimes you cannot use a credit card at Paypal. If the seller only has a personal Paypal account, he/she cannot accept credit card payments (many sellers sell only very occasionally and don't need the hassle and expense of a Paypal businesss account).

 

PayPal gives you three account options: Personal, Premium, and Business.

 

Having recent first-time experience as a seller using PayPal, I can tell you that PayPal's Personal account allows five receipts of payment per year at a fee of 4.9% + $.30 per transaction.

 

You can upgrade at no cost to a Premium account for unlimited receipts of payment, and each of those transactions comes with a 2.9% + $.30 fee.

 

After receiving funds, you can withdraw them from your PayPal account to your bank account (which you will have to link) with a maximum of $500 per month.

 

 

As a BUYER using PayPal, you don't have to link your bank account, but doing so gives you "verified buyer" status (not sure what the benefit is; I was unverified for a coupla years with no glitches).

 

You can SEND MONEY by entering the seller's e-mail address into the appropriate field and then specifying the dollar amount.

 

If you have both a bank account and a credit card account linked, you can choose which source you want the funds withdrawn from. I believe it defaults to the bank account.

 

PayPal will send you a confirmation e-mail of the transaction.

[Rufus]

I've gone to paying with a money order, as PayPal won't let me use a credit card unless I link my PayPal account to a Canadain $ bank account. I tried linking to my US$ bank account, but PayPal wouldn't accept it as I live in Canada and according to their "rules" I have to link to a Canadain $ bank account. So far I've refused to do this as I maintain a US$ account in Canada that I use it for the majority of my internet purchases. If I now have to buy/sell in US$ and have the funds converted into Canadain $, I'll really get dinged on the exchange rate. When I first set up my PayPal account it was linked to my credit card and PayPal set a total payment limit of US$5,000 on my account; I've since used up this limit and PayPal is insisting I now link to a Canadain$ bank account. If anyone knows a way around this I'd like to know about it. Some on-line vendors, e.g. Richard Binder, have it set up so that you can pay them with a credit card via PayPal without having to do it through a PayPal account.

 

As concerns, paying for something before receiving it, I've yet to have a problem when purchasing from members of FPN, touch wood. Interestingly, yesterday I purchased a pen from a well-known on-line dealer who said he would mail the pen to me on Tuesday. When I reminded him that I was paying with a US$ money order and that he wouldn't receive it until next week, he replied that you just have to trust people if you want to do business. I'd dealt with this seller only once before, about a year ago, and the pen I purchased from him then cost less than half of the one I bought from him yesterday. Faith in humanity!

[Ebonite And Ivory]

Hi guys. I don't know how to post WTB. I want to buy a sailor king Eagle nib on any pen but it's becoming so hard to find that I decided the FPN community could really help me with advice or maybe even a direct sale. Do I have to be a ruby member to post WTB? I've bought here before from classifieds but never posted a wtb & searched multiple times for a WTB tutorial but haven't found it yet. Thanks!

[zaddick]

Just put an ad in the classifieds with WTB in the front.

 

Looks like you already did it.