Hi guys! its been a while since I dropped by to this forum. After getting banned from Ebay again I've been using Gumtree to sell things for the past couple of years. However my source of things to sell has gone so I've had to come back to selling more collectable / obscure items on Ebay which wouldnt really sell on Gumtree.
The whole process for getting an account, listing items for sale and getting cleared payment for things is so complicated with Ebay / Paypal compared to just doing simple cash sales on Gumtree. All I had to do with Gumtree was find something to sell, do a few photos and a description and pop the listing on Gumtree then wait for a buyer to ring or text me.
As most items on Gumtree are sold locally then I would accept cash on collection meaning I'd have the money instantly in CASH!! Coming back to the protracted debarcle of selling items on Ebay then having to wait weeks for payment via Paypal has been a real comedown...
Despite faster ways of transferring money from the bank it seems that Paypal are as slow as ever when it comes to clearing money, plus even then when it comes to withdrawing money to my bank account I'm still subject to the 'up to 72 hours' review / release time. What makes me laugh is this 'up to 72 hours' actually means '72 hours' exactly! There isnt any security review or whatever their excuse is, my last withdrawal to bank account again took exactly 72 hours and the money was paid into my bank account at half past midday on xmas day!
So all that guff about 3-5 'working' days is bollocks as surely xmas day isnt considered a 'working day'. Nor do Saturday or Sunday seem to add extra time to a withdrawal as they arent technically 'working days'. Does anyone know how long I have to put up with this 72 hour wait before transfers to bank start to take 'up to 2 hours' - which is usually instant..? I've heard it could be 90 days, but is this the case ?
I dont know what the situtation is with a lot of people in the UK, but some of my friends have also started to list things on Gumtree instead because of similar bad experiences they've had trading on ebay and the Paypal fiasco. Infact one person even said to me they thought Ebay was so 'last year'...! I think Gumtree and Ebay have their own place though, although Ebay as ever seem to be doing their utmost to alienate even loyal users. especially sellers, and its become just a third platform for the likes of Argos / PC World / Sports Direct etc to sell their wares.
I preferred it when Ebay was mainly for private individual sellers dealing in collectable type stuff / used items that were unavailable elsewhere. Nowadays its become dominated by big name retailers selling new goods, so when you end up in competition with the likes of such high street giants then its unlikely the small trader will win in the face of such opposition with their vast budgets and teams of professional retail strategists etc.
Anyway I've just started trading on Ebay again, listen to this! The new 'stealth' account I've set up isnt even a 'stealth' account!!! Its been so long since my original Ebay account was suspended and I;ve had about a dozen 'stealth' type account since for over 10 years, that my new account is actually a genuine legit account in my own name using my own address / bank card etc!!! How mental! The first few sales I've done went well and I hope I can continue to trade for a few years on this 'legit' account without being suspended (again!).
So if anyone had read all the way through my rambling thread many thanks! And I hope to be coming back to chat with some of the old (and new!) faces on here again soon!
All the best and Happy New Year!
Johnny