OK, so I finally sucked it up and tried out Ebay.
For starters, here’s the inspiration. I have The Straight Dope and specifically Dex to thank for it. I’ve never been much of a reader, but since I’ve been mostly unemployed and up late alot I’ve taken to reading before bed. I don’t really dig the so called “classics”, but I’ve ripped through the Harry Potter series, LotR, Hitchhikers Guide and a few other nuggets. Having run out of books, I decided Sherlock Holmes would be the next thing to get cultured up on. I was inspired by this Staff Report. I took the recommendation on that Annotated Sherlock Holmes book, but I discovered it was out of print and unavailable from the usual suspects. Ebay seemed the logical next step to find a used one.
I went on and immediately found a copy of the book, hardcover, and still in its original shrinkwrap. Yay! I was the only bidder for the first couple days at $20, then with about 18 hours to go someone bid $24.76…a fishy amount considering that I had $25 as my highest proxy bid. Nevertheless, I remained the high bidder when I checked with 5 minutes left. Interesting in itself since I literally ran back from the L after dinner Friday night to check it to make sure it got it. Lucky I did too, since when I reloaded the page with 1 minute and 57 seconds left someone out bid me. I frantically upped my bid again. Then I checked again and he’d out bid me by another dollar with 27 seconds left. In a last gasp, I typed as fast as I could my last bid and slipped in just under the wire as the winner! I was pretty geeked actually, I can see how people get caught up in buying crap they don’t even want. I walked away with a $40 book for $29 +shipping, not bad I’d say.
Here’s where the rub is. I notice the seller is located nearby, in a suburb of Chicago. I contact him and ask about alternate methods of picking it up and dodging the unusually high $6 shipping change. Seems a bit much since we probably live 25 minutes apart. He’s a power seller, so he pretty much says that he’d rather not deal with it. This isn’t such a problem, and he directs me to PayPal. I hadn’t used it before but I expected it to be pretty strightforward. Not So!
I read up on Ebay’s site and see that PayPal is free for me to use, and it should get me the book right away. I try and sign up for PayPal, things seem to go along nicely and after I’ve set up the account I’m ready to buy. I notice that they are now telling me that I need to be Verified to have my sending limit raised above $0.00. How convienent for them. Looking over the verification process I see that I need to confirm my email address, check. Then I have to acquire a “Member Number”…ok…and to get this I’ll need to be charged $1.95. Those slimy bastards…but, hell, it’s only two bucks. I give them my bank card, they charge me and I find out that I need to retrieve my Member Number off my bank statement where the charge is made…FUCK!! I’m not due to get my statement until 28 days from now and I used a Bank Card which doesn’t have online access. They specifically tell you not to call your bank for this number because it’d create complaints…sounds really shady to me, frankly. I am supposed to complete this transaction within 10 days…5 days from today. I’m so annoyed at PayPal. I plan on cancelling the account and just sending the guy a check.
So, is this the typical PayPal experience? Is no one really pissed about this hidden charge? Dopers, why haven’t I seen you guys ranting about this more?