Buying & Selling - trying something new

Pre-paid cards aren't free. There is a fee. Why turn good 100% usable cash into 97% plastic?

I find "Coinstar" machines pretty amazing. If someone had approached me with that business model, I have to say I would not give it much chance for success. You pour money into a machine and rely on it to correctly count it and it gives you back 91,1 cents for every dollars worth of change it counts.

I put change in a jar and every few months I roll it up and take it to the bank for cash. Usually somewhere between forty and sixty dollars. I walked into a bank for a meeting and in my briefcase I had rolls of coins to redeem after the meeting. The clients assistant spotted the rolls when I opened it to retrieve some files and asked "You roll up coins?"

Of course I do.

"I wouldn't waste my time, I just drop them in the machine." 

There's a sucker born every minute.

As pointed out, the debit card offers little protection from fraud, unlike credit cards.  I do just the opposite.  I use my credit cards for most everything, and we pay off the bills in their entirety with each bill.  I get the same convenience, and no risk.

Sucker?

I take the coins to the bank in a large jar and put them into the free coin counter and receive 100% of my money.  No rolling, counting, etc.  The machine counts them and I get the receipt that I take to the cashier and they hand me the exact amount of the coins.

I don't waste my time, and I'm not a sucker.

Never a problem since day 1. The debit card is very safe and there are safeguards offered by the banK to make it even better. Not for everybody but it works for me.

I was referring to the machines that take 9%.

Constant battle of freaking wits.

I've never seen those change counters, but I can freely say that I'll never use one!

I have bought three items on the board- including a scale Challenger and NYC Hudson. I sent personal checks and told them to send the items when the checks cleared . It worked fine. Of course I knew the sellers were long time board members.

Metro Banks have free coin counting and if you guess correctly how much you are putting through the counter you win a prize!   You could come out ahead!!    I won a beach ball once.    Better than going to Atlantic City!  

Well, you could cheat and count it before you brought it in.

If you need a beach ball that bad.........    I have not done it in quite some time , but I imagine there is some threshold amount that has to go through before you would even be eligible for a "prize".   I don't think putting one roll of pennies through puts you in contention.      There is always the "fine print". 

You should count it, I had a nice bank lady try to lift 40 bucks out of my yearly coin count, good thing I knew what was there. Never say you will not use a coinstar as many banks are no longer offering the free service and are installing coinstars. The times are a changin.

I can safely say I'll never use any service that charges me 10% for a simple counting exercise!  It's not that difficult to count change and even wrap it, I've done it in the past. 

Harry may be right after all, there really is one born each minute.

hello guys and gals..........

Yet you go to jail for robbing the banks but banks robbing you, they get way with it !!. I have not had a bank account since 2005 and doing well without them just fine and i SAVED a lot of money that way which means buying trains and paying for it all at once .  Banks DESERVED to get robbed !!!!!!!!!after treating common customers like that.

 Everybody CAN do without banking and if that happens then banks will come begging on your knees and offering you free services and low grade perks,naaaaaaaaah it never happen!!! so let them suffer......... as we tax payers bail them out every time.

the woman who loves toy trains

Tiffany

"No one likes to pay the 3% PayPal fee but what value is your time?"

As far as I am concerned PayPal is a security risk just waiting to happen. Then again I have a career history in criminal justice.

I too have all my accounts "locked" to inhibit any on line activity. Re: The TCA: There is what is know as a "TCA" cheque. That's a personal check written to the seller. He requires you put your TCA # on the check. I, as buyer require that the seller also give me his TCA # on the same check. If the seller has any problems with that type of  historical TCA transaction I automatically assume there is something wrong with the item & walk away from the deal.

What value is my time? A lot more than any account risks, because of a impulsive toy train purchase!

Harry ,

I don't mind the credit cards but excepting Paypal is a bit hard to do in a small business situation.  I certainly don't mind using it for one off forum stuff.

Dave

I notice some people are unrealistic on shipping times wnen they use paypal, thay pay and expect the product the next day. I have never had that problem with checks or money orders. I feel for the dealers that take cards and paypal and have to deal with unrealistic shipping expectations. A week or 2 is fine with me.

Bus fare is 0.85 from house to school, and another 0.85 the way back, so there go all the quarters and dimes. And my oldest is starting sophomore and two more kids on the way, so no problem with quarters or dimes in our house for years to come.

But anyways, the automated check out machines at Home Depot take all sort of change - you can go there when its not busy, buy  your light bulbs, CAT 5e patch cable, whatever, put all the change in you can bear than pay off the rest with a credit card. It even takes pennies.

If you believe the banks have to count your money for free, or take your home wrapped coins you may be one of those born every minute.

 

Curious where you read that, because I certainly didn't say that.  Right now I can get the service for free at the bank, so I use it.  When they start charging for it, I won't use it.  That I did say.

Since I don't deliberately save tons of coins, this issue rarely comes up.  If it ever does, and I have a lot of coins, I'll just pay cash in pennies for a few purchases, problem solved.

I have a set of graduated tubes, purchased years ago, for rolling coins.

I have never had a debit card account hacked, but have had 2 different credit card numbers stolen. The credit card company made good on both. I do worry about my bank accounts being stolen. It apparently is a problem now. 

Rob

Trainman, Anybody who deal's with using a credit card or Paypal online is standing on the sharp edge of a razor blade. That little yellow padlock in the upper right hand of the page bar doesn't mean SQUAT! Day after day you read about hacker's breaking into "super secure sites" and retrieving thousands or millions of peoples most intimate information. As stated above by a fellow forum member, I to have used Postal money orders for hundreds of eBay purchases and have had only ONE incident. 

Paypal is secure and guarantee's your purchase price. Uh Huh, if you're grandchildren are still available, they might see a return of your money. Sound's the same as these "store rebate" pyramid schemes. Yes, I'm old and crabby, but I've been around the block more than once. I sleep very well, knowing my account numbers aren't floating around on a flat panel in someone's basement in Nigeria or worse. Feel free to comment, and unless you're some security softwear guru, you'll never make me change my attitude on this subject. There, I said it. 

400e, It's called "instant gratification." It's a carryover from our childhood days when we didn't get something we wanted instantly, the temper tantrum's started. Gen X'ers and their children will be the latest group's to experience this. Their parent's gave them everything (almost) they demanded. Yes, I've waited for the mail person or UPS man to deliver my newest train purchase's and cursed at the wait. But the anticipation is well worth it. Opening the front door and seeing it on the stoop make's all the waiting and fretting well worth it.

Not sure what the point is.  Credit cards are compromised all the time, and you are liable for, at most, $50.  In reality, I've never seen a credit card company charge you anything for fraudulent charges.  The credit card companies have a well-oiled procedure in place to deal with this issue.  It's also in their best interest not to make you mad, since any card you use regularly gives them far more profit than trying to pick your pocket for that $50 liability.

As far as PayPal, that is why my PayPal account is linked to a totally separate bank account that is just for hobby use.  My main bank account has no link to them.  Also, even in my main bank account, I keep very little money, that is in yet another savings account with no links to my main account.

The notion that your better off using Postal Money Orders for purchases has no basis in fact.  The "fact" here is once the other party has your money order, he has your cash.  If they don't ship the item, or ship a box of bricks, you're out.  Before you tell me how that can't happen, it DID happen to me.  I sent the MO, I got nothing.  The USPS was not interested in pursuing it, since it wasn't a "pattern of abuse".

John is right on all accounts. I have used credits cards for offline and online purchases for my business and personal use for more than 30 years and thousands of transactions with no problems. All systems are only as strong as it's weakest link. The postal MO is 2 fold a lost MO or a dishonest seller. A credit cards weakest link is actually a gas station or restaurant employee that takes your card number and uses it for himself later. Can your credit card get hacked? Certainly, but so can your hospital, doctor's office, insurance company, employer, government agency, etc. If they pluck you SS# and address you're in trouble. Just my opinion.

  Ron

If you believe the banks have to count your money for free, or take your home wrapped coins you may be one of those born every minute.

 

 

Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

Originally Posted by 400e:

Never say you will not use a coinstar as many banks are no longer offering the free service and are installing coinstars. The times are a changin.

I can safely say I'll never use any service that charges me 10% for a simple counting exercise!  It's not that difficult to count change and even wrap it, I've done it in the past. 

 

Harry may be right after all, there really is one born each minute.

They do have to take your home wrapped coins.  They are still legal tender.  I'm not sure they can legally charge you a fee either unless it is clearly stated in their schedule of fees.  If they tried, I'd politely request they provide me with a copy of the schedule of fees that details what they charge for coin deposits.  If they have one, I'd be taking my business somewhere else.

When I was putting my pocket change into one of those large bottle banks, my wife and I took several evenings in front of the TV rolling coins.  We took $1100 in rolled coin to the bank and they didn't even blink.  "Would that be checking or savings, sir?" was about all they said.  Yes, it was a few years ago but I don't believe things have changed that much.

Much to my alternating amusement and disgust, my "not for profit" credit union has a coinstar type machine that I believe "only" charges a 7% fee.  If anyone needs coins counted, I'll gladly roll and count them for 7%.  (You'd get an honest count, too.)  All day long.  Will I pay 7%?  No way in heck!

This amazes me, and I know it to be true. Visit any Post Office and you will see signs and warnings everywhere about teh penalties for theft of mail and postal fraud.

Until it happens to you and you try and get the Post Office to take action.

Unless the action results in the theft or loss of more than $10,000, the Postal Inspector won't even talk to you, let alone investigate and prosecute.

To further throw a wrench into things, I read an article recently that talked about the risks of paying by paper check.  It seems that, according to the author, it is easier to steal someone's info from a paper check than it is a credit/debit card.  The information  encoded on the check includes the bank routing number, your account number and your check number.  That's enough by itself to create a fraudulent electronic transaction.  Better yet, from the perspective of the criminal, is that there is other personal info on the check like name and address.  Some have phone, SSN, or drivers license number too.

Credit Unions generate profits and Credit Unions are exempt from paying taxes on those profits.

Any "profit" goes back to the members in the form of subsidized rates on loans and higher dividends.  Legally, it is supposed to be a wash.

I have used Pay-Pal for a couple of transactions and found it very easy and I like the idea that your account numbers are secure. But, as a postal worker all I can say is mail on folks.

They are in business, completing vigorously with banks for business and not subject to taxes. 

quote:

Any "profit" goes back to the members in the form of subsidized rates on loans and higher dividends.  Legally, it is supposed to be a wash.

I wish my Credit Union did those things.
Instead, they do just enough to be competitive with private banks, and spend the profits on new buildings.

I gave up on banks many years ago, then gave up on savings & loans after the S&L crisis, and have been very happy with service from credit unions.  Lately a few of them have been playing games with fees and restrictions so I am down to a couple that continue to back 100% of any type of transaction. 

I have used PayPal on rare occasion and stay away from Postal or especially Western Union Money Order. Sadly the consumer has fewer choices than in the past despite the promise of "choice" in today's marketplace.

"I notice some people are unrealistic on shipping times wnen they use paypal, they pay and expect the product the next day."

One side of that is many sellers take their sweet time shipping items and I think that is bs. I ship the same day I get the money. I know some dealers ship once a week but that is a bit too much too. Lately, things I get from da' bay arrive very quickly.

Rob

The first key, in my opinion to buying and selling is patience. ( it IS coming ) I would prefer that someone not ask me to lie about gifting through PayPal. Just add the 3% to your asking price.

Most of these posts seem to be biased towards the seller, as in it's the seller who needs protection from a crooked buyer.

I agree with John, the buyer is taking as much, or more risk than the seller. Not only might the seller decide not to send the item,  there is always the possiblity that the item might not be as described.

This forum is particularly risky because there is no feedback mechanism.

I'm sure there are crooked buyers as sell as crooked sellers, C.W., but in all my years in the hobby I haven't had personal experience with either.

All I can say Allen is that you've been extremely lucky!

quote:

I'm sure there are crooked buyers as sell as crooked sellers, C.W., but in all my years in the hobby I haven't had personal experience with either.

I haven't had any personal experience with crooked buyers, yet over 90% of this thread discusses protecting sellers from them. So they must be out there.
I have yet to receive a bad check.

I have had buyers bring back a train for repair after they took it home and screwed it up (usually by over lubrication).

On the other end, I have run into a handfull problems with sellers, the first occuring years before the internet became popular. On that occasion, I sent the money, and never received the merchandise. I was lucky, and eventually got my money back.

More recently, the issues surround merchandise not being as described.

Overall, I am happy with my "remote trading", otherwise I would have stopped doing it.

I am carefull about from whom I will buy.

I don't understand why some folks are reluctant to use EBay to buy. Unlike its early years, when you pay via Paypal, the buyer has recourse on a bad deal.

However, due to the high commission, and horror stories about bad buyers, I am reluctant to sell trains (or any other "collectable" ) there.