Buying and Selling on Astromart

Rodstar (Rod) · #1 07-01-2006, 04:57 PM

Just interested to know other people's experiences regarding buying and selling on Astromart.

There are two specific issues I'm particularly interested to cover:

1. It seems almost all vendors are based in the US and are not particularly interested in selling OS, such as to Australia. Is that your experience?

2. How do you pay? Is EFT usually accepted? What other methods of payment have you been able to use, if any?

From the ratings on vendors, it seems that people can generally be trusted with these transactions. Is that your experience?

h0ughy (David) · #2 07-01-2006, 05:20 PM

I normally pay by paypal, yes until they find out they have hassle free transactions and constant communications and I normally get great reviews with the stuff I have bought

Rodstar (Rod) · #3 07-01-2006, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h0ughy

I normally pay by paypal, yes until they find out they have hassle free transactions and constant communications and I normally get great reviews with the stuff I have bought

I have seen references to Paypal. Frontier Optics even accept payment that way. What is it? Isn't it just for buying from suppliers, or can us ordinary folk have Paypal accounts and conduct transactions with it?

h0ughy (David) · #4 07-01-2006, 06:12 PM

I can tell you Rod, I'm not special by any means, an I have an account linked to my credit card, so I can buy any time anywhere and it is guaranteed safe and secure as it could ever be!

Rodstar (Rod) · #5 07-01-2006, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h0ughy

I can tell you Rod, I'm not special by any means, an I have an account linked to my credit card, so I can buy any time anywhere and it is guaranteed safe and secure as it could ever be!

I'll have to speak to my bank about that, then!

BTW, what's CONUS, HOughy? I am assuming the US bit of it relates to the country!

iceman (Mike) · #6 07-01-2006, 06:53 PM

You'd best get a paypal account Rod, it's easy and free to sign up. Just link it to your credit card (don't need to talk to the bank) - unless by bank, you mean wife?

Just nominate your c/c account and it deducts from that.

CONUS = continental US. Most sellers only want to ship to CONUS, or they say shipping to CONUS is free. But to ship to australia you pay extra, obviously.

Most sellers might say they don't ship overseas, but sometimes it might just pay to ask anyway.

Rodstar (Rod) · #7 07-01-2006, 07:36 PM

Thanks for the heads up, Mike.

No, Nina is definitely not the bank.....she hasn't earnt a dime in over 5 years, and I'm the one that manages all matters financial (including Paypal now!).

netwolf · #8 07-01-2006, 11:52 PM

I to am intrested to know about paypal and astromart, i have been looking on there quiet sometime and there are many good deals.
Can a paypal account be linked to a normal bank account? Using Bpay or direct debit..

Astroman (Andrew Wall) · #9 08-01-2006, 06:26 AM

Best bet is to goto http://www.paypal.com there they ave all the information you need on creating an account and linking it to your bank.

[1ponders] (Paul) · #10 08-01-2006, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astroman

Best bet is to goto www.paypal.com

Or to www.paypal.com.au

Rodstar (Rod) · #11 08-01-2006, 09:47 AM

I have just visited the Paypal website, and ascertained the following:

1. Making Payments is free, accepted worldwide, and secure.
2. Your credit card details are not disclosed to the vendor
3. You can have a Personal account or a Premier account.
4. With a Personal account, you can make payments by credit or debit card, but you cannot receive payments that way.
5. The fees payable for receiving payments from buyers in Australia are calculated at the rate of 2.4% plus 30 cents per transaction if paid in AUD, or other amount which varies, but which is about AUD1 for other currencies.
6. Fees for receiving payments from international buyers are 3.4% plus small transaction fee as per Australian purchasers.

Eg.1 Purchase $500 EP from US. No transaction fees.
Eg.2 Sell $500 EP to the US. Paypal charges approx. $11.20. Receive $488.80 clear.

I am signing up this morning.

lost_in_space · #12 08-01-2006, 10:06 AM

There is no way in 40,000 fits I would trust paypal. They are an escrow service that operates with no supervision and no recourse if things go wrong. Google is your friend.

Argonavis (William) · #13 08-01-2006, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lost_in_space

There is no way in 40,000 fits I would trust paypal. They are an escrow service that operates with no supervision and no recourse if things go wrong. Google is your friend.

now what could possibly go wrong....................?

of course there are no guarantees that you will actually receive the goods that you pay for, and there is an element of trust with all of our commercial transactions. Fortunately I do not know of any problems with the sellers on Astromart. But Life is not risk free.

westsky · #14 08-01-2006, 12:10 PM

To anybody contemplating using Paypal, do a google search first, I have used paypal since it's inception but and I stress this I ONLY HAVE PAYPAL LINKED TO MY CREDIT CARD Not my normal bank account. This does allow you some protection as you can always dispute a charge with the CC company.
Paypal is great if used correctly, You will find that people using a personal Paypal account will be charged 3% on transactions that come from a CC, this means that if you buy from someone and you use PP linked to a CC then they have to pay a 3% fee for accepting the payment, most sellers require that you pay the fee.

David.

#15 08-01-2006, 03:07 PM

I've heard with Paypal you are better to setup an independant account for them to
access, you are esscentially giving them free access to the nominated account.
If something goes wrong or someone manages to access that account. You have to
go through the process of trying to sort that out.

I have a independant account and only shift monies to it when I use it.

regards,CS... we can only hope!!

RAJAH235 · #16 08-01-2006, 04:55 PM

Rob, the independant account is a great idea. You control the amounts in & out, & if something does go amiss then you don't lose your shirt as well.. Best/safest way actually.

L.

gbeal · #17 08-01-2006, 05:30 PM

Astromart is the site for used gear, no doubt. I have had a bit to do with it, and love it.
Most "ConUS" only stipulations are sometimes overcome by a simple courteous e mail asking. If not, then respect their wishes, weird as they might be, and move on.
PayPal is another kettle of fish. It is convenient, and easy to use, but costs, same as anything. If you are a buyer then it doesn't cost, unless the seller smacks you the fees (usually about 3%). If you are the seller then you nett a lesser amount as has been mentioned above.

Rodstar (Rod) · #18 08-01-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lost_in_space

There is no way in 40,000 fits I would trust paypal. They are an escrow service that operates with no supervision and no recourse if things go wrong. Google is your friend.

Have you had a bad experience, or know someone who has, lost_in_space?

lost_in_space · #19 09-01-2006, 12:43 AM

No, I made my mind up not to use pp after reading some horror stories on the net. Perhaps I shouldn't have sounded off like that on a personal opinion. I simply suggest you do your homework first and make your own decision. I have made mine.

janoskiss (Steve H) · #20 09-01-2006, 12:48 AM

There will be horror stories about whichever way you choose to pay, from identity theft to credit card frauds to being mugged in the street...