ebay: The worst place to sell a computer?

[cat]

At the moment I am selling my laptop on eBay.

I have it listed at 500 quid, which I think is a fair price for it when compared to some others on there.

But is it really a good idea to sell a laptop on eBay - a place populated by computer-savvy types - when you could sell it at a much higher price, to someone who knew nothing about computers, in a local newspaper advert?

[Gavin Scott]

I sold two on ebay and got a good price. Besides, if you go with a local free-sheet you might end up with some thicko troglodyte turning up at your door every time it crashes.

[cat]

It's just annoying seeing loads of people turning up with 'brand new, sealed, over-stocked' ones for about 200 quid starting price.

I need to sell it for about 400-500 quid (which is what it's worth, apparently) and the wait is just agonising.

[Dr Lobster*]

i sold my pda on there some time ago for £150 there was a number of exact same model, but a bit cheaper on there to and nobody bid till the last day (got a ten day listing) then there were about 10-12 bids at once, got about 25 quid more than the starting bid, which wasn't bad - plus i got a good rating for prompt delivery etc

[cat]

How is it that Paypal works exactly, then?

I already have an account - I take it that I just get them to transfer the money from their paypal account to mine?

I have had quite a few questions about it, but there is only one day to go and no bids yet, even though there are a few people ''watching'' it.

[Neil Jones]

How is it that Paypal works exactly, then?

I already have an account - I take it that I just get them to transfer the money from their paypal account to mine?

To be paid by PayPal is essentially a virtual bank. Basically it's just swapping a few numbers over; the money you "pay with" isn't real as such until you get it into your bank account

Somebody sends you money by PayPal; it will either come from their PayPal balance (usually accrued from other eBay sales that person has made) or from their bank account through the credit/debit card they registered with PayPal. Sometimes both happens if there isn't enough on the PayPal balance to cover the cost of the transaction but you don't know whether this is the case and it doesn't matter anyway as you still get your money.

Essentially payment by PayPal is virtual. To get it physically then assuming you've been paid, you have to ask for it to be transferred to your bank account and then it'll sit in limbo for anything up to about two weeks (can be longer) and then you can take it out the bank at a cashpoint in the normal way and do whatever with it.

[cat]

Well, I sold it, and for what I thought was a good price. So there we go.

Ordered my new Mac iBook today.

Still think eBay is riddled with fraud, though.