Topic: How to safely sell Bitcoins on eBay? (Read 6688 times)

Looks like eBay is finally deciding to unclench it's cheeks a little. Hopefully PP will do the same...and be smart about it, which is asking a lot. Seems like BTC is following the inevitable conclusion of being required to have a physical form. Dunno if it'll ever be fully trusted if it doesn't.

http://www.zdnet.com/ebay-uk-to-allow-bitcoin-trades-but-only-in-classifieds-for-now-7000025380/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/21/ebay-clamps-down-on-bitcoin-sales-in-the-uk

I agree with most of what you said, but I have to disagree with using Paypal altogether. The best, most secure way to sell BTC on eBay is through the Virtual Currency category (will make you kosher on eBay terms), but you need to setup a bank transfer instead of using PP.

I spoke with the PP claims department yesterday regarding an immediate refund of $150 to one of my buyers. He informed me that it doesn't matter what form you attempt to sell BTC in (paper wallets, pennies, even wallets on USB sticks), they will not protect you. The reason for this is that the buyer can simply claim they did not receive what was promised (an empty wallet or envelope), even with shipping confirmation. Do you really want to rely on Paypal judgement at that point? At least with bank transfers, you're not running the risk of some pillock thieving your coins with a few simple lies.

Of course, this essentially makes you no better than any other pain in the ass method of getting BTC out there, but at least you're protected this way. The only risk I can think of is dealing with a stolen bank account. Even then, the chances of getting burned are still far less than dealing with PP...and even less if you deal in smaller amounts.

I sold BTC on ebay for a little bit and made some money, but I did get scammed a few times.  Additionally, PayPal will side with the buyer.  Also, like others have said above, eBay requires some sort of physical tangible item.  I was told by eBay that if I wanted to sell something that had no physical tangible item to be sent that I had to post it as a classified in "Everything Else>Informational" or something very similar to that.  If you post in that, from what I remember, eBay will charge you $9.95 for a 30 day listing.  I guess if you can sell enough BTC to cover that+eBay and PayPal fee's then it could be a way for you to do it.  Like others have said, it is prone to being scammed.  The best way I can think to do it is to list it on the classifieds area, then have them email you through the email that is attached to their PayPal account that they use to pay for the BTC and then send a paper wallet.  It is a hassle, and it may not even be that profitable.  At first when I started selling I was making between $2 to $4 dollars profit after fees.  However, with the setup I just mentioned your profit goes down close to a dollar or less due to the postage/envelope/ink/paper and whatever else you would need along with all the fees. 

I hope that gives you some sort of idea what kind of a hassle it is and what you can do to safely sell on eBay.

The way I outlined it up there probably isn't the best way, but that is what I would do.

Set up an auction for a penny ( list it as local pick up only) then in the title and description include the bitcoins as a gift (this will, in the end, determine the price)

at the end say the penny will be forfeited if not picked up in whatever amount of time but the gift can be kept and voila sold btc via ebay

Selling in small denominations can reduce your risk, at a cost of extra hassle. If you charge enough of a premium then you can potentially make up for any breakage through folk who are ridiculous enough to scam a few pounds out of you lol.

Personally I would seek other options like Bittylicious etc, but obviously that depends on the volume/flow of coins you have and whether you can be bothered with the hassle.

Could maybe try advertise on Gumtree and meet up with somebody. Explore paper wallets etc.

You can, but if you get caught youll get a no-no letter in your message box. 

This is the letter i got.

"Hello ********,
After reviewing your eBay account, it appears that you have violated eBay's Digitally Delivered Goods policy. As a result, we've taken the following action on your account:
- Violating listings have been removed. A list of removed items is available further down in this email.
- We have credited all associated fees except for the final value fee for your listing(s).

Listing digitally delivered goods outside of the Classified Ad format in the Everything Else > Informational products category is not allowed.

The guidelines for digitally delivered goods help prevent feedback manipulation or artificial increases in eBay seller ratings. The guidelines also help protect members by preventing item listings that may infringe on the intellectual property rights of others.

You can list most digitally delivered goods, but only if you use the Classified Ad format and list your item in the Everything Else > Information Products category.

Here's more information on our policy:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/downloadable.html

Virtual currency such as Bitcoin, Peercoin, Litecoin, and others, can only be listed in the Classified Ad format. Additionally, PayPal prohibits the transfer of funds for transactions related to virtual currency, therefore PayPal cannot be offered as a payment method for these items.

If you have more questions, contact our policy experts:
http://ocsnext.ebay.com/ocs/cusr?query=1387&domain=email1254

Please be sure your future listings follow these guidelines. If they don't, they may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including restrictions of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account. "

And after viewing the downloadable goods policy i found:

"Examples of digitally delivered goods that can't be advertised on eBay:
MP3 music copied from a CD you own or recorded at a concert
eBooks you don't own the copyright to and aren't authorized  to resell by the owner, the owner's authorized agent, or the law
Songs you bought from iTunes
Movies you copied from DVDs you own
Video games you copied from the original CDs
PDF files of product manuals or user guides that you don't own the copyright of or you aren't authorized to resell by the owner, the owner's authorized agent, or the law
Online gaming accounts or artifacts such as characters, currency , or other items in any format"

Keyword being Currency if you haven't seen it. 

Not only that, but this is what Paypal has to say about things:

"Per our current Acceptable Use Policy for Money Service Businesses, PayPal may not be used to operate a currency exchange, bureau de change or check cashing business including the sale of Bit coin.”

and the fact that:

"It’s illegal to operate a currency exchange – online or offline – without proper registration as a money transmission business. This is the same statute under which the US bank accounts accounts of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox were seized..."

I noticed that there were a lot of listings for say 0.1 or 0.01BTC and they were going for a lot more than they would cost on any other exchange. I had the idea to sell small denominations to maximize profit, but I have come to the conclusion that it is not worth the risk.

i don't have an answer to your ebay question but why sell on ebay? it's otc style and price could be low and risk is high. why not just sell on any exchange like ours?

eBay terms seem to be up to the interpretation of the person reviewing the case.  I bought a bunch of paper wallets that were supposed to be loaded with 1 BTC each, they had 0 each.  When disputing the cases I won 2 of them, but lost the third.  The seller knew to claim they were "intangible goods", and apparently the person reviewing the third case said "this item violates PayPal's Acceptable use Policy."  The item was clearly not as described, which I easily proved by showing them the blockchain information, but they decided to side with the seller.

The only thing I learned is not to use eBay and especially not PayPal for anything related to bitcoins.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but this comes up high in Google results and I felt I needed to clear up this misinformation. I've sold many digital goods over the years. I can assure you that the "selling a pretty picture or a funny joke" and then sending a "free gift" hasn't worked in years, and is explicitly stated in their rules. This will not protect you.

Also, while shipping with tracking will protect you from an item not received dispute, there is ABSOLUTELY NO SELLER PROTECTION for an item not as described dispute. If any buyer claims you sent an empty envelope, they will win every single time unless they appear to be an obvious repeat scammer.

I've browsed eBay before looking for BTC and other alt currencies but have found the prices to be overly high - you've got to bear in mind the fees the seller will incur. This with the added risk of chargebacks I would steer well clear.....

I am a long time seller on eBay and I know that no matter what you write in the terms of your sale if it conflicts with eBay or paypal buyer protection program it is ignored.

As a seller you are never protected with sales of non-tangible items, I.E: Ebooks, Scripts, Programs, Bitcoins etc.

But in the case of bitcoin you have the option of delivering a paper version of the item. If you want to sell bitcoin on ebay you must make it a physical item that is shipped and TRACKED for proof of delivery, with the option of instant delivery through the clients wallet. In this case I believe your transaction is protected under the seller protection program and no matter what the client does on their end like cancel the payment through their card, you the seller will be able to keep the money associated with the transaction.

You could also make a listing where you sell a physical item that includes a bonus free bitcoin or something like that.

I.E:

1 U.S Penny + 0.01 bitcoin bonus free directly to your wallet.

In this case you deliver the penny tracked, obviously, then send out the bitcoin payment. If a client tries to dispute the sale you have proof of delivery which is pretty much all you need to keep your money.
 

No more safe but it's the very last option to sell your Bitcoins on eBaY, jcoin200.

Yeah, Bittylicious is probably the quickest and easiest way to get BTC and FTC.

I'm sure if ebay creates its own marketplace for coins, the prices wont be much more than regular exchanges. They're only a massive premium because people will pay that just to get coins easily and with PP.

I bought my very first Bitcoin and LTCs and FTCs off ebay with paypal and no problems. It's a shame PP can be exploited by scammers so easily as it's a great  way to get coins simply and quickly.

I'm surprised they haven't already, but I'm sure they will in the future.

I am also curious of this. I have seen a million Infinitecoins go for $200+ on ebay. I bought 3 million off ebay a month ago for £7 and I thought I overpaid  .

I guess you could sell them for money orders, but you don't want to take any form of payment that could come from a victim of fraud(that likely includes bank transfers). The real solution here is that you have to trust the buyer. If you don't trust the buyer don't let them purchase from you.

I'm curious, have any of these auctions for obscene amounts(2-3x market rate) been legitimate?

It's not possible to sell BTC on eBay safely as eBay always give protection to the buyers for intangible goods such as virtual goods. So the best thing to do is to do it off of eBay and stay away from PayPal!