tofuuMonster.

This is basically going to be a tip thread to help first time buyers and sellers.
I know a lot of members here have already experienced buying and selling, so
i thought if i made this thread everyone will share their advice to the "first timers"
and so that they will know how to handle things...

since most of the buyers and sellers use paypal accounts, i'd like to start with paypal...
(this can be i big help to the young ones)
and these are some possible questions they might ask:
1) what is paypal?
2) is it free to register a paypal account?

• yes paypal is free to register -- Mai17

3) what is the difference between personal, premier, and business accounts? and which is better?

• "Personal" is generally for buying stuff online or send money. it can receive payments, but never use it to receive credit card payment coz it can only receive up to 5 credit card payments per year, and the paypal fee for receiving credit card is 5% to 6% (higher than the regular 3% to 4%).
  
  "premier" is generally for both buying and selling. it can receive credit card payments with no restriction and charge only regular paypal fee
  
  each person/individual can have one Personal account and one Premier or Business account, but each account must have its own email address and bank account -- Mai17
  
  
  4) is there any fee in sending and receiving money? (since the question is related to paypal fees, i'll include the answer here)
  
• actually ...... the paypal fee depends on where you live and type of transaction (domestic or international / purchase or personal)
  "purchase" paypal fee is around 3% to 4% (seller pay the fee)
  "personal" paypal fee is around 0% to 2% (buyer/seller pay the fee) -- Mai17

Buying:
1) how can i trust this seller?
2) what are the fees i'm going to pay?
3) how long will it take to reach my place?

Selling:
1) how do i pack a certain item to refrain any damage to the item(from photocards to big items)?

• When I sell photos, trading cards and similar items. I try and get the hard cardboard envelopes that dont bend easily because those are really good with keeping those in good condition.
  If I cant find those, I go for the bubbled enevelopes and try to use cardstock on either side of the photos/cards if I have it to keep them in shape
  --Kireny

2) how do i state if the item is still in mint condition?
3) how much is the shipping fee?

that's all i can't think of now. Everyone is free to ask
professionals is much welcome to share some of their tips

edit: i'll try to compile and summarize your answers in the first post so it'll be easier
for them to find what they need.

Notes to be taken down for SELLERS

• FOR PAYPAL FEES...it is against PayPal TOS for sellers to request that buyers pay for the PayPal fees. This is the cost of using PayPal's service.-- tennyoaisu

• I think sellers should provide both "purchase" and "personal" option -- Mai17

• As far as i am concerned at this point the seller should be taking responsibility for everything even if they simply make it clear that if you have it sent this way and it goes missing or is damaged there is nothing i can do about it.
  -- Himalia™

• Sellers who offer their help buying something specific on request should be excluded for paying paypal fees, though, in my opinion. Like, Himalia, you offer your help for buying H!P stuff from the official site or sth like that, right? So you also should be paid the whole amount the actual product costs and also the appropriate shipping and handling fees should be complete. If you as the person who offers this service had to pay the paypal fees you would make a loss in money, which would be very unfair considering that you are so nice as to provide others with stuff they would not be able to buy so easily from elsewhere. -- Shiyalin

Notes to be taken down for BUYERS

• if a seller asks you to send the payment as "gift" to avoid either having to pay fees, DO NOT DO THIS. Sending as "gift" means that you are forfeiting PayPal protection -- tennyoaisu

• send money via "personal" means forfeit the paypal buyer protection, therefore if you don't trust the seller, don't use the personal option. -- Mai17

• 
  And to clarify for everyone what buyer protection is -- this is PayPal's system in place to resolve disputes for items not received, items not received in promised condition, etc. For example you receive a fake/bootleg CD, and the seller will not cooperate, you can open a claim to get your money back BUT if you had sent the payment as a gift to avoid fees, then there is no way to open a claim and get your money back. So please do not do this. -- tennyoaisu

Shipping:
On the topic of shipping, if you ever need to get stuff shipped directly from Japan and someone there doesn't want to figure out the cheapest way the Japanese Post company has some very easy to understand price tables from Surface mail all the way up to EMS and everything in between completly in english.
http://www.post.japa...jp/english/fee/ -- naokaji