Pinball Machines - Sellers Frequently Asked Questions

Pinball Machines.com Seller FAQ

Is it really FREE to list items on Pinball Machines?

Yes, it is ABSOLUTELY FREE to list your items for sale! Pinball Machines.com allows you to post Wanted Item for free, Bid & Buy items at no charge, and post your items for Auction for FREE!! On auction items, you have the option to add additional services to your listing for a small charge. A small percentage commission of the final sale price is due at the end of the auction to cover administration costs, but for listing the auction with normal basic service, is ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!! The commission percentage is as follows:

If final auction is price is $0.01 to $5,000.00 - then only - .02%
If final auction is price is $5,000.01 to $50,000.00 - then only - .015%
If final auction is price is $50,000.01 and over - then only - .01%

Pinball Machines Escrow:

When buying expensive items, inspect what you buy before sending payment by asking your seller to consider easy-to-use escrow services.
Pinball Machines will hold item payments and send it off to the seller only after merchandise is inspected and given approval by buyer. Seller should not have any problem putting the buyers mind at ease, because Pinball Machines escrow is a plus.

Escrow Service Charges:

Transaction Amount	Escrow Fee (credit)	Escrow Fee (cash)
0.01 to $500.00	5% (minimum $3.00)	5% (minimum $6.00)
$500.01 to $2,500.00	$25.00 + 5% of Transaction	$25.00 + 3% of Transaction
$2,500.01 to $5,000.00	$100.00 + 4% of Transaction	$75.00 + 1% of Transaction
$5,000.01 to $25,000.00	Not Accepted	$90.00 + 1% of Transaction

Late Fees:
You will be billed a monthly finance charge of 1.5% (with a minimum of $0.50) or the highest amount permitted by applicable law - whichever is lower - if your account becomes past due. You may also have to pay collection costs. If you send a check or money order drawn from a bank outside the U.S., please include an additional $10.00 to cover bank fees. Returned checks are subject to a $15.00 service charge.

Also please see Payment Terms.

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How do I sell something?

You have 2 methods of selling to choose from - Auction & Wanted Ad. Wanted Item are pretty self explanatory, but you can click here to find out more. Here is the simple procedures for selling via Auction and a few tips:

Simply fill out the Post an Auction item link in the Navigation Bar on the Pinball Machines online pages, and you're in business!
Make your listing look great with linked pictures or fancy text. A short, descriptive title and a complete description of your item will also help your sales.
But be truthful in your listings. Disappointed buyers are likely to leave you negative
feedback.
Price to sell! Consider setting the minimum bid for your item a little lower than you think it will eventually sell for, just to get the auction going. Don't set it lower than you're willing to sell for, though.
Be sure to clarify additional terms or expenses like who pays for shipping and insurance.
Bidders or potential bidders might email you during the course of the auction. Don't hesitate to respond to all inquiries promptly.
GOing, GOing, GOne!
When your auction ends, you and the high bidder will get emails. The seller and the high bidder should contact each other within 3 business days at the end of the auction.
The winning bidder pays you directly for the item, and it's your responsibility to fulfill the order once payment terms are met. The binding contract of the auction is between the winning bidder and the seller.

Remember, an Pinball Machines auction is a legal commitment to sell your item to the highest bidder. If you receive one or more bids above your minimum price, you are legally obligated to complete the transaction. A failure to do so is a breach of the User Agreement and may be legally actionable by one or more of the bidders.

You may auction any merchandise you have the right to sell, as long as it complies with the User Agreement and is not prohibited. Please list your item in the appropriate category.

Tips for Sellers

Ready to get the most out of your Pinball Machines selling experience? Check out the suggestions we've gleaned from our experienced sellers:

Give a Complete Description:

To avoid questions later, try to anticipate questions people may have about the item.
Be sure to specify who will pay for shipping.
Don't forget to mention the location of the item and whether you'll ship internationally.

Add a Picture:

You can boost sales by showing off your item with an image or photograph.

Provide Terms For Sale:

To make sure you get paid for the items you sell, include the payment method and shipping terms in your listing.
Accepting more secure forms of payment (such as credit cards) gives you more ability to verify the buyer.
You may want to insure the item before shipping.
For higher-priced items, bidders may be more likely to bid if you offer an escrow service.

Keep Your Auction Going:

Many Pinball Machines bidders wait until the very last minute to place a bid.
That means you may be missing out on additional bids if you end your auction early.

Be Courteous To Bidders:

Remember, this is a potential buyer—and you want the sale!
Take the time to write in complete sentences, with a salutation and a closing when you send an email.

Check the Bidder's Feedback Reputation:

The numbers in parentheses next to a bidder's User ID is that bidder's feedback rating. There are two numbers divided by a comma(,). The number on the left represents how many times feedback has been left on this user. The number on the right represents the users average score ranging from 1-10 with 1 being horrible and 10 being excellent. This rating is a summary of the comments other users have made about this user.
Click on that number to see the actual comments.

Talk Person to Person:

If you feel uncomfortable about your deal, sometimes a quick phone call is a great way to resolve misunderstandings.
Remember, many people don't read their email every day. A call may also be the quickest way to reach your buyer.

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What is a 'Featured in Category' Auction?

When you choose to have a 'featured in category' auction, this choice will put your auction title in Bold print, and it will be in the TOP of the category that you specify. This method gives very high visibility to your item, and people almost always see that item first. If it does not sell by the end of the auction, you can re-list it free as a 'featured in category' for an additional term.

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What is a 'Featured on Site' Auction?

When you choose to have a 'featured on site' auction, this choice will put your auction title in Bold print, and it will be in the TOP of the category that you specify, AND it will be on the FIRST PAGE of the Auctions for everyone to see. This method will get the most exposure for your item, and gives the ultimate visibility to your item. Buyers are almost guaranteed to see what your selling first. If it does not sell by the end of the auction, you can re-list it free as a 'featured on site' for an additional term.

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What can be sold on Pinball Machines?

We will allow any items except for links to porn sites, firearms or weapons of any kind including but not limited to ammunition, accessories for firearms, and drugs or narcotics. We also do not allow Tobacco products, liquor, and of course anything that is deemed illegal by US law.

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Will you add a new category for me?

If you would like us to put up a new category, simply contact us and ask for a new category. We will most likely put up the new category within 24 hours, but keep in mind that we will not put up categories that do not meet our criteria which is described in "What can be sold on Pinball Machines". We do not charge to put up new categories either.

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What happens when my listing ends?

We expect you to notify the high bidder within 3 days at the end of your auction. A Wanted Item is for 30 days, an auction can be anywhere from 3-10 days, however if you items do not sell on an auction, we offer free re-listing.

When you post an auction, you are entering into a legal binding contract that you will sell the item at the highest bid unless you put a reserve price on it.

We expect you to ship your item promptly, and to save you any problems we suggest that you send it insured or at least send it so that the buyer will sign for it. Be sure to include in your ad what the shipping, handling, and insurance fees will be!

No obscene language is allowed anywhere including in the feedback or descriptions of your ad.

We are not in any way responsible for ANY transaction as we are just providing a service for you to sell your items or services.

If you receive payment and do not send the product(s) or any other fraud, your account will be automatically terminated, and will be reported to the proper authorities. We log all IP addresses with a time and date stamp, so DO NOT under any circumstances defraud anyone.

We allow you to put a link from your ad to your web site. We would appreciate it if you would put a link back to us, however it is not mandatory. Also if would like to offer a choice of colors, sizes etc. we allow you to have the buyer request the color, size etc. if you choose to put this in you ad.

If you don't agree with any of our policies, PLEASE don't post any auctions or Wanted
ads.

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The bidder did not send their payment! What do I do?

The best way to handle this is to email the high bidder one more time and ask them to respond. If after a reasonable time, you do not hear from that person, you can post a feedback, and contact the next highest bidder. If the high bidder gets too many negative feedbacks, we will terminate their account.

Please keep in mind that sometimes there is a reason beyond a persons control that will have some buyers not have the ability to contact you, i.e. if their computer crashes, they have to go out of town on an emergency etc. So don't be hasty about posting negative feedback.

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How do I pay my fees?

Keep in mind that listing Wanted Item are free, and auction listings are also free unless you have BOLD text in the title, a featured in category, or featured on site auctions.

You'll be invoiced the first week of each month by email. This invoice will include the previous month's account activity as well as any past due amounts. You may check your account status at any time. In the event you haven't received an invoice, you are still responsible for your payment.

We expect payment by the 28th of each month. You can place a credit card on file with us or pay as you go. Check, money order, or Visa/MC/AMEX is accepted as a method of payment, whichever you prefer.

To pay immediately online, you can access our SECURE online payment center through your account administration page at My Pinball Machines. Pinball Machines requires payment in full each month on accounts with a balance of $1.00 or more.

If your bill is not paid within 5 days past the due date, we reserve the right to cancel any or all of your ads, or not allow you to post any more ads until your payment is received, so please remit your payments promptly. Additionally, you will be billed a monthly finance charge of 1.5% (with a minimum of $0.50) or the highest amount permitted by applicable law - whichever is lower - if your account becomes past due. You may also have to pay collection costs. If you send a check or money order drawn from a bank outside the U.S., please include an additional $10.00 to cover bank fees. Returned checks are subject to a $15.00 service charge.

We are reasonable, so if you are not able to have the payment sent on time, send us an email explaining the circumstance.

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What about adding 'Pictures' and other HTML to my item description?

For Auctions, there are two ways to add pictures to your item descriptions. For Wanted Item there is only one way (method #2).

Method #1: When posting a new Auction item, as one of the choices to customize your listing, you can choose to upload an image to our servers. Simply click the 'Browse' button to upload an image file that is located on your local computers disk and that's it. We accept .gif or .jpg images no larger then 50k in size. There is a small nominal fee for choosing this method, however it is quick, easy, and no HTML knowledge is needed to do this.

Method #2: For both Auctions and Wanted Item there is a free method of adding pictures and doing attractive customizing of your orders. When you input your description, you can use HTML to refer to a photo on another server or to 'spice up' the looks of your item. If you know HTML, you can have as many photo's as you like in your auction.

Also, after you input your auction/ad description, you can click on 'Preview Item' and you will be asked if everything looks like you want it. At this time you will be able to see your item in all its glory with the photo(s) so you can decide if it is like you want BEFORE you post the ad. This is exactly how it will look when a bidder views your ad. Items with photos always get better responses from buyers!

Entire books are written on HTML, but we will give you some samples so that you can be
familiar with ways to make your ads better. When you see the samples, you may want to print them out so that it will be easier to refer to.

CLICK HERE FOR HTML HELP/SAMPLES

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Can I edit an Auction description after I have began the Auction?

Yes, you sure can. However you must make your changes and modifications before someone places a bid on your auction. So be sure to review your description thoroughly before you begin the auction, and if you have any changes, make sure to make them before someone bids.

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What are FIXED PRICE Auctions?

Fixed Price Auctions are auctions where the seller has a quantity of more then one item, and already knows the price they want for each of the items.

Unlike DUTCH Auctions, what we do at Pinball Machines.com is allow sellers to place a quantity of more then one item in a single auction, and when a buyer bids on the item, it is treated as if it was a sale order. The Buyer and the Seller is then notified via email confirming the order. Additionally, the quantity amount of the item will be automatically reduced in the auction by the amount that the buyer has bided for. If the quantity reaches zero'0' and another person attempts to bid on the auction, they will be notified that they cannot bid on an auction that has no more items left.

This is a great portal for sellers to simply sell their items as if they have a virtual mart on Pinball Machines.
(For each additional item you sell in your auction, there will be a .05 cent charge.)