PayPal Private Limited to be Based in Singapore

I'm sure most PayPal users already know that PayPal will be opening a new headquaters to cater to members outside the United States and European Union.

From August 2006 onwards, PayPal will have this new headquaters based in Singapore.

I wonder how this will affect us Malaysians who are still looking for ways to withdraw funds from our PayPal account LEGALLY.

Here is the official notice from PayPal.

PayPal, Inc. is pleased to announce that we are preparing to open a new regional headquarters, PayPal Private Limited, a PayPal group company incorporated in Singapore. These headquarters will be the service provider for PayPal customers outside the United States and the European Union. Going forward, this development will help us improve services for our customers worldwide.

Please note that no action will be necessary on your part. You will be able to continue using your PayPal account as you do today.

Your Existing Customer Relationship with PayPal

Until August 1, 2006, your customer relationship will continue to be with PayPal, Inc. (a U.S. company) under the PayPal User Agreement, which is governed by California law.

A New Customer Relationship with PayPal

With the opening of our new regional headquarters, your customer relationship will automatically be transferred to PayPal Private Limited. We anticipate that this will occur on August 1, 2006. At that time, we will introduce minor changes to the User Agreement and its incorporated policies, and to the Privacy Policy. The new User Agreement will be similar to the current Agreement, and will contain no adverse amendments from a customer's perspective. It will also no longer contain U.S.-specific references, and it will be modified to comply with Singaporean payment services requirements.

If you do not wish to hold a PayPal Private Limited account and would prefer to retain your relationship with PayPal, Inc., you may only do so if you are a resident of the United States, and if the primary address on your PayPal account as of August 1, 2006 is a legitimate postal address within the United States.

If your primary address is not in the United States, you may close your account at any time, either before or after the transition to PayPal Private Limited, by logging in to your PayPal account and clicking Profile. We value your business and hope you'll transfer with us to PayPal Private Limited, where you'll be able to use PayPal in the same way you do today.

Once the transition from PayPal, Inc. to PayPal Private Limited occurs, we will post updated versions of our User Agreement and its incorporated policies, as well as our Privacy Policy, to our website.

If you have any questions prior to August 1, 2006 about these upcoming changes, please contact Customer Support. You can get contact information by logging in to your PayPal account and clicking Contact Us at the bottom of your Account Overview page.

Yours sincerely,

PayPal, Inc.

eBay's New "Excessive Shipping Charges Policy"

Kindly take note of eBay's updated "Excessive Shipping Charges Policy". To compare the old with the new, do check my old blog entry.

Cyberpartygal's WebStore has always tried to maintain the lowest possible shipping rate. Our rates are calculated based on weight, which is always more competitve than going by the number of items purchased.

Therefore, we always encourage our buyers to take advantage of this by purchasing multiple items and combine shipping and maybe even qualify for free shipping by Poslaju, courtesy of Cyberpartygal's WebStore.

To check out our shipping rates, CLICK HERE.

Related post: Who Shouldn't Use Pos Ekspres?

I Need Updates

If you have received your package from me, do update me as soon as possible. The onus is on the Buyer to update the Seller upon receipt to let Seller knows that all is well..... or perhaps not.

If unfortunately, you haven't received your package after allowing considerable delivery time, then contact the Seller as well, so that both Seller and Buyer can track the package from both sides. This is what the tracking ID is for.

The time frame that one should allow for packages to be delivered (within Malaysia) are:

Poslaju - 1 - 4 postal working days
Pos Ekspres - 1 - 4 postal working days
Registered Mail - 3 - 7 postal working days

~*~ Happy Shopping ~*~

Uncle, Auntie, I DID NOT Cut Your Q!

This morning, I was at the Post Office (ya, again, blehhhh) and as usual, the designated Poslaju counter was closed. Once, I enquired before, "Where's the clerk?" And the reply I received was, "Dia pergi rehat."

I really don't understand why workers need to go for a tea break (or rehat) at 10.30 ~ 11am, when work just started at 8 ~ 8.30am. Eerrmm what's so tiring after only working for 2 hours or so? It baffles me....

Anyway, to get back to my story, I went to queue up at an alternative counter. If the designated Poslaju counter is closed, then Poslaju customers can queue up at either of the other two counters, without having to get a number and wait for that number to be called.

So I straight away queued up at the alternative counter, and I heard an elderly couple, who were waiting for their turn (they had to wait since they were there to settle their bills), whispering to each other that I cut queue.

Hello Uncle & Auntie, I did not cut your line and I could easily pay your bills on your behalf, but since you have misunderstood me, then too bad lah ...

Unfortunately, in case you do not know, even if I have stepped into that Post Office a thousand times, I do not get preferential treatment, so ....

Cyberpartygal's WebStore ~ Product Overview

- click to enlarge image -

Here are the lingerie available ON HAND plus a preview of gifts that are being offered by Cyberpartygal's WebStore right now.

Kindly note that items are sold on first come, first served basis. The early bird catches the worm =)

Final Update: ALL Freebies Exhausted

With reference to earlier posts HERE and HERE, I'd like to inform that all freebies are exhausted.

For those who were lucky enough to get your hands on a freebie, I hope you are enjoying your gift.

As for those of you who missed this chance, do not worry, there'll be more to come. I'm sure you know, if you have been following the activities held by Cyberpartygal's WebStore from time to time.

Please be assured that all gifts are distributed fairly on first come, first served basis.

It's the Principle, Not the Value

I don't know how many of you have come across postal staff that charge higher postage by rounding up the figure, like for example, charge MYR0.80 when it should be MYR0.75.

Don't get me wrong, I do get the full worth of stamps and it's not that the clerk pockets the excess. So, is Pos Malaysia that hard-up for sales?

I have come across such situations quite a few times at my local post office and each time I will question the clerk (I check my package weight & postage beforehand at home, so I know how much it should be) and sometimes, I will get a comment like, "5 sen pun nak kira?"

Hello, it's not a matter of 5 sen, but the principle.

Q & A with Me On Paypal

Q: Is there we can get our money from our paypal account, here in malaysia?

If you are in Malaysia, then there's no way for you to withdraw your money, unless you hold a foreign bank account. The countries allowed are stated in the paypal website. You just have to spend some time to READ.

Alternatively, you can withdraw the money by using a local agent, who will charge you a certain % service charge, but do be careful not to be deemed as money laundering.

If you are in a legitimate e-biz, then receiving payment into your paypal a/c is not a problem. Getting money into your local bank account is another issue.

However, if you are in one of those MLM or get-rich-quick schemes, or sell info/e-book kinda website, then your paypal a/c might be closed ANYTIME at Paypal's discretion.

PM me if you want more paypal info in layman's terms. I have blogged extensively on that.

Otherwise, go to paypal.com to read, read, read and understand. Make sure you do not breach their Terms of Service.

Good luck.

Q: yeah i have read their terms since before Malaysia was in their list. now they allow malaysian to open an account. Just we can't take the money out.
I'm not involve with those MLM, HYIP get rich scheme thingy. i was just going to make a website to charge some subscription fee or selling ads spaces.
i have surf around to get further informations regarding this issue. There is no way to request payment from paypal itself. unless i have a US bank account ;(
but then there is this debit card which comes with a US bank account attached. by then ones can request paypal to bank in into that US bank account and he can just withdraw the money from any ATM machine here with Cirrus/Maestro logo. but ones need to get a trusted debit card company on this( which i don't know which one)
So, anyone have more information or option on this issue?

There are ways to withdraw money from your paypal.

One of them is to open a savings/checking account with a US bank. There is a local agent doing this (for a fee, of course). However, I do not know if this company is direct with the bank or does this co. go thru an agent in US, or is it a daisy chain of agents.

There are people who have successfully opened this account without going to USA. Documents that are required are photocopies of passport and USD1,000 (if not mistaken).

First, you'll need to check the bank's conditions. Some require a/c holder to have a minimum balance of X amount per month, otherwise need to pay service charge. Some require USD25 per month. Some require a/c holder to trade X amount in shares every 6 months, etc.

Let's say you have such a bank account and you have it linked to paypal. If you are not dealing in any MLM or HYIP programs, you shouldn't have any problem receiving payment via paypal.

So, you proceed to transfer the money to your US bank account. However, paypal logs your IP and transaction activity and will know that you are transacting from Malaysia, transfering to a US account.

Paypal may or may not freeze your account based on this. I don't know if you are aware that paypal keeps such records for 7 years. If paypal freezes your a/c, you'll be required to fax your bills to them. It IS very leceh and you'll be given the run-around. Paypal has the "unwritten" right to hold you money for up to 6 months.

Let's say you do not have a problem with paypal, and you have successfully transferred money to your US bank account, you can withdraw your money via ATM in Malaysia.

Right now, we do not know if the US govt. will impose any rules on such account holders in the future.

I believe now the sum is not so significant that the US govt. is taking too much notice of this loophole. However if all such accounts were frozen, what avenues do you have?

This can also be constituted as money laundering, and worse, how do you explain holding a local (US) bank account when you are not a citizen, let alone a resident there?

What if you have to pay your downlines, suppliers, etc with the money that you have received in paypal? What about tax issues?

Q: Another alternative is to open a Singapore Bank Account to receive your money. However, you can only open a joint account with a Singapore resident.

Ya, it's possible to open a S'pore bank account but u'll need at least a S'porean address for that.

If you have relatives in S'pore, that shouldn't be a problem.

What about the initial deposit of SGD25,000? Anyone know of lesser deposits?

Some People Are So Smart ahhhh

You see, some people just come to the community boards and pose a question like, "What are the hottest selling items on eBay?"

Really, we members are unable to answer. All we know is, for example, electronic items, etc.

Even if we KNOW the exact hottest selling item, will we tell? Don't we know how to sell those items ourselves?

I believe, the secret to success is in doing homework and then groundwork.... precious time is spent researching and analysing, and then sourcing, costing, etc... and definitely not taking the short cut route of posing a general question and hoping for other members to serve you the answers on a silver platter.

"Where do you source for your items from?"
Now, this is also one of the questions frequently posed by smart alecs.
Which seller is so dumb to let this be known? This is one of the things we call a "trade secret".

Well, the above two questions are just a preview of what smartie would-be sellers come up with, hoping for quick answers, and not slogging for it like the rest of us.

What to do? That's the Malaysian mentality, they NEED to have everything spoon-fed.

One More Freebie to Go

One more Freebie to go for this batch. These surprise freebies were not listed in our WebStore.

To grab this last surprise freebie, come and make your purchase at Cyberpartygal's WebStore.

All that's required of you is to opt for shipping by Poslaju or courier. Isn't that simple? So what are you waiting for?

Freebie is only available while stock last and valid for shipping within Malaysia only. Be there or be square!

My eBay Sign-In Problem

For the past few days, I've been having a problem trying to sign-in to my eBay page. HHmm I can't seem to sign-in at all and I do not get any error message. The sign-in page keeps appearing eventhough I have entered my ID and password a thousand times.

The problem seems solved by clearing my temporary internet files and cookies. But it's only shortlived joy. The same problem comes up again after I have shut the PC.

I tried to sign-in using another computer and it did not have this problem, so I scanned my PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-trojan programmes, but it's still the same.

I hate to keep clearing my temp. files and cookies a few times a day!

Haiiihh FRUSSSSSS anyone facing this problem as well???

Sellers DO NOT Have ESP

ESP - extrasensory perception

That's what we sellers do not have.

We are unable to ship an item out UNLESS and UNTIL buyer contacts us with delivery information as soon as payment is made. This is to avoid delay in shipping.

Sometimes we do not contact the buyer eventhough we are aware that payment has been made. That is because we want to verify that this particular buyer is the one who made the payment so as to avoid shipping the item out to the wrong person.

Afterall, we do not only sell one item, right?

Therefore, the onus is on the Buyer to contact the Seller with the relevant details after payment is made, eventhough the deal may only be MYR1/=

Communication IS the KEY.

Happy Father's Day

Cyberpartygal's Webstore would like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers, friends, supporters and readers who are fathers, a very Happy Father's Day today, 18th June, 2006.

May you have a whale of a time celebrating and hope today will bring you and your family much happiness and pleasant memories.

Thank you very much for your patronage all these while.

NO to Instant $ Transfers by Western Union & Money Gram

There has been a lot of cases of fraud whereby buyers send payment with instant money transfers such as Western Union and Money Gram.

According to the eBay Safe Payments Policy which was enforced on January 15, 2006, "Sellers, cannot ask you to pay through instant money transfers".

Paying with instant money transfers are not covered by the Buyer Protection on eBay as discussed in the Protection Claim: Eligibility Requirements

If you encounter sellers who insists you to pay via such methods, report them to eBay through this webform:

Customer Support
Sending Payments: Benefits and Risks > Instant Cash Wire Transfers

BidPay is Finally Back on eBay!

BidPay is finally back in action! It's eBay compliant now, as promised. e-Sellers now have one more avenue to accept payment from international buyers.

Be sure that when you sign in to BidPay, there's an "s" at the http together with the padlock icon to be sure you're at a secure site.

10p Listing Day on eBay UK ~ 15th June, 2006

Image courtesy of eBay UK

What is it?
For the entire day of Thursday 15th June 2006 (local UK time), sellers listing with Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now or Buy It Now Only (Fixed Price) formats in an eligible category, will pay a reduced 10 pence (£0.10) Insertion Fee per listing. Please refer to "What's Excluded?" for more details.

When is it?
Thursday 15 June between 00:00:01 BST until 23:59:59 BST.

What's included?
** Only listings in British Pounds Sterling on eBay.co.uk will qualify for the 10 pence Insertion Fee promotion. Auction-style listings, Auction-with-Buy It Now and Buy It Now Only (Fixed Price) formats only.
** Any item previously scheduled to go live on Thursday 15th June will qualify for the 10 pence Insertion Fee promotion.
** If you re-list an item on Thursday 15th June that had previously closed without a successful sale, the re-list will qualify for the 10 pence Insertion Fee promotion.

Please note: To sell with Buy It Now only Fixed Price format you must either have 10 or more feedback or if you have a PayPal account you need to have 5 or more feedback.

What's excluded:
** Items listed in the Vehicles and Property categories.
** Multiple-Item listings, both Auction Style (also known as Dutch Auctions) and Fixed Price.
** Identical listings that do not comply with our Duplicate Listings policy.
** Shops Inventory Format listings.
** Any item listed on 15th June 2006 but scheduled to start after the promotion has finished will NOT qualify for the 10 pence Insertion Fee promotion.
** Only the basic eBay Insertion Fee will be reduced to 10 pence. All other eBay selling fees will still apply, including but not limited to Final Value Fees, optional Reserve Price Fees and all Listing Upgrade Fees such as "Bold" or "Highlight". See the full details about eBay fees.

Members listing using the Auction with Buy It Now format will still be charged the Listing Upgrade Fee for Buy It Now.

Further information:
** If the listing is listed in 2 categories, the insertion fee will be 10 pence times 2 i.e. 20 pence.
** If your item qualifies for this promotion, the "sell your item" form will show that a 10 pence insertion fee has been charged.

For further information: Click here

UPDATE ~ [Nigerian] Scam 419

Three months ago, I blogged on [Nigerian] Scam 419.

As a follow up, I found this really good website on Nigerian Scam and it has all the information necessary to report to the relevant authorities should you wish to take action on the fraudulant e-mail that you receive.

Educate yourself to fight online scam!

SafePay Solutions ~ An Alternative to Paypal?

Image courtesy of SafePay Solutions

Can SafePay Solutions offer what Paypal is not able to offer, and at a more competitive rate too?

THE EBAY MALAYSIA 1,000,000 THREAD

Just for fun.........

If you are a member of eBay, just drop a note on the THE EBAY MALAYSIA 1,000,000 THREAD

We are racing against the other eBay Worldwide 1,000,000 threads.

Hopefully, we can be one of the top threads to achieve our target.

Carol is sponsoring the following prize:

JOIN D ROUND 2 MARATHON
MESSAGE TARGET: #2888 (400+ posts 2 go!)
PRIZE: WORTH OVER RM300!!!!

Feedback Manipulation

Previously, I have blogged on Feedback issues in online trading HERE, HERE and HERE.

To make online trading, especially on eBay, more honest and avoid helping to jack up feedback of new buyers with uncertain intentions, we should report the matter of Feedback Manipulation, if we come across any.

Report members who transact solely for feedback purposes.

Feedback Manipulation
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-manipulation.html

It is a violation to exchange feedback for the sole purpose of increasing your feedback score to obtain site privileges or enhance your reputation. This most frequently occurs when a person purchases low priced, non-physical items, but may include other types of transactions as well.

eBay Standard Protection Program

The following are pages one should read up on regarding Standard Protection offered by eBay. These are fully provided by eBay paid sites worldwide.

Buyer Protection on eBay
http://www.ebay.com.my/helpIndex?page=helpBPPOverview

Find out whether or not you are eligible to file a claim for reimbursement from eBay for losses due to fraud:

Protection Claim: Eligibility Requirements
http://www.ebay.com.my/help?page=helpBPPEligibility

Information about the circumstances under which eBay will reimburse you through the Protection Claim program:

Protection Claim: Coverage Provided
http://www.ebay.com.my/help?page=helpBPPCoverage

How buyers can file a Protection Claim with eBay:

Protection Claim: How To File
http://www.ebay.com.my/help?page=helpBPPHowToFile

How Much More Efficient Can Pos Malaysia Be?

I thought I already know the efficiency of Pos Malaysia but once again, I'm mighty impressed by them when I posted a Registered package on Monday from Ipoh, Perak and it reached its destination, Seri Kembangan in Selangor, on Wednesday! That took only two working days!

Usually, Registered Mail will take a few days longer than normal mail due to the tracking, but this one even beats normal mail.

Having said that, I still do not trust Pos Malaysia enough to ship out merchandise by normal mail. kekeke

Trading Acronyms

Sellers like to use acronyms when descibing an item for sale.

What does all those letters mean? Are they Greek?

Fret not. Just refer to this very helpful page compiled by eBay.

Spotting Fradulant e-mail from "eBay"

This website has many examples of fraudulant e-mail purportedly from eBay. The e-mails may seem real but they are not from the authentic websites.

Do check out the samples and study the trend of these mails.

Knowledge is POWER!

Searching for Completed Items on eBay

To search for completed items, log in to eBay.

1. Click the "Advanced Search" link at the top of any eBay page.
2. Fill in your search criteria. (Under Location, choose 'desired country' beside 'Items located in'.
3. Click the box "Completed listings only" to search for only the items that have ended.

This will bring up all search results for the previous 15 days.

You can also search for current auctions, and then click on "Completed Items" in the "Show Only" box.
This box is located on the left-hand side of the search results page. This will work for all searches.

Excessive Shipping & Handling - Not Allowed

eBay encourages sellers to clearly describe the item and terms of shipping and delivery in their listings to avoid possible confusion.

A shipping and handling fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. However, shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

When a bid is placed, the bidder is entering into an agreement with the seller to purchase the item, which most often means incurring reasonable shipping charges that may also include handling fees.

In the case of disagreements between buyers and sellers regarding shipping charges, eBay encourages the parties to try to work the matter out.

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:
Listing cancellation
Limits on account privileges
Account suspension
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Loss of PowerSeller status

Lelong has similar policies as well.

Official eBay Malaysia Group

If you don't already know, there is an official eBay Malaysia Group formed sometime back.

Click HERE to access the page. Just register with your existing eBay user ID and password to be a member of this Group.

You can pose your questions regarding trading on eBay and there will be many members who will guide you. There's also a handful of PowerSellers to clear your doubts.

You can also chat about non-eBay topics or share photos via the online photo album.

There will also be the occasional gatherings organised by members for members.

It's plenty of fun! See you there!

Fraud Protection on eBay : Overview

eBay pledges to work closely with our community of members to ensure a safe trading environment. We welcome reports of suspicious activity and will investigate and take appropriate action as outlined in our User Agreement.

The following pages outline steps buyers and sellers can take to ensure a successful transaction as well as what can be done if something goes wrong.

These pages also explain eBay's Role in the transaction, detailing what eBay can and cannot do to assist you.

Information for Buyers:
Buyer Protection on eBay - What you can do if something goes wrong.
Protection Claim: Eligibility Requirements - Find out whether or not you are eligible to file a claim for reimbursement from eBay for losses due to fraud.
Protection Claim: Coverage Provided - Information about the circumstances under which eBay will reimburse you through the Protection Claim program.
Protection Claim: How To File - How buyers can file a Protection Claim with eBay

Shipping Break

Cyberpartygal's WebStore is taking a shipping break this weekend due to the Birthday of SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) in Malaysia on 3rd June, 2006.

3rd June, 2006 - Agung's birthday
4th June, 2006 - Sunday - day of rest

~*~ Thank you for your support ~*~

Anything Goes on eBay

Wanna start selling on eBay? Perhaps the following will give you an inspiration.
Strange things sold on eBay in descending order:

#10 - Girlfriends:
Some girls auctioned their services as imaginary girlfriends , who would send the winning bidder pictures of themselves and loving letters, which they could use to pretend they had a girlfriend.

#9 - Wedding dress:
Nothing strange about selling a wedding dress, you might think - but this was the guy s ex-wife s wedding dress. And he modelled it, as well as writing a long screed about his ex-wife in the description. It sold for £3,850.

#8 - TV part:
Producers on the TV show Ally McBeal once used eBay to auction off a walk-on part on the show.

#7 - Kidney:
One man tried to sell his kidney on eBay - after all, you only need one, right? Unfortunately it s illegal to buy or sell human organs. Good thinking, though.

#6 - Toenail clippings:
A girl once sold her toenail clippings on eBay, one clipping from each toe. She got a $1 for the set - a low price for the years of joy they no doubt provided to the buyer.

#5 - Britney s gum:
Someone picked up Britney Spears chewed gum at a London hotel and decided it d be a great thing to sell on eBay. Oddly enough, they were right - they got $263 for it. A Britney fan probably has it framed in their house.

#4 - Ghost:
Yes, a ghost. In a jar. Well, why not? The ghost was, apparently, 'terrorising the man who owned it, and so he decided to capture it and sell it on eBay to someone who might be able to give it a better home.

#3 - Virgin Mary sandwich:
A seller offered a grilled cheese sandwich upon which the Virgin Mary had appeared to her - and the strange thing is, she genuinely seemed to believe it. This item, unbelievably, sold for $28,000. Some people just have too much money to waste, don t they?

#2 - Virginity:
An 18-year-old British girl sold her virginity on eBay - but it was bought by a businessman who kindly agreed to give her the money without actually taking the 'service .

And at #1 - Fighter jet:
A state brokerage in Virginia sold a U.S. Navy F/A-18A Hornet jet fighter on eBay for just over a million dollars. It was, unfortunately, in pieces and so unusable, but they offered to put it back together and make it ready to fly for the low, low price of just another $9 million.

Credit is given to zamz2011 and all who contributed to this compilation.