Title says it. I’ve mostly done smaller transactions, but am looking at a several hundred dollars one with joe smoe. How does one protect themselves? Thanks
You pay for Paypal with a credit card. This way you have both Paypal and credit card company protection.
But first you evaluate the transaction. Is this on eBay? If so does the seller have a history with good feedback? Does the seller sound honest? Is this a reasonable deal or is it “too good to be true”?
No, I’m the seller.
I recently purchased a high ticket item through a charity auction and my PayPal account had to be pre-approved to bid once the bidding exceeded like 500 pounds or something. There is some sort of system in place to see buyer’s account viability ahead of time but I don’t know what it is. If you’re the seller I’m not sure what you’re unsure of. You simply wait for the money to appear in your account and ship the goods when you’re satisfied. You essentially hold all the cards in the transaction. Are you having the funds applied to your PayPal account instead of your bank account? If you have it applied directly to your bank account PayPal will tell you when the funds have transferred and you can double check with your bank.
I’ve been using PayPal forever both as a buyer and seller and it’s the one online service I think I’ve never had a problem with.
I guess that’s it, my wait minute alarm goes off. I’ve heard of scams where the money seems to’ve been paid, then disappears, and I’ve gotten some ridiculous responses from craiglist that seemed to fit that plan, but I’m not very sophisticated in scams, so I come to the teeming millions.
Good to know, thanks.
Not necessarily. PayPal is actually very “buyer friendly.” I’ve heard of many cases where the buyer just says they never got the item they paid for, lodge a dispute, and if there’s no other evidence to go buy, nine times out of ten they side with the buyer and refund their money.
Assuming it’s some sort of goods you’re selling, get some some of delivery confirmation, the kind that someone has to sign for. This way, if need be, you can prove later than the item was delivered to their place, and it got into someone’s hands.
It is very difficult to protect yourself against a sufficiently motivated scam buyer who wants to rip you off.
The problem with delivery verification is that it only proves that a box was delivered. The scammer will not dispute this. He will simply claim that the contents were broken or not as advertised. Paypal will side with the scammer and let him return the item. At that point, the scammer can send you a box with a rock in it (with tracking), and Paypal will refund their money.
The upside is that there are relatively few scammers out there.
I have a method that I use to attempt to protect against this, but it’s never actually been tested by fire. I have my Paypal account connected to a bank account with almost no balance. Whenever I receive money from someone, I withdraw it immediately, then withdraw it from that bank account into another. Paypal can decide in favor of a scammer all it wants, and they won’t have access to any of my money to take. I’m not sure, though, what happens in this case, if they try to do a bank withdrawal and the money isn’t there. It’s never come up for me.
But do they also deprive the seller of their money? I know in the (several sigh) times I’ve gotten ripped off through Stub Hub for fake concert tickets (which they guarantee 100%) I’m reimbursed but I assume the seller has been and gone with the money.
I’m not implying outlierrn is a fraudulent seller. S/he is merely wondering (I think) how to know if the funds have been received. If you link the account to your bank (or if it’s easy for you to check your credit card transactions) it will be cut and dried. God I’ve been using PayPal for so long I remember people stipulating waiting for the check to clear, LOL!
Don’t get me started on craigslist.
If you’re looking to procure an unshaved woman with a chihuahua for the night* or 500 bags of Styrofoam peanuts NEED ANSWER NOW! That is your place. If you are legit selling something you will do it through eBay or Amazon and use PayPal.
*Not that I haven’t done that.