PayPal - thoughts appreciated

[Funk]

I've got a paypal account that I don't use and has no cards or accounts linked to it at all. I'm selling a piece of hi-fi which someone in Hong Kong wants to purchase. This is nothing unusual; British kit is sought-after over there and the weakness of GBP makes our kit more attractive than ever before. Years ago, I sold my previous CD player to a chap in Hong Kong and the funds were transferred to my account directly.

I've done some checking on the guy with other users on the forum to make sure he's legit, all feedback has been positive. He wants to pay by Paypal though, and this is a sticking point for me. I've got reservations about it, mainly that in order to get the money out I'll have to hook up a bank account (and un-hook it again afterwards) and that I'm worried he could somehow get the money back once I've shipped the item.

I've told him I would prefer not to use Paypal and that I'm happy to not sell the item to him if he won't entertain any other method of payment. I've just got nightmares about shipping a £850-worth of hi-fi kit to the other side of the world and then finding myself out of pocket if Paypal decide to muck about with my account. I don't want to be out of pocket. If I WERE to use Paypal, would I be charged for taking a payment from him or would he pay the fee when sending the money? Can the money be 'clawed back' for any reason if he chooses to?

Perhaps I'm being overly-paranoid, but horror stories are winging their way through my thoughts at this point in time..

[AndrewW-G]

Do you have a friend with a Paypal account?..............if so as soon as you get the money for the hifi, "pay" your friend for something and ask them to give you the cash as soon as they can get at it

[tinman0]

If you can, link it to a card, allow the transaction to go through, pull the money straight away, kill the direct debit and bank account link on the Paypal account, send the kit and job done. Any loss becomes Paypal's.

[deeps]

I think the charge is about 3% to recieve payments.

I've used Paypal for years with no problems at all, but I have heard that sometimes payments don't go through if the payer changes their mind and cancels the transaction, or some other reason to do with lack of funds.

If the payer insists on using Paypal, tell them they'll have to wait 10 days for the payment to clear before you ship the item. That's the safest way.

[singlecoil]

Personally I would not take the risk. Paypal offers considerable protection to buyers. All he has to do is say it didn't arrive (and maybe it won't).

Last time I sent anything abroad I made the buyer (he was very keen) get me a cheque drawn on a british bank. When the cheque cleared, I sent the stuff.

Depends on how keen he is, and whether he trusts you or not.

[Funk]

singlecoil said:

Personally I would not take the risk. Paypal offers considerable protection to buyers. All he has to do is say it didn't arrive (and maybe it won't).

Last time I sent anything abroad I made the buyer (he was very keen) get me a cheque drawn on a british bank. When the cheque cleared, I sent the stuff.

Depends on how keen he is, and whether he trusts you or not.

I did consider this; he'd be taking as much risk by transferring cash to an 'unknown' in the UK. There'd be nothing to stop me NOT shipping it after all. I'd be far happier doing a cash deal with someone in the UK truth be known. I've told him I won't mind if he doesn't want to take the risk, I'll be able to sell it elsewhere easily enough. It's a shame that such levels of distrust are now an automatic reaction.

[Eggle]

Do you not buy on Ebay too? Why not take the payment, and then buy and pay using the balance..

[Funk]

Eggle > I don't use ebay. I'd be putting the cash into an upgrade on the amp side, so wouldn't want it sat in Paypal's account either.

[V8mate]

tinman0 said:

If you can, link it to a card, allow the transaction to go through, pull the money straight away, kill the direct debit and bank account link on the Paypal account, send the kit and job done. Any loss becomes Paypal's.

I think I recall reading on other similar threads on PH, that if you remove such access and PayPal gets a clawback, they just drop the debt out to a debt recovery firm.

[tinman0]

V8mate said:

tinman0 said:

If you can, link it to a card, allow the transaction to go through, pull the money straight away, kill the direct debit and bank account link on the Paypal account, send the kit and job done. Any loss becomes Paypal's.

I think I recall reading on other similar threads on PH, that if you remove such access and PayPal gets a clawback, they just drop the debt out to a debt recovery firm.

Hmm, that could be interesting in front of a magistrate/judge in a small claims court. If they are behaving like a bank, then why aren't they a bank? I wonder if Paypal have ever got that far as I would love to bet money its not a place they want to be too often?

[Mr Fenix]

I personally hate Paypal and find that there's a million other ways to transfer money safely and quickly to sellers of ebay stuff.

[Funk]

Well I've turned down the sale. He said he would only use Paypal and I said that this was a deal-breaker for me. I'd rather sell to someone in the UK for slightly less but without the worry of the unit being the other side of the world if things go wrong. At least in the UK I have some recourse.

Thanks for the advice chaps, I decided to stick to my guns on this one as I'm not desperate to sell.

[Steve748]

My problem with paypal is they take nearly 4.5% of the transaction price and then it takes 5 working days to get to my bank and they charge for that if it's under £50. Next time make your sales UK only and ask them to pay direct to your bank, costs you nothing.

[Famous Graham]

The main issue with Paypal is proof. If you skimp on the postage and don't obtain proof of delivery, and the buyer doesn't receive the item,or claims not to, then you are the one out of pocket.

If you cover all your bases, re insurance, signed delivery etc (not sure how that works internationally), then you're fine.

[V8mate]

Steve748 said:

My problem with paypal is they take nearly 4.5% of the transaction price and then it takes 5 working days to get to my bank and they charge for that if it's under £50. Next time make your sales UK only and ask them to pay direct to your bank, costs you nothing.

I thought eBay had made offering PayPal as a payment route compulsory?

[andye30m3]

The problem I've found with paypal is that if the buyer says its not arrived (even if you've posted it so it required a signiture)then they will simply refund the buyer without asking any quesions.

A freind of mine sent a very expencive camea lense recorded delivery and got shafted by paypal, I've even had the nigerian scammers trying to order goods through it so they've cought on!

have a look on here http://www.paypalsucks.com/

Edited by andye30m3 on Saturday 21st February 10:26

[eccles]

V8mate said:

Steve748 said:

My problem with paypal is they take nearly 4.5% of the transaction price and then it takes 5 working days to get to my bank and they charge for that if it's under £50. Next time make your sales UK only and ask them to pay direct to your bank, costs you nothing.

I thought eBay had made offering PayPal as a payment route compulsory?

The default setting when you list something for sale is that you accept paypal, I don't think you can get rid of it.
There are quite a few auctions out there where the seller has put in the text that they do not accept paypal, but that they have to list that they do...if you see what I mean.

These days paypal keep hold of your money for 21 days, or until the buyer has left positive feedback

[Funk]

Thanks chaps, I think I'm happy with my decision to have turned down the sale rather than use PayPal. I couldn't see a reason why he wouldn't want to use IBAN unless he was planning some sort of switcheroo.

[vanman]

Avoid them like the plague.I sold a lens for £750 and accepted a paypal payment for it,It was sent recorded delivery for which I had proof and it was signed for by someone with the name as the buyer,again I had a copy of the electronic signature.

After 2 weeks the buyer opened a dispute with paypal for non delivery,I sent them all the documents proving postage and the copy of the the delivery details including the electronic signature.

They just weren't interested they refunded the buyer £500(the maximum they could)and instructed me to pay the remaining £250.When I refused they tried to reclaim the full amount from my bank,by which time i'd instructed the bank to make no payments to Paypal,I phoned them on many occasions but simply didn't care and stated my proof of postage and delivery meant nothing.

Then suspended my account and sent me a solicitors letter stating I owed them £500 and the buyer £250.Parcel farce eventually paid me £500 compensation which I paid paypal and i've heard nothing since.

I'll never use them or ebay ever again.
The annoying thing is that some robbing tt got the lens and a £500 refund!

Edited by vanman on Saturday 21st February 15:49

[Funk]

Thanks for re-affirming the reasons why I won't use Paypal for transacting online. TBH, I'm surprised this kind of fraud isn't far more prevalent. Sounds like a nice easy earner if you never get investigated for it by either Paypal or the courier.