Paypal, how to protect myself?

[R1gtr]

Evening folks, I have been selling bits and bobs on Facebook and have a buyer wanting to buy my motorcycle leathers for £250, he is wanting to send money thru PayPal, and then for me to send the stuff off, he did say he could send a courier.
I opened a PayPal account tonight, never used it before, is this safe or will I get ripped off?
Can PayPal take the money back if he claims he never got them or something?
Can I transfer the money straight out of paypal in to my bank account so it is safe, then send the leathers? I think I read somewhere that PayPal hold the money for 180 days until you can remove it?
Save me from making a mess of things!

[MG CHRIS]

Paypal is one of the safest way to send money. But some tips don't receive paypal payment from someone that will pick the item up in person he can raise a claim he didn't receive the item and you have no proof that you sent it so the buyer gets the money back and you nothing.

Don't use gift as a payment if your buying you have no protection only use it if you personally know the other person. Sent up an account but as its new will take a time to receive your money cant remember the full set up been a long time since I set mine up. Also when sending out make sure you can track the item most online courier company will send out a tracking number to track the parcel you can also opt for a text to be sent to you when its arrived.

Just be sensible and don't go for something that feels anyway dodgy and always ask questions first before doing something you may regrate.

[R1gtr]

Thanks for the reply, looks like I will have to wait 180 days to get the money from PayPal so will tell the buyer he can either pay by bank transfer or PayPal one of my mates and as soon as they get the money out I will post, hopefully that sounds fair.

[Mgd_uk]

Ask them to send you a gift payment as it doesn't offer the buyer any protection to claim against you.

Tho if they use a stolen credit card it could perhaps cause a problem

[MG CHRIS]

Mgd_uk said:

Ask them to send you a gift payment as it doesn't offer the buyer any protection to claim against you.

Tho if they use a stolen credit card it could perhaps cause a problem

That's not the right way to go about I always state to use the correct way to send money for goods it protects both people the buyer just has to cover the fees. If they want to pay gift its only when both of us know each other in some way.

[ooo000ooo]

MG CHRIS said:

Mgd_uk said:

Ask them to send you a gift payment as it doesn't offer the buyer any protection to claim against you.

Tho if they use a stolen credit card it could perhaps cause a problem

That's not the right way to go about I always state to use the correct way to send money for goods it protects both people the buyer just has to cover the fees. If they want to pay gift its only when both of us know each other in some way.

He's selling through Facebook not eBay so surely they won't get involved?

[marshalla]

ooo000ooo said:

He's selling through Facebook not eBay so surely they won't get involved?

Yes they will, if the OP follows their rules : https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/paypal-safet...

[ooo000ooo]

marshalla said:

ooo000ooo said:

He's selling through Facebook not eBay so surely they won't get involved?

Yes they will, if the OP follows their rules : https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/paypal-safet...

Every day's a school day

[TonyRPH]

Not sure if it's the default these days, but if not, then setup two factor authentication.

Each time you login, they will send you a text message with a code, which you input as a second stage of authentication.

That makes it far more difficult to guess your password etc.

[catman]

You have no protection if you sell this way. If the buyer claims that he didn't receive the item, you can't prove otherwise and Paypal will take the money back.

They will take it off your credit/debit card if necessary, so don't do it!

Tim

[duckwhistle]

Never accept money by Paypal that you cannot afford to lose.