Using Paypal on the forum

[minime123]

i agree with what toris said here:

"Don't be under the illusion that paypal will look after you if you get shafted. I lost £500 in an ebay transaction 2 years ago. When paypal had finally completed their inefficient and laborious investigation, all they recovered was what was left in his account (£70) as he’d spent most of it while they were f**k about.

The whole ebay/paypal system is a victim of it's own success but they really don’t give a s**t as long as the money keeps rolling in.

With this in mind, I don’t think you’re significantly safer by paying the recipient in the usual way."

read paypals fine print. this is probably in there. i dont trust ebay or paypal.

[Sir Ruff]

People always complain about ebay/paypal fees.. maybe it is more in not-Australia? I dunno.. it seems pretty insignificant to me compared to the cost of most music gear I deal with ($350+)..

erm, right.... but what about those people shelling out $2k for a synth? Tends to be a little more noticeable then.

[Ashe37]

However, if you do this, it would be nice if the sellers then send a receipt with the item purchased. Some of us do need receipts for business purposes....

[cartesia]

People always complain about ebay/paypal fees.. maybe it is more in not-Australia? I dunno.. it seems pretty insignificant to me compared to the cost of most music gear I deal with ($350+)..

erm, right.... but what about those people shelling out $2k for a synth? Tends to be a little more noticeable then.

Maybe I'm just loose with money, but I meant - the higher the price gets, the less significant the cost seems to me.

I've only had issues once with a seller not sending, but paypal got me back the full amount I paid.. that's enough money they saved me to pay for my fees for the next 10 years at least.. If I don't have any issues with sellers at some point in the next 10 years, I will be very surprised.

[space6oy]

However, if you do this, it would be nice if the sellers then send a receipt with the item purchased. Some of us do need receipts for business purposes....

print one out from paypal. 's all i need when i file taxes for my LLC.

[hageir]

I'm trying this right now,
I get a little box which says:
I will pay the fee: X amount

I guess I have to pay because I'm in Iceland and the recipient is in another country..
Maybe it only works within the states / a country?

[space6oy]

yup, complication w/ international transactions. if you uncheck the box it makes the recipient pay the fee instead of the sender.









still, their math seems off...

in USD:
amount fee
$1 $.01
$10 $.05
$100 $.50
$500 $2.50
$2000 $10.00

obviously stable at 0.5%

[supermel74]

Don't be under the illusion that paypal will look after you if you get shafted. I lost £500 in an ebay transaction 2 years ago. When paypal had finally completed their inefficient and laborious investigation, all they recovered was what was left in his account (£70) as he’d spent most of it while they were f**k about.

It's different now. All Ebay purchases paid with PayPal are protected 100% for buyers. If the seller screws you, you get 100% of your cash back regardless of what is in their account. It also makes it really easy for buyers to scam sellers though.

[plikestechno]

If seller does their s**t proper and has a tracking number and sends the item as described then buyer can't scam.

[supermel74]

If seller does their s**t proper and has a tracking number and sends the item as described then buyer can't scam.

The seller can do everything right as you said, and the buyer could claim the item is not as described, PayPal rules in buyers favor, buyer sends back a different item or no item at all in a box with Delivery Confirmation, PayPal refunds buyer, buyer has cash and item, seller is SOL.

[plikestechno]

No. Somebody tried to hoop me once and paypal sided in my favor. If you take proper pictures and describe it properly AND say NO refunds in your auction then you are covered. That is why Ebay says describe it properly. If you throw up a shitty picture and a vague description then yes you may be open to scammers.

The crappy part is that while you are fighting it out your paypal account is basically rendered useless unless you keep a ton of money in it.

[supermel74]

I don't know all the details of your case in particular but PayPal sides with the buyer 99% of the time. They don't deny it either. They say being scammed is just part of the cost of doing business. Pictures really don't indicate anything beyond cosmetics. Stating No Refunds also carries no weight. Everything sold on Ebay can be returned within 45 days regardless of the seller's stated return policy.

[plikestechno]

I don't know about your particulars but you sound like you are talking out of your a*s right now with no actual personal experience. Most of my storms have been as a buyer but I had to put the hammer down once on something I sold.

Policy may suggest one thing. But policy and someone's will to scam can be reconsidered when you get the police, visa and Canada Post involved. I forgot to say its important to insure something for the full amount when you ship it.

And yes. Maybe ultimately someone could still scam you if they tried hard enough regardless of repercussions but if they are caught they are going to jail. Mail fraud is mail fraud.

All this said, I always conduct myself honestly either way. And I prefer to deal with people with decent reputations on boards and only sell things on Ebay as an absolute last resort. If you do it once in awhile the chances of getting scammed are even lower.

And if you have a good reputation then emailing money or bank transfer or cheque is better anyway. That's what most power synth sellers demand now anyway. I just go paypal because I'm protected as a buyer and as a seller I pull out the hammer hard if anyone tries to screw me. You don't have to ship an item if you think you're getting scammed. I've refunded people a couple of times and resold when things didn't feel right.

[nadafarms]

well I plikes I know you like to politely tell people they are talking out of their a*s often... when they are trying to share their opinion but mel is right someone can send you back a pile of rocks and I confirmed this myself over the phone with a paypal representative recently. They said "oh but people don't usually do that" doesn't that make me feel safe lol.

getting the police involved... well sure that helps but we are talking about paypal itself and using it on it's own, paypal doesn't care if you claim they sent back rocks if they have signature delivery and you signed for it show them all the pictures you want.

I've been forced to accept returns on items because people claim they didn't work and when they arrive back to me they work fine, the people just decided they didn't want them or were done with their recording project...

I agree I try to do everything I can to avoid using paypal but it's a lot harder to get market value outside of ebay these days.

[plikestechno]

Yeah, it's true. My posts look pretty stupid now as I finally got screwed. Thankfully it wasn't for much.

I sell a lot of records on Discogs. My collection from the past 25 years basically supports my synth habit.

Well I was a little late sending out a record a few weeks ago and the buyer after 3 weeks from payment filed a dispute and then immediately a claim for it.

Records would be way too expensive for people if I charged them for tracking numbers and no one would buy them so I send them without tracking numbers by Canada Post Small Packet Air. So no tracking number but I do get a receipt with the person's name, address, value of item and there is a dated postmark from the specific post office on the back of it.

But that's not good enough for paypal. Obviously it was sent, but because I couldn't provide tracking they gave the guy his money. So he gets his money and the record. And won't reply to my emails.

So basically it's true. As a seller you are basically screwed now. You just have faith that people won't screw you. If someone wants to f**k you over they can and there's nothing we can do about it. For years it was the other way around but the balance have power has shifted way too far the other way now.

Yet paypal is so convenient how do you deal without it. And selling everything on forums would be great but people always want deals and j**k around where if ya list a Buy It Now on Ebay you get what you want immediately.