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Quick eBay Selling Question.
Idx86
Long days and pleasant nights.Registered User regular
Long days and pleasant nights.Registered User regular
I've sold a few things off eBay before, however everyone who has purchased items from me had at least a few transactions in the past with positive feedback. Although I can't recall specific examples, I feel like in the past I have read stories about sellers who have had zero feedback individuals win an auction, pay via PayPal and then yank the payment back after the money has been transferred.
I have a zero feedback individual winning an auction right now. I know people have to "start somewhere" and that not every zero feedback person is out to commit fraud, but I want to be sure I don't get fucked. I'm a little unclear on how PayPal protects sellers and am trying to read through what they have.
1.) Is there a type of scam that involves someone yanking back money from PayPal after an item has been shipped? In this case, I would be sending a game.
2.) If I transfer said money into my bank account after the individual does it, and something odd does happen is there any way that I become liable for that money again?
3.) Am I being overly cautious?
Quick synopsis: Zero feedback individual winning my eBay auction, pondering if I am going to get scammed and what protection I have.
I have a zero feedback individual winning an auction right now. I know people have to "start somewhere" and that not every zero feedback person is out to commit fraud, but I want to be sure I don't get fucked. I'm a little unclear on how PayPal protects sellers and am trying to read through what they have.
1.) Is there a type of scam that involves someone yanking back money from PayPal after an item has been shipped? In this case, I would be sending a game.
2.) If I transfer said money into my bank account after the individual does it, and something odd does happen is there any way that I become liable for that money again?
3.) Am I being overly cautious?
Quick synopsis: Zero feedback individual winning my eBay auction, pondering if I am going to get scammed and what protection I have.
2008, 2012, 2014 D&D "Rare With No Sauce" League Fantasy Football Champion!
Idx86 on
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As for the paypal yank scam, it's typically only an issue on hot commodities, like Wiis or Apple Laptops, where the buyer is looking to simply resell the item. It's not that common, but it *really* sucks so those people tend to be extremely vocal about it, and complain about how horrible Paypal is.
It's really easy to remedy, if it worries you -- keep your receipt for shipping, or get delivery confirmation. If you ship via UPS you have a tracking number, and if you're shipping via USPS pay the extra buck for del. conf. Usually it's not a big deal -- the people who are slimy usually are oozing slime in their emails.
But as a positive example, I just sold some music equipment and even though I specified that I only ship to the US, the winning bidder was a guy with 0 feedback from the Czech Republic. Worse, it wasn't even his account, it was a friend's! That was saturday, and he emailed me saying "I'm so excited I won, I'm really looking forward to this thing!" Then I don't hear anything, and I figure that since the shipping was $50 he balked and simply was ignoring me. But it takes 2-3 days for someone to set up a Paypal account, and even though I was fully expecting to have to file a non-paying bidder thing on eBay... he paid this morning.
On the other hand, Zeroes almost always end up on people's auctions at some point, because they're often people who simply don't understand that eBay is an auction. so they see something worth $40, they see that the price is $20, and they enter in $21 so they have the high bid. They're excited to get something for so cheap. They also inevitably lose the auction, and likely complain to friends that they "hate ebay" and they "always lose their deals." But the ones that win typically are simply people who haven't won something before.
Yes, either through a PayPal dispute, or a chargeback through their credit card company, which PayPal can't really help (if the CC company takes the money back from them, they obviously have to take it back from you... wouldn't make business sense to wear that cost when you're the one using their systems to accept CC payments).
PayPal seller protection provides SOME protection:
For what situations will I receive seller protection coverage?
Credit card chargebacks from fraudulent card use
Credit card chargebacks for false claims of non-delivery
Buyer complaints for false claims of non-delivery
What is not covered under seller protection:
"Significantly Not as Described" chargeback claims
Transactions to non-US buyers
Transactions to US buyers who do not have confirmed addresses
Any transactions in which the seller did not follow the SPP guidelines
The guidelines to follow as a seller:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/cps/securitycenter/sell/SellerPPOverview-outside
Yes, your PayPal account will just then owe money. You will be suspended/blocked until you re-pay it to your PayPal account.
For a game, yes. This all sounds quite scary but there's a level of risk in everything we do, especially with strangers. I don't agree with all the people that think PayPal should magically protect them from chargebacks. Every merchant (your local grocery store for eg) experiences jerks charging back credit card purchases. For them, they will have a chargeback dispute team of people that might (for example) provide to the card company the signed receipt. If the signature doesn't match. GUESS WHAT the grocery store wears the cost of the chargeback because they didn't check the signature thoroughly enough.
As individuals accepting PayPal payments via credit card, PayPal is acting as a credit card service on your behalf. My personal opinion is that expecting PayPal to wear 100% of the risk is absolutely ridiculous. They would be out of business overnight.
Now, there are problems with some of PayPal's protection policies and their rulings, I agree. But generally, it's about the best available system out of the worst situation. They are doing a lot of mediation on our behalf and technically, could just force sellers to negotiate with credit card company chargeback divisions themselves. What would you be providing to that division as proof that the buyer received the item? You don't even have a signed receipt to go on.
So, back yourself up by mailing to the confirmed address and make sure you have proof-of-delivery if the item is outside your acceptable level of risk (for some people that is $5 for others, $500, up to you). Other than that, don't worry, the majority of people are not sitting out there on eBay looking to screw over a seller on a single game.