Paypal Concern/Question

Foo3112 · September 4, 2013 5:07AM

If I purchased something off ebay and the buyer tells me that his paypal isnt "linked up" or something like that - but yet he offers to send me an invoice still for the item I purchased, would that still be the same and am I still protectedas a buyer if paid with a credit card.

Thanks in advance

Foo3112 · September 4, 2013 5:15AM

Update: He asked for my email address.

Then I get a cancellation email from ebay that he initiated. I think hes trying to be slick and do a transaction off ebay to save fee's.

So now I guess I am expecting a regular invoice like BBCE has sent me in the past.

Am I as a buyer still protected in this scenario?

The buyer has feedback of only 5 so I'm naturally a bit concerned. I havent forked over anything yet and Im not sure I will.

Thoughts/Suggestions?

JHS5120 · September 4, 2013 5:25AM

What a slimey dealer. Honestly, I don't think it's anything to worry about - you have protection via paypal.

Tell him you won't cancel the transaction until you get the card.

Southsider · September 4, 2013 6:16AM

You won't be covered by Ebay's buyer protection for the transaction, but you will be protected by Paypal's buyer protection. What's the difference? I have no clue, but I'm sure it's probably something.

Oh, and I agree that this sounds like a sneaky way for the seller to avoid ebay fees.

Foo3112 · September 4, 2013 6:25AM

I responded to the seller that since hes saving fee;s, that I should save also and I shot back with a price for the invoice and he said thats fair.

So he clearly knows I know whats up and honestly, I dont mind dealing off ebay but the real question is:

I've dealt with this through sellers on here and with most of you I have no issue but to a complete stranger with no real credentials - you just never know.

If a seller sends me an invoice and I pay but dont get the item, will paypal cover me?

pclpads · September 4, 2013 6:38AM

"The buyer has feedback of only 5 so I'm naturally a bit concerned."Text

Can't imagine why.

dennis07 · September 4, 2013 9:22AM

How much are we talking about? You gotta ask yourself how bad will I beat myself up if I get completely screwed on the
deal.

Foo3112 · September 4, 2013 9:31AM

Dennis, I thought to myself the same thing you just mentioned and I said why not and went for it. I'm protected by paypal and worst case scenario, it was little bit more than a couple of hundred but nothing that's going to make me lose my house or stop me from paying the bills. I'm all for outside eBay transactions but I've just never been approached like this from a seller. He was just trying to get more for himself and I knew the deal but in return wanted a better deal where he and I would save money so we'll see if it works out in the end.

I think it'll be alright. Thanks guys for the replies.

churchiscool · September 4, 2013 9:46AM

you'll be covered. if he wants to skip the ebay fees tell him about the bst here.

jmmiller777 · September 4, 2013 10:58AM

Yep, just had it happen to me last month. I wonder if it is the same guy. I paid and his account rejected funds. I contacted him and told him he needed to fix his account; that I would send another payment. After the second rejection, he said just to pay to another name. I refused because I would not be covered. Don't do it, if he is going to accept paypal then it needs to be the account that is linked to his ebay account. You won't be covered...

grote15 · September 4, 2013 11:56PM

IIRC, straight PayPal does not offer the same SNAD protections as ebay. As previously mentioned, it's also a sneaky way to circumvent final value fees.

dontippet · September 5, 2013 2:45AM

Foo3112 · September 5, 2013 3:02AM

I also just checked on a few sites and it does seem that I am protected by paypal (which most of you here confirmed). It's as long as you dont send funds through paypal gift, then thats when youre completely out of luck.

It's been almost 24 hrs and I havent received a tracking number. Should I file a police report yet? jk

As I mentioned, I feel confident this will work out but if it doesnt, then I guess we'll see what paypal has to say when push comes to shove but hopefully it wont come down to that scenario. If I have an issue, I'll let everyone know so they can learn how to handle this situation if it ever happens to them.

Mickey71 · September 5, 2013 3:48AM

The process is fairly simple. Knowing that he is changing a simple process and making you question some things................................"DON'T DO IT." You don't need the item that bad and it's not worth the potential headache.

Foo3112 · September 5, 2013 4:51AM

Mickey, I agree. Thats great advice but what I got was pretty good to pass up so I couldnt resist.

Seems like he just added a tracking number on paypal so I feel better. Now I just hope its what I got. lol

Mdube16 · September 5, 2013 6:30AM

You are covered if you paid with paypal. No worries

Maurice · September 5, 2013 10:51PM

<< As previously mentioned, it's also a sneaky way to circumvent final value fees. >>

Yeah but I believe the seller's main motivation is to get around the 21 day hold policy that Paypal has for low feedback ebay sellers.

By doing the transaction outside of ebay, the seller will get the funds immediately.

With an ebay transaction, the low feedback seller has to wait 21 days or until the buyer leaves positive feedback before Paypal will release the funds.

Foo3112 · September 9, 2013 11:12PM

So just a quick update.

The buyer attached a tracking number. When I went to check it, USPS was not recognizing it. (First sign of Trouble)

I then wrote to him to tell him something that Im sure he already knew, that it was not working. He appologizes says he must have have gotten the tracking number "mixed up" with another and he so he adds another one. I was already worried by this point. The second one also doesnt come up. I tell him the same thing and I advise that I am ready to contact paypal if the doesnt get resolved but he assures me that it takes "a whole day to show". I then write back and tell him that deal with tracking numbers all the time and based on my experience, it doesnt take a whole day and if its not showing, its 1 of 2 reasons.

1 - If it was just mailed out. The tracking number takes about 2 hrs before something shows up in the system OR reason 2 - The tracking number is incorrect.

He says he will verify once he gets home. The next day, I get an email form paypal saying that the tracking number has been updated. (3rd one now for those who are keeping score at home). I checked the tracking and the item was shipped from PA which is funny because the seller (according to Paypal) resides in GA. By this point, I figured that he added someone elses tracking number for an item that HE purchased and just pasted it on to buy him some time I guess. Also, it wasnt making sense on why with the 3rd tracking number that he provided does it show that the item was sent out on Saturday. Supposedly he sent it out on Friday, thats why he provided the 1st tracking number. Remember, he said he got them "confused". So with him sending me a new tracking on a different day just means that he never even sent anything out and now this 3rd one didnt even belong to my item.

Long story short, I call paypal yesterday and I opened a case. The paypal rep confirmed that I am 100% covered and that they will ask the seller one time for a tracking number. If he fails to do so or if he just ends up sending an empty letter even to my house, all I do is notify paypal and they will refund me OR, if they dont hear back from the seller within 10 days after after asking for a working tracking number, then on the 11th day, paypal refunds me.

I then askied the rep "What happens to the seller? Does he keep the money?" He said that paypal will either get it from him OR if they cant, then it will go into collections and he will have to pay the piper in the future because it will affect his credit. I was happy alone with that answer.

So in the end, I took a risk, something that I normally dont do but since I was protected, I wasnt too worried about it. I did pay with a credit card because Ive read on here that paypal covers you if you do as oppose to a debit card. Not sure how much truth there is when it comes to credit card vs. debit card but I just wanted to share this experience incase anything like this happens to any of you, you will know how to handle.

itzagoner · September 9, 2013 11:21PM

<< So just a circuitous update. >>

fixed that for ya.

KbKards · September 10, 2013 2:21AM

It looks like you purchased the card on the 4th for $470. If you look at seller's feedback, on the 1st he was given negative feedback for a payment issue. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321200995296 He also sold the same card earlier in the day at auction for $610 http://www.ebay.com/itm/321198483678 There were ample warning signs there before buying and after the purchase. Hopefully Paypal will come through for you with no further drama.

Foo3112 · September 10, 2013 2:44AM

You are correct KB. The signs were there which is why I came here and the 1st question I asked was, will I be covered with paypal before paying the seller. I just hope those reading will remember and learn from this experience.

The card was too good to pass up at $470 and its not like it was a "too good to be true" amount either so I took a chance after verifying here that I would be protected to which paypal confirmed yesterday over the phone with me. Just sucks that there are people out there like that.

smokeybandit · September 10, 2013 3:44AM

If I were you I would start talking to my CC Company about this and what will be needed to reverse the payment,
I would not start it yet but be prepared to act and know exactly what the time frame and requirements will be.

In the past when dealing with PayPal on a transaction that went wrong I was told I WON the case but there are no funds
in the account and will have to wait until they are available (they never did become available BTW), Not sure if paypal
still plays that game as it’s been a very long time since that happened to me but I have never trusted there guaranty since

Foo3112 · September 10, 2013 4:11AM

Thanks Smokey but the Paypal rep said that Paypal will go ahead and give me the money and that they will deal with the seller from there on out, which then I assume just like anyhing that goes unpaid, will then go towards a collections agency and he will have to deal with collectors if they are not reimburssed in a certain amount of time (which is probably like 3 months).

Maurice · September 10, 2013 4:26AM

As I understand it:

Ebay transactions and non-ebay transactions are treated differently in terms of Paypal protection.

With an ebay transaction, the buyer is covered for "Item Not Received" (the full amount) and "Significantly Not as Described".

With a non-ebay transaction, the buyer is covered for "Item Not Received" (limited to the amount Paypal can recover from the seller's account). The buyer is not covered for "Significantly Not as Described".

grote15 · September 10, 2013 4:51AM

<< As I understand it:

Ebay transactions and non-ebay transactions are treated differently in terms of Paypal protection.

With an ebay transaction, the buyer is covered for "Item Not Received" (the full amount) and "Significantly Not as Described".

With a non-ebay transaction, the buyer is covered for "Item Not Received" (limited to the amount Paypal can recover from the seller's account). The buyer is not covered for "Significantly Not as Described". >>

This is correct. Though if a buyer uses a CC to fund payment, he can still dispute the charge directly with his CC company.

I'm not surprised that he tried to scam you. the whole story seemed very fishy to begin with.

KbKards · September 10, 2013 5:34AM

Ebay nuked both of the item numbers in the links I posted along with the seller bassthefuture31975 ( 9 ) Not a registered user

dapro · September 10, 2013 5:54AM

When you escalated to a claim with Payapl, did the seller ever response back to paypal?

KbKards · September 10, 2013 11:19PM

Don't worry. In the event Paypal isn't able to recover the money, it will just be figured in the next time Paypal raises their fees.

Cakes · September 11, 2013 2:38AM

<< 

<< As previously mentioned, it's also a sneaky way to circumvent final value fees. >>

Yeah but I believe the seller's main motivation is to get around the 21 day hold policy that Paypal has for low feedback ebay sellers.

By doing the transaction outside of ebay, the seller will get the funds immediately.

With an ebay transaction, the low feedback seller has to wait 21 days or until the buyer leaves positive feedback before Paypal will release the funds. >>

Once again good info, thank you

Cakes · September 11, 2013 2:44AM

<< 

<< As I understand it:

Ebay transactions and non-ebay transactions are treated differently in terms of Paypal protection.

With an ebay transaction, the buyer is covered for "Item Not Received" (the full amount) and "Significantly Not as Described".

With a non-ebay transaction, the buyer is covered for "Item Not Received" (limited to the amount Paypal can recover from the seller's account). The buyer is not covered for "Significantly Not as Described". >>

This is correct. Though if a buyer uses a CC to fund payment, he can still dispute the charge directly with his CC company.

I'm not surprised that he tried to scam you. the whole story seemed very fishy to begin with. >>

I also try and use a CC along with Paypal, I also rarely do paypal gift even on the BST here. I would rather pay a little extra and be completely covered.

KbKards · September 19, 2013 5:05AM

Was this resolved satisfactorily in your favor?

Foo3112 · September 19, 2013 5:55AM

I was told by paypal that I have to wait 10 days (guessing business days) and if theres no response from the seller, then on the 11th day, paypal will then go ahead and refund me and I will get also an email from them telling me that I received the refund. Thats what I was told. A few more days to go.

Foo3112 · September 24, 2013 1:42AM

So I just got off the phone with Paypal. Today was the 11th business day and as the original rep informed me, if I had not received my item or if they have not heard anything back from the "seller " within 10 days, that on the 11th, I would be issued my refund back to my card.

Refund issued in my favor.

Case Closed.

stown · September 24, 2013 1:52AM

cjaccardi · September 24, 2013 10:39AM

there really is no difference between ebay protection and paypal protection to be honest i think paypal is always more strict than ebay.

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