What pitfalls when taking payment via Paypal

[duccarlos]

Mods, please move if not appropriate for this board...

I'm selling my bike down here in Chile and someone got in contact with me about buying it. He said he would pay me via Paypal and he would send a shipping company to my house to pick it up. He has not offered any sort of information about himself. I don't even know from which country he's contacting m from. I want to make sure that I'm dealing with someone straight forward. Other than checking this guy out, what else do I need to know specifically about Paypal that can bite me in the ass later?

[ducpainter]

Read paypals dispute resolution info before you decide to accept it. All he really has to do is file a 'not as advertised' claim and the bank account tied to your paypal account could be frozen, or at least the funds related to the sale...not certain. Internet lore is that paypal usually sides with the buyer. I've never had an issue.

I wouldn't do it on a high ticket item.

Tell him you want a certified check.

[duccarlos]

Well, thank God for Chile being just as paranoid as I am. Apparently here you have to go to notary anyway, so I did some homework on the guy and it turns out it was a scam.

Anyway, I've also heard of these issues with Paypal when people dispute stuff. Do they allow you to provide proof that items were shipped as advertised. What I mean by this is if I decide to sell my bike, but I have it picked up at a dealer after the dealer takes pictures and inspects it, would this be enough for Paypal to side with the seller?

[duccarlos]

By the way, if someone using the name/email address Eric Donald <eric.donald19@hotmail.com> contacts you about your vehicle, it's a scam. The idiot uses the same email address so it's easy to find through Google.

[sgollapalle]

Well, thank God for Chile being just as paranoid as I am. Apparently here you have to go to notary anyway, so I did some homework on the guy and it turns out it was a scam.

Anyway, I've also heard of these issues with Paypal when people dispute stuff. Do they allow you to provide proof that items were shipped as advertised. What I mean by this is if I decide to sell my bike, but I have it picked up at a dealer after the dealer takes pictures and inspects it, would this be enough for Paypal to side with the seller?

They do give the seller the opportunity to respond. I'm not sure how they would handle a situation where the guy says "one of the bolt on the bike had rust and it was not specified in the ad" vs. a straight forward situation where "the ad said it was a ducati, and I got a suzuki..."

[Skybarney]

Pay Pal sucks.  They ALWAYS side with the buyer and it can take forever to prove you actually deserve the money that got frozen.  I have never had the issue personally as I only sell balloon ride gift certificates through them. 

I once had a guy charge-off a 5k bill for paragliding lessons and gear (from Brazil) and due to not having him physically sign a charge slip..  The processing company never gave me anything to do that with as I had an internet portal.  So despite his signature and photo ID on all my lesson paperwork and a signed invoice I still lost 5k.  The pitfalls of doing business with electronic money are numerous.  So many scams out there it is unreal.

These are some fun websites by the way.  Some scammers making serious fools of themselves.

http://www.thescambaiter.com/
http://www.419eater.com/

[HotIce]

For honest buyers and sellers, Paypal is great.

[danaid]

 Someone tried to scam me when I sold my 696 on cycle trader. After lots of serious sounding emails, the guy wanted me to ship my bike to him . The emails where mostly vague as he was probably trying to scam several people at once.

[BoDiddley]

For honest buyers and sellers, Paypal is great.

+That

I use it all the time as a seller and a buyer but a high dollar item I would not even think about, anything over 500 is usually my limit.

[hbliam]

I've used it on an 8K bike and a couple 4K watches. No problems. The issue is vetting the buyer beforehand.

[Ddan]

Paypal has left me hanging twice, once even when I sent them the emails from the buyer that showed she was clearly lying.  She opted for no shipping insurance then claimed the item 'not as described' when it arrived damaged. I would never use them for anything substantial and now only use them when there isn't another option.

[duccarlos]

The problem is that there is no other service at their level. As a buyer, I do feel confident that someone will simply not take my money and run. At the same time, their claims department seems to be lacking when it comes to reviewing evidence.