PayPal buyer protection

[RollyPolly2020]

Hi all

I am wondering what experiences anyone has had with PayPal buyer protection?

I am considering shipping a watch to someone I have never done business with before, and they are saying that they have used PayPal buyer protection- to protect both parties.

It's a 3% fee, which is very reasonable in my opinion for a deal, and they can guarantee both parties.

Btw, it was a buyer that reached out after I had posted on ebay- the fees they charge are very high and he understandably wants to avoid them.

[huncho]

a buyer reaching out to circumvent ebay is red flag #1 and being a stranger is red flag #2

i have nothing to say about paypal buyer protection but that's enough for me to walk away from this

[INC]

Originally Posted by huncho

a buyer reaching out to circumvent ebay is red flag #1 and being a stranger is red flag #2

^This

i have nothing to say about paypal buyer protection but that's enough for me to walk away from this

About this: I've had some problems, but everything was solved by Paypal, they do their job well. However, there are fraudsters of such a level that they are almost able to defraud the Paypal system! I have seen this before, but this has also been solved, but not as easy and not so fast. However, all of these are only true in the case when somebody pay with Paypal in a webshop, but definitely not when someone wants to avoid Ebay's commission.

[Pop Art Suzy]

If you're listing a Rolex on eBay and a buyer notified you to complete transaction outside of eBay, walk away! This is a serious red flag and don't fall prey to it. Not only does eBay protect you, PayPal protects you as well when listed and sold on eBay.

[RollyPolly2020]

Originally Posted by INC

^This



About this: I've had some problems, but everything was solved by Paypal, they do their job well. However, there are fraudsters of such a level that they are almost able to defraud the Paypal system! I have seen this before, but this has also been solved, but not as easy and not so fast. However, all of these are only true in the case when somebody pay with Paypal in a webshop, but definitely not when someone wants to avoid Ebay's commission.

Yeah I can see several angles a scammer can use.

1- they can wear the watch for 180 days (paypal's limit for buyer protection), completely ruin it, and submit it for a full refund.

2- submit a claim to say the item is not as described, send back the Rolex, and instead send back a fake watch.

I actually have had a decent experience with someone reaching out outside of ebay for a set of golf clubs I was selling, but they happened to be local, and it saved him maybe $200 and I made $100 more, so it was a win-win. They take a lot in taxes, fees, shipping (almost 15-20% depending on what it is).

So you bought/sold Rolex via private deal with someone and shipped or received a watch like that? Although I guess it was with a web shop you said, not a private individual.

[1665fan]

Don’t do it…..more than likely a scam….

[INC]

Originally Posted by RollyPolly2020

So you bought/sold Rolex via private deal with someone and shipped or received a watch like that?

I bought a Wolf watch box in an online store. It looked legit, with a real shop in the UK. It didn't look like a scam at all, especially because they also allowed Paypal as a payment method. Morover, the communication went well, except that my item was not in stock, despite what was stated on the website. Although this is a "warning sign" in itself, it is not yet a "red flag" in itself. I wrote them several times the "what's up doc?" message for a while, but there was no answer about when my item would be delivered.

So, almost a month later, I suggested canceling the order because "they still haven't received the product". We agreed to refund, but the money never arrived as the refund was cancelled! This happened twice. After this, for the third time, it looked like it will be fine, as a refund related message appeared on my account, however, the money not. But in the same time, it seemed that the transaction went well, Paypal set the purchase to "completed", because their system recognized this "refund" as complete - and because of this, it was no longer possible to file a complaint, since according to them "everything was ok". Because of this, I had to manually complain that "hey, something is very, very wrong here", after which, in about a week, Paypal fixed the matter and the refund arrived.

I don't want to say that the seller wanted to cheat, and I definitely don't want to say that Paypal's system is bad. Rather, I would like to say that the lesson for me is that if you are honest and can prove it, your interests will be protected.

For this reason, IMHO if the complaint starts with "I paid for something here instead of Ebay", then I think the whole case will be dismissed with "if you want to cheat, then it was your fault and not ours."

[KatGirl]

The buyer does not incur fees from eBay. Only the seller does. Tell him you will resist it on eBay for agreed upon price, at BIN, and that he must use PayPal. Then, you are protected. Otherwise, walk away. Your other option, if having trouble selling, is to contact one of the trusted resellers, here, who may make you a reasonable offer.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[massabee]

Over all both eBay and PayPal are more buyer protective than seller. If the buyer complains, eBay and PayPal side with the buyer in most cases.

If you sell a watch on eBay especially one > $10000. the payment will usually go through escrow.com where the buyer has to verify his identity and wire the money in (escrow.com will not accept credit cards for transactions over 5000 USD). Additionally the watch will be inspected by eBay as a third party authenticator and the buyer will not be able to switch the watch for some piece of junk and try to pull a switcheroo. If the watch is over > $2000 USD I believe it must go through the eBay authenticator.

If you look around on eBay I don't think you'll find too many expensive watches listed where PayPal is the payment option versus escrow.com

If you transact off ebay, you could just use escrow.com directly yourself and let escrow.com worry about payment. It will be harder for the buyer to pull a switcheroo via escrow.com although it is possible. Alternatively if you have the buyer pay you directly with PayPal, in general PayPal is pretty good as far as protecting you the seller, much better than if the buyer just paid with a straight credit card (assuming you even have your own merchant account, that is), but a skilled fraudster could get around PayPal's protective measures.

Most fraudsters are going to look for easier pickings than a seller who sells via escrow.com or direct PayPal. Yes, you could get scammed selling directly using escrow or PayPal but the buyer would really have to know what he is doing scam wise and have set everything up carefully, and he's only going to get away with scamming once he's going to have to establish all new accounts or identities to do it again.

[Masteryacht]

I don’t trust PayPal after they came out with their “woke” policy of fining you for your first amendment rights. Canceled my account and done with them and the companies they own. My advice is to stay away from PayPal.

[jasaam]

as far as i know paypal protect purchases within $20 000 range, anything above that , im not sure !

[southtexas]

PayPal is awful. “Seller protection”? Hahahaha.

[JeromeL]

To my understanding PayPal protects the buyer more, you can have the sale go through and after shipping buyer can claim watch was not as described and send a fake watch back and get a refund from PayPal. Don’t do it man.