Sounds like a problem with the credit card system rather than Paypal, since it appears the customer used a credit card. If you sold iPhones via Stripe, you're still liable for the same chargebacks.
Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
181–190 of 398 posts
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#182This would only work in major cities, but I always thought there was a business in having a physical escrow service aimed specifically at selling small, high-value items. You sell an item online, deposit it with the company (who takes a small cut; you could even mail it to them), who then pass it on to the buyer when payment is confirmed. The company can confirm it's in working order, and take some photographs for pr…
This would be a great value-added service option for the Post Office. Deposit money in an account, have it shipped to a local post office, postal worker witnesses the acceptance and opening of the package, if everything is kosher, the buyer signs a release and the money is leased to the seller. USPS already provide "witness" services for packages that are picked (for free!), just add an escrow account for 1 to 5%.
Still doesn't help you, which postal employee is going to sit for 1/2 hour while you test your iphone and make sure it connects to your computer etc? They can only say, "yup it looks like an iphone", not whether or not it works.
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#183This happens all of the time. Paypal is caught in the middle, and the credit card company almost always decides in favor of the buyer. It's because they're trying to provide the same service for both EFTs and credit cards, and those work very differently in the real world.
Unfortunately, PayPal sticks the user with the cost in this case. It would be out of business I'd imagine if it ate the cost.
Whenever someone pays for something with a credit card using PayPal, you automatically lose all of your protections if they dispute it through their cardholder. They just act as a passthrough.
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
What attorney would give a crap about a $500 phone? A class-action attorney?
The attorney will make millions, the guy will walk away with a coupon for 5% of his next Ebay purchase. There has been some success recently in suing corporations in small claims court. There is an argument that a genreal delivery address should not have been 'verified'.
The point of a class-action suit isn't for the victims to recoup damages. It's to force the corporation (in this case, eBay) to change some sort of behavior that a suit from a single person wouldn't have been able to accomplish.
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course. If you look their website now and their SEC filings, it is clear that eBay is not any more "garage sales on internet with auctions". It is more like discount store. Are there any of YC companies building "garage sales on internet"?
Yardsale meets your description and is YC backed.
Yardsale does meet the description of "garage sale on the internet", but in the Craigslist sense more than the old-eBay sense: it's for selling stuff locally, not for selling worldwide and then shipping it. For some things that works fine, but for long-tail items with niche popularity I found the old ebay quite useful, because you could reach a non-geographically-constrained audience, increasing the odds that someone somewhere would want your obscure thing.
Nowadays I sell niche music and books on Amazon Marketplace, admittedly, so one chunk of that market is spoken for by a strong incumbent.
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#186Heres the issue (and a opportunity for a startup?) - eBay remains the main place to sell second hand goods. There are other options (craigslist, amazon) but the fact is it takes longer to sell and still flush with scammers. What does the solution look like? A costco style paid membership with more information given back to the user? Ability to 'vouch' for yourself via facebook/twitter/etc. ? With all of this, its sti…
Bitcoins (no chargebacks) and a preference for buying through friends of friends on social networks (almost like a darknet) could be worth looking into.
Bitcoins tip the pendulum too far in the other direction; there needs to be a way for a buyer scammed to reclaim their money in the case of a seller scam. (And that's not even getting into the instability of the currency.. I'm a fan of bitcoin and I can't imagine using it in a serious enterprise)
A third party escrow service that examines all goods for compliance with their description and then sends them on could be a useful tool..
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
just wondering how would you expect or how do other companies currently avoid fraud. The costs associated or added with constantly investigating fraud would almost seem like a deterrent in making a system useful.
The same way AirBnB does it: verify everything (phone, email) and provide social context ("You and the seller have 2 friends in common on Facebook"). You could go a step further and remove as much anonymity as possible. Of course, there are other ways to stop fraud which you'd want to do as well.
paypay already has your credit card and banking information. I think its more about having staff investigating it. For example in this type of story it may be clear, but otherwise its your word vs theirs type situations. With volume of sales, and probably the number of transactions, I imagine its not cheap.
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious why you think you should see the buyer actually withdraw from an ATM? If I was a buyer and the seller asked to follow me to my ATM, I'd be concerned.
I actually probably wouldn't do that, but it would be a pretty good hedge against receiving counterfeit currency.
There are better ways to hedge against that.
http://www.amazon.com/s/field-keywords=counterfeit+money+pen
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ebay works great for buyers now, it just sucks for sellers. I buy on Ebay all the time, you can find all kinds of things there really cheap.
Have you ever tried to get your money back after getting scammed as a buyer?
I have, eBay ignored all my complaints and requests. Never got anything but the odd automated 'we have received your report' emails. I'll never use eBay again for any reason.
Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, you can (John Doe lawsuits). Besides that, most of these scams are not that sophisticated as you see in spy movies. You subpoena a few folks, and you get the identity. It usually turns out to be a 16 year old, but you still get it.
Serving a subpoena to "General Delivery" is problematic at best.
There is a credit card involved.