Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

codenerdz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 398 posts

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#211

Post by eli »

agumonkey wrote: post #53
eli wrote: post #12

A few years ago I sold an Android phone on eBay. A scammer bought it, claimed it was broken, and filed a claim with PayPal. The guy sent me back a different phone of the same model that was indeed quite broken. I appealed to PayPal and lost. I got screwed in this case, but frankly I'm not sure what PayPal/eBay is supposed to do about this sort of scam. Dude even swapped the sticker with the serial number from inside…

It's hard, as a paranoid person I try to document things as much as I can, filmed tests, clean pictures, filmed packaging process. It's not perfect but for what it's worth, I had an issue on priceminister (european website) involving an old motherboard being flagged as failing by the buyer, they were thorough and rejected his claims after all. Nothing major it was 20$, but it's good to see that some websites go the o…

I actually did film my opening of his return package because it was very obvious at that point that I was getting scammed. But I was expecting an empty box or a brick or something, not a similar phone.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#212

Post by MBCook »

DanBlake wrote: post #121
MBCook wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sold my iPhone 4 on Gazelle. I know I could have got more through Craigslist or eBay, but it wasn't worth my time. With eBay I have to photograph it, write it up, list it, answer ridiculous questions about shipping it to the 3rd world and take payment in the form of casino chips mailed to me in a few months. Then I have to deal with the buyer, ship it, and the whole time I have to be worried about scammers. All the…

If you were willing to take $250 less for saving 5 minutes time, by all means. Most of your complaints are made up though (casino chips, third world, etc.. ) I dont use craigslist, so I cant answer to that. I find the eBay process mostly fine, with the exception of not being able to specify who can bid/buy. If they did that it would be a way more reliable experience.

It was two years old and it wasn't in great condition. I priced it out and I think it cost me about $50 or so, which was worth it for the total lack of hassle.

The complaints for eBay etc. are exaggerated, but they are a problem. The last few times I listed things on eBay it didn't matter that I set the item to only be sold in the US, only paid through PayPal, etc. I got messages from people offering to buy it if I would just ship it out of the country and accept a money order. Then there are the messages offering to buy it if I contact them directly and cancel the auction so they can save the fee. You see that kind of stuff now and then on Craigslist too.

The amount of time and hassle I saved was worth far more than $50. If it had been $250, I would have certainly gone with Craigslist.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#213

Post by gknoy »

URSpider94 wrote: post #172
shiftpgdn wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried contacting the PostMaster for that city? They should be able to assist you in finding the owner of the P.O. Box. From there you can start the motions for filing charges or a lawsuit.

It's not a PO Box, it's General Delivery ( https://www.usps.com/manage/forward-mail.htm ). There is no owner, but you may be able to get the info they recorded when the person showed up (undoubtedly fake).

Wouldn't doing something like that (providing fake ID at pickup) be considered Mail Fraud? I seem to recall mail fraud investigations having really big teeth.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#214

Post by pbhjpbhj »

debacle wrote: post #63
discountgenius wrote: post #47

This article goes into my "arguments for Bitcoin" pile. More sellers need to recognize the risks involved in doing transactions through PayPal/any other credit card processor and protect themselves.

And what about if the OP here was the buyer, and received a broken phone? Then what?

Shouldn't the item be shipped to dispute resolution (or their agents). On confirmation of the ID of the item (eg IMEI match or serial number or whatever) they can asses the item against the description.

If the item matches then return to the complainant (buyer) at the buyer's cost + add a service charge. Seller keeps all their money. Buyer's account marked for fraud watch.

If the item doesn't match then refund the buyer with a chargeback, return item to seller at the seller's cost + add a service charge. Seller loses their money. Seller's account marked for fraud watch; selling fees increased.

Items not paid to be returned can be sold on to help cover admin costs for items that buyer's or sellers do not want returning.

Note that in the OP ebay claim to have assessed that the items didn't match the description and so buyer protection is invalidated. But they haven't checked and so are defrauding the seller in respect to this claim.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#215

Post by anigbrowl »

I don't have much sympathy for this seller.

- General Delivery is a big red flag, paypal confirmed or no.

- You should check buyer feedback in advance, not afterwards.

- don't leave feedback until you have the cash in your own bank account.

- For expensive items, don't just get signature confirmation, pay the extra few $ for insurance. I insure anything over $50, for two reasons: you can claim against the insurance if the buyer alleges the goods are damaged/missing, and if the buyer is scamming then the insurance means they're trying to commit fraud against the carrier, who are more likely to prosecute it aggressively. This is also why I prefer to ship via the post office. Sorry, but if you shipped an $850 item without insuring the shipment, you're foolish.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#216

Post by yebyen »

UnFundedHype wrote: post #154
yebyen wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the current ecosystem of Bitcoin is just fine. You have to click one link after another because you just don't _know_ anybody who has bitcoins. One day you will get robbed by one of these exchanges, and you will blame bitcoins (or the bad man) and swear to never work with Bitcoins again. But they will be just one link in a chain of exchanges that you've trusted each one, hundreds of times, to bring you music and…

So what's the quickest and easiest way to buy bitcoins?

I'd vote mtgox, but they actually require to see your voter registration to allow trading into US dollars, my local currency, and I haven't furnished it. As well as state issued photo ident. You can buy them from me! I will accept either document as authentic proof, otherwise in #bitcoin-OTC on Irc.free node.net they are rather partial to the Gpg key as the mode for proving identity and tracking of scammers.

Don't you want to upgrade your currency, to the one where charge backs can not ever be issued against you, and its the whole world and science that keeps your money safe from hackers?

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#217

Post by ADent »

18pfsmt wrote: post #131
chiph wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One could say the same thing about OP's post. Yet, it isn't unique by a long shot. I've also given up on selling via CL because of the scammers. Now I donate to the local Goodwill or other charity (women's shelters want cellphones, for example), and take the tax write-off.

Could explain how buyers could scam you using Craigslist? Just make it cash only, no?

Somebody on another site got paid in counterfeit bills on a used iPad.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#218

Post by NickM »

steve8918 wrote: post #52

The only logical conclusion that can be made from eBay's and Paypal's policies is that they no longer want small sellers to use them. They want professional sellers to sell from their site, people who are used to dealing with chargebacks, etc, and can foot the bill when it comes to chargebacks/fraud. They want to facilitate BUYING from regular people, but make SELLING by regular people very difficult. There is no oth…

There is no other explanation for getting rid of buyer reputation and providing no protection to sellers.

I disagree. Back in the old days when I used to use eBay before they removed buyer feedback, it was considered unwise to ever leave a seller negative feedback because they might turn around and leave you negative feedback in retaliation. By removing buyer feedback, it allows buyers to leave unbiased seller feedback without fear of retribution.

One could argue that seller feedback is much more important than buyer feedback because the buyer has to pay first and then trust that the seller will ship them the item as described in a timely fashion. Ideally, the worst thing a buyer should be able to do is not pay, in which case the seller just has to start over and re-list the item in a new auction. It seems like the problem here isn't a lack of buyer feedback so much as a lack of due process for chargebacks, which ends up enabling fraud.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#219

Post by angryasian »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #159
joonix wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chargebacks are a part of doing business any time you accept credit cards, whether paypal is your merchant provider or not. The problem here is Visa/MC/Amex etc. Since you almost have to accept credit card payments these days, you're stuck with their terms. Since the banks all provide credit through these card providers, there's very little competition. There are numerous ways to virtually eliminate CC fraud but the…

What we need is a competitor that disrupts credit cards altogether http://www.dwolla.com

I think you're completely missing the point, because there's a large grey area that requires human intervention in deciding if fraud occurred. The larger the volume the larger the resources needed to review every single claim.

Re: Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

#220

Post by DanBlake »

kamjam wrote: post #179
DanBlake wrote: post #125

The absolute, 100% way to solve this is to let sellers decide who can bid/buy on their items. If I can say "Only users who have been on ebay X months/years with Y feedback" that is such a major awesomeness. It also puts the control back in my hands. Maybe I dont get as much money when I sell a item, but I have way less risk of getting fucked. Also, it would not stop new ebayers from being able to buy things. eBay cou…

You can already do this on eBay, the sellers with Y feedback thing http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html More specifically: http://imgur.com/xvAYd But it still doesn't get round the way this specific scam works, see post from Spooky23 above for a great explanation.

Unfortunately that only lets you block people with bad feedback. You cant say "you cant buy unless you have 10+ feedback"

Most scammers have no bad feedback, they are just new accounts with 5-10 positive feedback for bogus items.

Post reply on HN