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Thinking of Selling on eBay using Paypal? Think Again

codenerdz.com

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

#31

Post by lh7777 »

nicholassmith wrote: post #4

Note, I think PayPal are in many cases some sly devils doing some nasty things, in this case it sounds like they went to bat, had the credit companies say 'nope' and that's that. Credit card companies will usually go in the favour of the buyer, because technically the buyer is them. This is an odd, and bizarre situation, but its why you always should buy fancy items on credit cards, as the credit companies don't like…

Seller Protection should protect the seller in the case of obvious fraud like this regardless of what the credit card company says.

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

#32

Post by Spooky23 »

That's a variant of one of the oldest scams in the book on EBay. Removing seller feedback actually fixed the issue, at least for buyers.

Back in the day, the formula for an EBay sell-side scammer was to:

1 - Setup a phony account, or network of accounts.

2 - start selling small value things to each other. (Postcards, keychains, digital pictures, etc) Leave positive feedback, including nonsensical feedback (ie. My laptop works great, A++++ for a $0.99 recipie).

3 - Wait a few months for the active links to the auctions to be de-activated by EBay

4 - Start selling a dozen high-value items like laptops. Ship nothing or empty boxes.

5 - Withdraw funds asap.

Now the same scheme works, but only in reverse for high-value items that have immediate cash value.

Solution: Never use EBay for anything.

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

#33

Post by Osmium »

This 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 proof.

Much more pleasant for both buyer and seller. No more news stories of people getting mugged after an online ad, no more scammy eBay purchasers, the lot.

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

#34

Post by jessedhillon »

DanBlake wrote: post #24
bryne wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which in this case is zero, because eBay is rife with scammers preying on the *well-educated? Gazelle and Amazon present almost zero risk to the seller, hence the price differential.

The chance of getting scammed like this on eBay is less than 2% (maximum chargeback rate) Hence you are better selling 100 iPhones on eBay and taking the hit for two then sell all 100 on gazelle and not.

That's not quite genuine. You need to look at probability of a scammer winning your auction, not the probability that a scammer still has room under his/her chargeback cap. And even after that, I somehow doubt that those statistics are satisfying to the person who lost 100% of their money after selling 100% of their phone inventory (one phone).

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

#35

Post by btilly »

DanBlake wrote: post #24
bryne wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which in this case is zero, because eBay is rife with scammers preying on the *well-educated? Gazelle and Amazon present almost zero risk to the seller, hence the price differential.

The chance of getting scammed like this on eBay is less than 2% (maximum chargeback rate) Hence you are better selling 100 iPhones on eBay and taking the hit for two then sell all 100 on gazelle and not.

If you plan to sell 100 iPhones, you are absolutely right.

If you are selling an iPhone and actually need the money, a 2% risk of being left with neither may be worse than just getting 50% of the money, safely.

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

#36

Post by nicholassmith »

lh7777 wrote: post #31
nicholassmith wrote: post #4

Note, I think PayPal are in many cases some sly devils doing some nasty things, in this case it sounds like they went to bat, had the credit companies say 'nope' and that's that. Credit card companies will usually go in the favour of the buyer, because technically the buyer is them. This is an odd, and bizarre situation, but its why you always should buy fancy items on credit cards, as the credit companies don't like…

Seller Protection should protect the seller in the case of obvious fraud like this regardless of what the credit card company says.

Definitely, it seems super obvious to us that fraud has occurred and that's the long and short, to the credit card companies all they can see is that they might be severely out of pocket. They will generally fight back against it, and side with their money. It sucks.

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

#37

Post by sukuriant »

kerryfalk wrote: post #20
brk wrote: post #11

I stopped selling things like this on eBay a long time ago because I do not sell things frequently enough to keep up with the scams du jour. My local craigslist is where my for-sale items now go. Sure, I may get a little less than top-dollar for an item, or it might take a little longer to sell, but I'm never left with some after-the-fact dispute where I have no control (note: I'll only accept cash). eBay was fun whi…

Shameless plug; we've built one for automotive enthusiasts: https://www.styckyd.com Our target is to serve the C2C market and make shipping less painless as well as eliminate some of the risk on the buyer's side. With the current climate for buying goods online companies serving the space are at risk for opening themselves up to scams like this one by buyers. The reality for anyone accepting credit cards is that you'…

How do you pronounce that?

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

#38

Post by codenerdz »

OP here. Interestingly enough, my conversations with Paypal became more and more surreal and I felt more and more powerless with every one in the end. I had a trail of information and there was evidence of multiple fraud, but I never felt as powerless as I did after my phone calls with Paypal.

I am in contact with the police captain in the small town where the item was shipped, but I have very little faith in their ability to recover it.

I will file a local police report as well and try to appeal with paypal.

Meanwhile i want everyone to be aware that the so-called Seller Protection is totally worthless, since thats how Paypal chooses to pursue a legit fraud case.

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

#39

Post by haberman »

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…

Out of curiosity, if the sticker was the same how did you know for certain that the broken phone was a different phone?

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

#40

Post by lh7777 »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #10
smadam9 wrote: post #8

I thought my case with a virtual product, and a clear fraudulent act was bad. After hearing about this, with a physical product, it makes a local electronics dealer seem much more appealing.

The only way I would sell an expensive piece of electronics would be via local Craigslist, in person, probably for cash that I'd prefer to witness the buyer withdraw out of an ATM.

Just like anything else, selling in person to a stranger is not without risk either. I wonder how the frequency of robberies associated with Craigslist sales compares against eBay fraud like this one. Personally, I'd rather get hit with a chargeback than a baseball bat.
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