Paypal?...opinions wanted.

[lodilobo]

I've been buying and selling on this site and ebay for several years, and have have used Paypal for most of my transactions, whether buying or selling. Even though there is a cost when selling. Why is it alot of sellers refuse to use Paypal? As far as I'm concerned, I'll pay the fee to the seller, so he doesn't lose the few bucks that Paypal charges if I really want the item. Paypal has saved my ass several times when I've dealt with theives that have no intention of shipping the item after you pay, or when they grossly misrepresent an item. I recently found a set of wheels here, and agreed to pay the seller the asking price, but didn't buy them, because he wanted a money order before shipping.....screw that. I'm a very trusting person, and have lost money many times because of it. I've learned my lesson with that approach....several times. Unless I am able to make the deal in person, and pay cash, or know the person I'm dealing with, Paypal is the only option. Tell me a better way to complete a transaction....buying or selling...without risk. While there are some really lowlife scam bastards out there dealing, and trying to scam you, most of the guys on this site are honest and fair.

[hammertime]

Paypal is for the buyer ... the seller can get screwed !!

Example of something I've seen a few times. Buyer gets the parts and figures out it wont work for what he wants. He files a claim with paypal saying it wasnt what he was told or it has a small scratch. He wins everytime, gets his money back and your out the money and fee's ... oh yea your also out your parts.

I almost refuse to use paypal not because the stuff isnt good .. but because there is a lot of scumbags out there !

[RonOwensRacing]

David is right it is for the buyer not for the seller.
I have lost 5 grand through pay pal . It is a long story so i want get into it but those scum bags you are talking about has figured out how to get you on pay pal also.

I hate it when a customer want's to use them but i still do take just alot more careful and do some checking before hand.

[bixblk]

I will take postal money orders only.I got hosed by paypal twice. And that is enought for me. If you buy something from me you will get the items on time and as advertised, and I will cash the postal money order. In my case, it is not a question of extra cost, it is a question of a clean deal w/o added problems. Pay pal does not work for me, if I loss a sale because of it , that less of a problem than dealing with paypal. Honesty is what counts from the buyer and seller. JMO

[Harbone]

I have been letting people pay me via paypal lately (non ebay transactions) by sending it as a "gift". Now the person sending the money has to have faith in you, if they send it as a gift there are NO paypal fees and they can not try and come back on you for a refund cause it was sent as a gift.
I have never in 12 years had an issue buying, selling and paying with paypal for my ebay transactions.

[manley]

I will take postal money orders only.I got hosed by paypal twice. And that is enought for me. If you buy something from me you will get the items on time and as advertised, and I will cash the postal money order. In my case, it is not a question of extra cost, it is a question of a clean deal w/o added problems. Pay pal does not work for me, if I loss a sale because of it , that less of a problem than dealing with paypal. Honesty is what counts from the buyer and seller. JMO


X2!

[zipper06]

I've used paypal for over 10 yrs and only got screwed one time. i usually pay with a credit card and have some recourse if something goes wrong.
Postal MO's are safe if you cash them at the post office before you ship the parts, however there are lots of phoney postal MO's out there. The very safest way is to setup a 1 time account with your bank if it's a large purchase and use a money transfer, that will usually stop any scammers.

Course cash is KING if you're picking up in person.

JMO

Zip.

[lodilobo]

Thanks for all the input. I've never had a bad experience with Paypal, but maybe that's because I buy more than I sell. I have a guy emailing me right now on a motorcycle that I'm selling. His emails wreak of the typical Nigerian scam bastard, but he wants to pay me in advance with Paypal. He's telling me he's on a ship, but his agent will pick up the bike. As of now, I've ignored his emails. I'm assuminmg this is a scam of some sort.

[zipper06]

Thanks for all the input. I've never had a bad experience with Paypal, but maybe that's because I buy more than I sell. I have a guy emailing me right now on a motorcycle that I'm selling. His emails wreak of the typical Nigerian scam bastard, but he wants to pay me in advance with Paypal. He's telling me he's on a ship, but his agent will pick up the bike. As of now, I've ignored his emails. I'm assuminmg this is a scam of some sort.

Typical scam, i would ignore it.

JMO

Zip.

[hammertime]

I've used paypal for over 10 yrs and only got screwed one time. i usually pay with a credit card and have some recourse if something goes wrong.
Postal MO's are safe if you cash them at the post office before you ship the parts, however there are lots of phoney postal MO's out there. The very safest way is to setup a 1 time account with your bank if it's a large purchase and use a money transfer, that will usually stop any scammers.

Course cash is KING if you're picking up in person.

JMO

Zip.

Zip's dead on ... Wire Transfer is the only way to fly when buying big ticket items !

Everyone on here says postal money orders are the safest bet ... but in reality postal money orders are faked more then any money order in the country. Even worse you can't just call and track the money order to see where it came from and if its good. They dont keep record of it like a bank. 3 weeks ago I sold some parts to a guy on the east cost, I told him id like a bank money order (you can call that bank and verify if its good) he sent a postal money order. My post office and no bank/credit union in town would cash it for me. This is just one of several times I've ran into this problem, I have to drive 30mins to a place to cash it. Moral of the story ..... be smart with deals !! You can varify money orders/cashiers checks from any bank in the USA with a single phone call :)

[ed1le]

On the flip side, there's no recourse for the buyer if a wire is send and the item isn't delivered...that's my situation now, out $1000 and no heads!

[parrot69777]

Paypal is ok for the most part. However too many people think Ebay is like overstock.com and can return anything at anytime. When you won't accept the return...they file a "not as described" on you and paypal forces you to take the stuff back.

If the person uses a bank account or paypal funds to pay for a purchase...they only have 45 days to make a complaint. However if they used a credit card company....they have as much as a year.

Paypal and Ebay is all about the buyer and could care less about the seller.

[e105]

:) i bought on ebay with paypal-item came real late[3wks] then item not as described. filed a complaint -went in my favor. i had to ship parts BACK TO SELLER before pay pal would release the refund. i had to eat the shipping charges,that's all. PAYPAL RULES FOR BOTH IN MY OPINION.if your out to screw some one you lose with paypal. the legitimate seller has no problem. :!:

[ed1le]

Cash in hand if picking up or PayPal only for me moving forward. If I hadn't had someone local show up at Andy Mitchell's shop in CA (I'm in MD), I NEVER would have received my heads. I've sold hundreds of items with PayPal since 1999 and never once have had a problem as a seller. Twice I've received items not as described & PayPal has helped me recoop my cost. If you're worried seller will use PayPal to get their money back, you're probably doing something wrong....

[parrot69777]

That's interesting.....about 2 months ago I shipped a pair of heads to some clown in North Carolina. After waiting the 45 days that paypal allows....he put in a chargeback to his credit card company claiming the items were not as described and got a refund for $645 and was allowed to keep the heads.

So now I am out the heads for a value of $645 and a refund of $645 that paypal took out of my account for a total of $1290.

Sounds fair for both people doesn't it?

[lodilobo]

Why would you ship anything without receiving the payment? You should have received the payment from paypal before ever shipping the parts. Then...if the buyer claims something is wrong, paypal does not automatically refund his money. They will hear both sides, then make a determination. In general, the guy who is selling crap that is misrepresented, seems to be the guy who doesn't care for paypal.

[bixblk]

I got a money order, put it my account alerted the bank that the deal was too good to be true,(full price no agrument etc) they called the bank ,it actually was a local bank m/o. A very big bank (BTW). They said it was good, 3 1/2 weeks later my bank calls me and says the M/O was no good, Blank M/O were stolen from the bank and they filled in somewhere else. My bank called again to verify and my banks branch manager spoke to a manager @ the other bank (in front of me on speaker phone) And the other manager stated they were informed to tell people that the m/o were good because they did not want to get in any trouble with the overseeing agentcies.WTF Good for me I still had the car and pick up had not happened yet. So be carefull. Thats why I do not do m/o

[parrot69777]

Sorry lodilobo, guess you must not have read what I posted. He paid and I shipped. When someone puts in a complaint to paypal....the money is automatically taken out of your account until the investigation is over. I have had around 1500 successful transactions with paypal. Including $6000-10,000 late model deals. It just sucks when dishonest people use paypal and get away with theft.