Seller beware, PayPal is not what I thought it was! Options

[adolimpio]

If you're like me, you rely on PayPal to secure a payment from someone that is buying something from you before you ship the goods. You assume that once the funds are secured in your PayPal account that it’s safe to ship. SURPRISE, that totally false.

I received a PayPal payment on Jan 29 and delivered the goods with confidence that I had been paid. Nearly 3 weeks later I receive a message from PayPal that the buyer informed his credit card company that the transaction was unauthorized and without any warning or discussion PayPal took the money back which caused my account to have a negative balance and become locked, and they also charged me a $15 dispute management fee.

PayPal informed me that there was nothing they could do once the credit card company reversed the transaction. Also, PayPal assumed no responsibility, did not dispute the issue with the credit card company and did nothing to represent my interest. They told me that they would forward to the credit card company any proof that I had that the transaction was authorized but nothing beyond that. I suggested that it was PayPal’s responsibility to prove that the transaction was valid since they should validate the user’s credentials and ensure they are authorized to send the funds when the transaction is initiated, but they disagreed. They accepted no responsibility!

As it turns out the buyer made an innocent mistake and disputed the transaction incorrectly. They closed the case with the credit card company within 24 hours of opening it and that’s now more than a week ago and PayPal still shows a negative balance and my account is still locked. I contacted PayPal and informed them that the case had been closed, but they said there was nothing they could do until the credit card company informed them that they case was closed. I suggested that they be proactive and contact the credit card company but they declined.

What I thought was a very secure method of receiving payment turns out to be a great disappointment. SELLER BEWARE!

[mepstein]

I use paypal a lot on both the buy and sell side. I've had good luck for years but I'm very aware that paypal's first priority is paypal.

Good luck getting it worked out.

[jd74914]

Yes, good luck getting it fixed. Hopefully everything falls back into place.

Something similar happened to a buddy with Paypal years ago. He was parting a number of VWs on VWVortex and 2 different people (this was maybe 50 transactions) filed fraud with their credit card companies and Paypal took the money back. He ended up losing the money, even though he had photographs of the parts, box, shipping receipt, and tracking showing they had been delivered. Paypal did nothing but say it had nothing to do with them. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[Cairo94507]

I fondly remember when cash was king..... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Unobtanium-inc]

I fondly remember when cash was king..... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

The old guys always want cash, so we make it happen...

Paypal used to be very seller friendly, but times have changed. In the old days I had my own dispute rep when problems arose, but we were in the top 1% of Paypal then, those days are long gone. They give 0 fucks now. It's still relatively safe and one of the best methods, but not without it's flaws.

[rhodyguy]

I will NEVER have a PP account.

[914werke]

Your experiance turned out to be a innocent mistake but the reality is the converse is more often the case where the buyer has nefarious intentions & simply has to notify PP that the product wasnt recieved, not as advertized or some other negitive reason to cause them to pull/hold/lock your funds & account.
As you learned its on you to resolve, but with a buyer who isnt as innocent, good luck with that.
They (PP) tend to defer to the buyer in such disputes. All it takes is a couple of those transactions & you quickly realize you are better of without thier "service".
As was said, PP is totally in the business for PP. YOU are simply the product.

[adolimpio]

And with the reason "transaction not authorized", there's nothing the seller can do. It doesn't matter whether the product was shipped, delivered, or in perfect condition.

It seems to me that the only one that can prove that the transaction was authorized is PayPal, and I would think that they would be responsible to ensure that the requestor is authorized to execute a transaction before processing it.

I got an update from my buyer a short while ago. The credit card company assured him that the funds were returned to PayPal last week when he resolved the dispute. He then called PayPal and after a 50 minute conversation they said they needed to investigate further and hung up.

I still have a negative balance and my account is locked.

I'm fortunate to have a buyer who is taking responsibility.

[914 RZ-1]

Start using the Zelle app. It's tied directly to bank accounts. Most, if not all banks, have it. It's free, unless you have many, many transactions a month. I sold a $1700 machine and the seller transferred the money right then and there. It's like a money order or depositing cash; it's instantly in your account. I even had my wife check it to make sure before we loaded the machine in his truck.
I'm not sure how they'd handle disputes; I haven't had one yet.

[914Sixer]

Paypal is only the pass thru these days. Do more than 200 transactions and you get an IRS report and a 1099K.

[dhuckabay]

Had my share of problems with Paypal,not user friendly.

A bit off. Had some NY guys rent a house on Maui. Got there with their group and the girls found out that they had to be domestic, meaning cooking. Off to a hotel they went. They back charged their Amex. A lot of back and forth and I filed suit. Got settled rather quickly when we figured out the girls were not their wives.

[rhodyguy]

I would've expected an asshole tax on that one.

[partwerks]

I've used Walmart to Walmart money transfer a few times. Not quite as convenient, but can pick up the cash at Wally World.

[Freezin 914]

I have used PP plenty of times, luckily no major problems thus far.

My question would be would it help for a seller to send PP invoice. At least then the buyer at the very lest would have to accept invoice and make the payment.
Then they couldn’t say it was unauthorized. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[Front yard mechanic]

Pay pal loves pay pal and no one else the only one worse is eBay (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif)

[larryM]

per O.P.,,,,, paypal allows payor to rescind up to 6 months

that is exactly why i only now accept paypal F&F, , 'buyer' can't pull back the money & also keep the item; on little stuff ya can eat the loss, sometimes; but not so on costly pieces;

ya only gotta get burned once by that to be gunshy (mea culpa .... twice puts nail it)

[GeorgeKopf]

I know it is not the same a having them take money away after you've shipped the goods but ...

I purchased somethings online, used PayPal to pay for it and never received the goods. I opened a case and they resolved it in my favor after giving the seller a chance to resolve it.



George

[adolimpio]

It's definitely a good service for buyers, but I will never use it as a seller again.

[mepstein]

I use it all the time for buying and selling. Its convenience out ways it's downside.
Credit card companies work very similarly, they protect the buyer more than the merchant.

Sort of like shipping companies. They all suck when they damage or loose a package but it beats driving.

[914werke]

It's definitely a good service for buyers, but I will never use it as a seller again.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) but I never say never. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)