Offered a deal outside of Ebay

Pete1989 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:30

So I made a best offer on an item, seller replied saying that it was acceptable but only if we did it direct through PayPal. Any risks in this would PayPal cover me at all?

Suarez7 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:31

Just don't use paypal gift option and you should be fine. I was scammed on gumtree and paid through paypal and they got me my money back within days.

MooMoo444 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:31

Why would they make special effort to do it outside of ebay?

Sounds dodgy, I'd avoid

Steve2000 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:31

You would receive no cover or protection whatsoever from eBay/Paypal.

Having said that, if the seller has a lot of positive feedback and the deal is good enough it can be worth it. I've done it many times (both ways) and never really had a problem.

arknor · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:32

scammers gotta scam

Moothead2 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:35

Steve2000 said:
You would receive no cover or protection whatsoever from eBay/Paypal.

Having said that, if the seller has a lot of positive feedback and the deal is good enough it can be worth it. I've done it many times (both ways) and never really had a problem.

Yes he would if he chooses payment for goods rather than gift.

dave28 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:38

Dont bother it could get into a bad situation and the law does not help people much at all who have been conned if the sum is under a certain amount. 5,000 or more and they get off their ass if I recall...

NokkonWud · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:38

IF you do it outside of eBay he can cut the auction and only suffer listings costs and not the 10% of his money.

Steve2000 · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:47

Moothead2 said:
Yes he would if he chooses payment for goods rather than gift.

Technically yes, in reality however, it's a long-winded uphill battle.

Filing a dispute doesn't stop payment. It only logs the complaint and sends an email to the seller that there's a problem. This is where it stops on many transactions outside of an eBay auction.

There's a second step to this that you have to wait a certain period of time for, and I've forgotten what they actually call it, where the seller has had the mandatory "timely manner" to respond or make the deal right. If your transaction did not orginally say that it was covered by eBay's Buyer Protection program, then it is not. Under these circumstances, you have no recourse through Paypal.

Really, the best security for such transactions is to pay via credit card directly if possible.

mame · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:54

I'd only do this is it cash on collection/delivery

413x · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:56

ive offered people deals outside, a couple have taken it.. i have accepted one deal outside it too

Doomedspeed · 2 Jul 2013 at 21:57

NokkonWud said:
IF you do it outside of eBay he can cut the auction and only suffer listings costs and not the 10% of his money.

Basically the seller is giving you the discount to avoid the Ebay cost.. If he is a genuine, reliable seller this is good news

But if he turns out to scam you, you'll have more trouble trying to get your money back.. As it'll be paypal you go to, not Ebay..

aardvark · 2 Jul 2013 at 22:01

i've done this before and never had a problem.

but just in case use a credit card linked to paypal - then you are protected via the credit card.

Raymond Lin · 2 Jul 2013 at 22:04

I only done it once when I bought my piano and paid by cash, collect in person and tested it before I took it away.

And mainly because the item is too big to post so collect in person only and i can't see it being another one closer to home.

v0n · 2 Jul 2013 at 22:10

From buyers perspective ebay takes 10% of final sale value and then grabs another 3.4% for paypal payment (of the total, not what's left).

Any seller with goods of high enough value will offer substantial discounts as long as ebay's sticky fingers can be kept off the money table.

Pete1989 · 2 Jul 2013 at 22:17

Hmmm....thanks for the replies. Seller has almost 2000 feedback - 100% positive. Makes me think he's legit. Think i might go for it with a credit card linked to paypal.

Suarez7 · 2 Jul 2013 at 22:25

Steve2000 said:
Technically yes, in reality however, it's a long-winded uphill battle.

Filing a dispute doesn't stop payment. It only logs the complaint and sends an email to the seller that there's a problem. This is where it stops on many transactions outside of an eBay auction.

There's a second step to this that you have to wait a certain period of time for, and I've forgotten what they actually call it, where the seller has had the mandatory "timely manner" to respond or make the deal right. If your transaction did not orginally say that it was covered by eBay's Buyer Protection program, then it is not. Under these circumstances, you have no recourse through Paypal.

Really, the best security for such transactions is to pay via credit card directly if possible.

This is wrong, gumtree doesn't offer any protection program yet paypal still sided with me when I got scammed for a graphics card.

Raymond Lin · 2 Jul 2013 at 22:26

v0n said:
From buyers perspective ebay takes 10% of final sale value and then grabs another 3.4% for paypal payment (of the total, not what's left).

Any seller with goods of high enough value will offer substantial discounts as long as ebay's sticky fingers can be kept off the money table.

That was my thinking too, I offered slightly less than her buy it now price to ask her take it off the auction, but knowing she would still make more money as she didn't incur any fees and gets cash in hand, i thought it was a good deal, for the both of us.

setter · 2 Jul 2013 at 23:06

Suarez7 said:
Just don't use paypal gift option and you should be fine. I was scammed on gumtree and paid through paypal and they got me my money back within days.

Having a few worries about a similair situation. Bought a cpu last week on gumtree, paid via paypal goods/services option. Havent heard back from the seller yet and the ad has been removed from gumtree. The seller stated that he had a few of theese chips for sale. Maybe im being a bit too worried and hopefully the item turns up. However, at least if it does turn out dodgy i should be able to reclaim the money via pp.

A2Z · 3 Jul 2013 at 02:02

setter said:
Having a few worries about a similair situation. Bought a cpu last week on gumtree, paid via paypal goods/services option. Havent heard back from the seller yet and the ad has been removed from gumtree. The seller stated that he had a few of theese chips for sale. Maybe im being a bit too worried and hopefully the item turns up. However, at least if it does turn out dodgy i should be able to reclaim the money via pp.

Wow.

I thought everyone knew Gumtree was collection only?

Wouldnt send £1 to someone on Gumtree. Always dealt cash on collection, thought that's why they put so many 'location' search options.