eBay question

robfosters

robfosters

robfosters

Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
Posts
53,767
Location
Welling, London
I’ve had to stick my camera on eBay as I haven’t been able to sell it on here. With a few of my previous transactions though, the payments has been pending in PayPal for quite a while. My account was pretty new at the time.

I really don’t want the money to be pending in PayPal while I have to send such an expensive item off to the buyer. My account is now 5 months old and has 26 feedback, 100% positive. At what point do PayPal stop holding funds until the buyer has received goods?
 
Didn't even know they did this mind you I've had eBay/pp for years. I know this goes without saying but just make sure you send recorded delivery and take a photo of the receipt just in case you lose it. Just had a saga with eBay myself.
 
I think they may also do this randomly. My brother used to be quite an avid seller on ebay (1k+ feedback), and i remember him moaning that he'd still get the odd random transaction that paypal had held the money for.
 
If they do hold it, I’ll send the parcel by traceable courier (reputable, DPD, Parcelforce), and take a photo of my receipt.
 
Even if they dont hold the funds they can still recoup then from you afterwards. If your sending an expensive item, ebay is a risk as if you meet a scammer they usually always win. I would send it royal mail special delivery.
 
200sols said:
Even if they dont hold the funds they can still recoup then from you afterwards. If your sending an expensive item, ebay is a risk as if you meet a scammer they usually always win. I would send it royal mail special delivery.
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What’s safer about RM special delivery?
 
On a new account for up to about a year sometimes Paypal hold on to the funds until the buyer has left feedback or after 30 days. If you send an item recorded put the tracking number in the sold item details, and as soon as it has been marked as delivered your funds will be released
 
robfosters said:
What’s safer about RM special delivery?
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You're covered for loss/damage in transit. When it comes to ebay/paypal though, all it proves is something (perhaps an box with a brick in) was sent to the customer. It means nothing at all if they're a scammer!
 
They've been doing this for a long time now, it sucks - Paypal are probably one of the worst companies I've ever dealt with.

There isn't much you can do about it, just make sure you add the tracking number to the transaction and make sure you send to the seller's verified paypal address,

In terms of spotting scammers, difficult these days - things I'd avoid would be;

  • People with zero feedback
  • People with brand new accounts and feedback that all looks similar
  • People bidding way higher than it's worth (happened to me once, turned out to be a 419 scam)
  • People asking you to send to an address different than their registered paypal address (happened to a guy at work selling a 1080, buyer was using a stolen account
  • Note the serial numbers on the item (to prevent a scam buyer from claiming it's broken, and returning their already broken product to you and keeping the one you sent)
In terms of the paypal hold - a little thing I learnt is this;

Once it's showing as delivered on your tracking - ring the paypal call centre and tell them, in my experience they check the tracking number then release the money on the phone - however it's hit and miss (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't)
 
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Well they have sent money just not cleared with PP whatever that really means. So I doubt a scam, it's more likely a seller be a scammer. The buyer can also claim they never received item hence you need a tracking number and POD. Rare overall I would gave thought.
 
Youre new, it's high value therefore its held.

There are ways to avoid scammers 90pc of the time. But never 100pc

Never actually been scammed on ebay. But I've had a few sellers try things.
Despite what you hear on here most of the time things work out well.

Also, to qualify this I've sold every computer part under the sun, lenses 1k plus etc.

You have to be careful, follow ebay rules to the letter, and follow what screech said

For Anything over 100, I always use best offer. Basically to avoid someone with 0 feedback winning.
 
Thanks guys, shall I also take picture and a video of the camera working and all the serial numbers?

It’s only gonna be about £500, but it would still sicken me to be scammed out of it.
 
robfosters said:
Thanks guys, shall I also take picture and a video of the camera working and all the serial numbers?

It’s only gonna be about £500, but it would still sicken me to be scammed out of it.
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Yes absolutely.

Also have a note next to the camera with the time and date and your eBay name.
 
Yeah, for high value items I take pictures of the packaging, the shipping labels and of course - note all the serial numbers (a common scam is for a buyer to return a faulty product and keep your working one, <popular with smartphones and consoles> )

I'm super paranoid when sending high value items (having been scammed) so I note down enough stuff to prove that I'm a legit seller.
 
Clov!s said:
Yes absolutely.

Also have a note next to the camera with the time and date and your eBay name.
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as I've said numerous times before, this does nothing. I was scammed out of a £300 Samsung monitor. Had photos, times, dates etc etc and ebay said it proved nothing.

In the end I left my paypal account in negative balance, had threats from bailiffs and all sorts.
 
TheOracle said:
as I've said numerous times before, this does nothing. I was scammed out of a £300 Samsung monitor. Had photos, times, dates etc etc and ebay said it proved nothing.

In the end I left my paypal account in negative balance, had threats from bailiffs and all sorts.
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I've heard about that, interestingly - I've never heard of Paypal actually ever successfully collecting that money, because it's a debt they created - I doubt they'd have much success in a courtroom, so threatening and sending letters is probably the most they can do..

Interestingly, in America - Paypal can report to the credit agencies and they can leave defaults for that, thankfully they can't do that over here :)
 
Screeeech said:
I've heard about that, interestingly - I've never heard of Paypal actually ever successfully collecting that money, because it's a debt they created - I doubt they'd have much success in a courtroom, so threatening and sending letters is probably the most they can do..

Interestingly, in America - Paypal can report to the credit agencies and they can leave defaults for that, thankfully they can't do that over here :)
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It was a really horrible experience. Spent weeks on the phone and emailing going round in circles.

Here's how it works

Scammer buys a £300 monitor off ebay
Seller sends it recorded delivery, takes photos of contents etc etc
Seller transfers £300 paypal money into bank
Scammer raises a claim saying empty box
Ebay takes £300 out of paypal account (leaving negative balance) and gives it to scammer
Scammer has to send empty box back which seller pays for
Paypal/ebay harass seller to claim the £300 back

In the end I just waited it out. Eventually my balance was returned to £0. Guess they must have wrote the debt off.
 
TheOracle said:
In the end I just waited it out. Eventually my balance was returned to £0. Guess they must have wrote the debt off.
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Yeah, that sounds like a massive pain in the ass.

Quite funny how they just gave up though, I always said to myself - I'd never pay if I was scammed in such a way, unless told to by a court - which in reality, over a few hundred or even few thousand - is probably never going to get that far, let alone lose.
 
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