Paypal scam?

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:44

Listed a lens for my camera. Had an email from a buyer asking if I would take £x for it. I agreed, but he said please can you not post until next Friday because he is on hols.

I agreed and put a buy it now on eBay at the agreed price, but when I've gone into Paypal the payment if marked as on hold with the following

Please post the item right away. We'll release the funds when one of the following occurs:

you receive positive feedback from the buyer

it's been 21 days since the payment date and you haven't received a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal on the transaction being held

So this dude can possibly scam me right?!? Saying the item was damaged or silmilar?

I have not cancelled the original listing, so shall I send an email back saying to cancel the auction and I take it he keeps his money and it drops off

neiljung · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:51

Refund him 1p and the rest of the funds apparently clear into your account. Then clear out your paypal, remove your bank account from your paypal and leave the only funding source as a credit card so you're protected against unauthorised withdrawals.

Feek · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:51

What's the problem? This is nothing to do with the buyer. Refund him 1p and the cash will be released.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:53

Feek said:
What's the problem? This is nothing to do with the buyer. Refund him 1p and the cash will be released.

My account balance is 110.00, but it will not allow me to withdraw to my account because the money is on hold.

So say I post it next week via tracking and the guy says its broken and does not post positive feedback, I lose my money.

neiljung · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:55

No, you refund him 1p right now and the rest of the money clears.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:56

neiljung said:
No, you refund him 1p right now and the rest of the money clears.

How do I refund, my available balance equals $0.00?

muon · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:58

thepharcyde said:
My account balance is 110.00, but it will not allow me to withdraw to my account because the money is on hold.

So say I post it next week via tracking and the guy says its broken and does not post positive feedback, I lose my money.

No, for you to lose the money he has to put in a paypal claim and win. Release of funds is when postive feedback is recieved or 21 days has passed. It does not mean you only get the funds in those scenarios.

If he leaves neutral feedback for example, then you will get funds in 21 days. If he leaves negative feedback and does not put in a claim then you recieve money after 21 days.

It doesn't really matter if you recieve the money. if he puts in a claim and wins then you would lose the money anyway unless you're willing to leave your paypal account permanently at a deficit and paypal don't bring legal proceedings against you.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 20:59

ghost101 said:
No, for you to lose the money he has to put in a paypal claim and win. Release of funds is when postive feedback is recieved or 21 days has passed. It does not mean you only get the funds in those scenarios.

How do I withdrawal it then. Sold a few items last week and was able to withdrawal the cash immediately.

How do I get the cash? If I cannot withdrawal I aint sending.

A2Z · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:00

just get a friend or someone to send you a penny...refund the guy 1p and the rest of the funds will be released.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:06

Nah going to continue with the original auction until he releases as not happy with this. Will file for a refund on my listing fees.

muon · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:08

thepharcyde said:
Nah going to continue with the original auction until he releases as not happy with this. Will file for a refund on my listing fees.

So you have 2 listings for the same item? No wonder the algorithm ebay used picked up on it.

neiljung · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:10

PM me your paypal addy and I'll paypal gift you 1p to refund him. I think that even if the funds are on hold you should be able to do a partial refund though.

Bear in mind that this is Paypals fault, not the buyers. This in no way means he is not legit, but Paypal do this sometimes on "high value" items, especially if you don't have a history of such transactions, as they deem them "high risk".

There is nothing to stop them doing exactly the same thing again to the next auction either, in fact they almost certainly will.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:14

ghost101 said:
So you have 2 listings for the same item? No wonder the algorithm ebay used picked up on it.

Yeah the original which he sent me the email about for a Buy it now Price. So I relisted with a buy it now at the agreed price, but did not want to end it incase he pulled out and have to relist again or like we have here an issue.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:16

neiljung said:
PM me your paypal addy and I'll paypal gift you 1p to refund him. I think that even if the funds are on hold you should be able to do a partial refund though.

Bear in mind that this is Paypals fault, not the buyers. This in no way means he is not legit, but Paypal do this sometimes on "high value" items, especially if you don't have a history of such transactions, as they deem them "high risk".

There is nothing to stop them doing exactly the same thing again to the next auction either, in fact they almost certainly will.

Oh I see, but I sold items last week for higher value which have been sent and recieved feedback for.

A2Z · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:18

thepharcyde said:
Nah going to continue with the original auction until he releases as not happy with this. Will file for a refund on my listing fees.

what are you on about?

just refund him 1p and you have all the funds..its pretty simple

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:19

A2Z said:
what are you on about?

just refund him 1p and you have all the funds..its pretty simple

Sorry I'm new to this. Balance is zero and transfers from my bank take 7 days

neiljung · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:20

thepharcyde said:
Oh I see, but I sold items last week for higher value which have been sent and recieved feedback for.

It could well have been triggered as you had multiple listings for a "similar" item. Most commonly it's relatively new ebay accounts that don't have a history of selling high value items, but they also do it randomly (or based on an algorythm I guess) across high value transactions.

It's a total pain, but the advice I always read on here is to refund 1p which clears and releases the rest of the funds. Try giving your buyer a refund if you can, choose partial refund and send them 1p. Hopefully that should work, as it's what everyone on here claims to do and advises usually.

thepharcyde · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:22

neiljung said:
It could well have been triggered as you had multiple listings for a "similar" item. Most commonly it's relatively new ebay accounts that don't have a history of selling high value items, but they also do it randomly (or based on an algorythm I guess) across high value transactions.

It's a total pain, but the advice I always read on here is to refund 1p which clears and releases the rest of the funds. Try giving your buyer a refund if you can, choose partial refund and send them 1p. Hopefully that should work, as it's what everyone on here claims to do and advises usually.

Thank you for the advice. I have 60 feedback, and try and use cheque to avoid paypal fees, but no was not an issue last week. Wanna send me 1p

neiljung · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:22

thepharcyde said:
Sorry I'm new to this. Balance is zero and transfers from my bank take 7 days

You should still be able to do a refund, then choose "partial refund". I think that's the case at least, as I've never had to do this myself.

_Jimlad_ · 15 Mar 2009 at 21:23

to be honest mate greed is the killer on ebay. if you started an auction as an auction do it and stick with it. i have traded in IT parts on there for 7 years now, i turn down any and every offer. if they want it they will win the auction