Paypal payments can a buyer cancel without notice

[Lons]

Just my twopennerth.

First, I don't understand the issue with a bank transfer, as said your account number and sort code are available on every cheque and plain to see when using a debit card, as I see it the risk is with the buyer as you have their money which they would find very difficult to get back once transfered into your account.

I recently sold a caravan awning for £475 to someone 260 miles away who transfered the payment and arranged a courier though I packaged the item.

Second. In my experience Gumtree is old hat these days, if you want to sell then try Facebook market place or even better use both, they're free.

In the last 2 months I've sold 17 items including the awning, both listed on both sites all sold via Facebook through which I had loads of genuine enquiries compared to Gumtree.

 

[whatknot]

In response to that, I have sold more through gumtree & ebay than on facebook, facebook is immediate and passes in seconds, so you have to keep reposting as its lost almost as fast as its posted, generally gumtree is more trustworthy than facebook IMHO, although there are problems with both, it will of course depend on the area as well

I hear what you say re bank details but when a bank tells you not to you risk if there was a problem of having no leg to stand on

Apparently the banks have had a few problems with people using bank details ;-) hence they do not advise using that method as daft as that is

 

[Lons]

Makes sense whatnot, the banks will advise always against to cover their own back but how many companies and local authorities out there hold all your details and how many of those sell on your address, phone and email and how many have been hacked? Seems to be a regular occurrence.
We all decide how we assess risk and mine is that it's manageable - just relating my personal experience.

My comment re Facebook v Gumtree are in similar vein and I guess it also depends on location, in my case the items were listed first on Gumtree and I renewed every 7 days and bumped them even by reduced prices but not a single item sold. The awning for example produced 1 enquiry where on Facebook I had 4 people genuinely chasing it, only reason it went to a distant buyer was they offered to buy first and I keep my word!

Apart from caravan items, several pretty expensive, there were granddaughters toys and some tools so a fair mix, only one item, a gas fire hasn't sold. I got higher prices from Facebook than the reduced listings on Gumtree btw.

As I said, why not use both?

 

[whatknot]

I do, I use Preloved, Gumtree & ebay mostly , I have bought on Shpock but not sold (quirky site)

 

[Vann]

...First, I don't understand the issue with a bank transfer, as said your account number and sort code are available on every cheque and plain to see when using a debit card, as I see it the risk is with the buyer as you have their money which they would find very difficult to get back once transfered into your account...

Over here (New Zealand) the big online auction site is Trademe. Probably 90% of payments are made by bank transfer; 1% by Paypal; and the rest credit-card or cash on collection.

I've not heard of any problems with payment fraud using bank transfer, and I've never heard of any one, or institution, recommend against it.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[whatknot]

All I can say is ask Lloyds, Barclays & Nat West all of whom advised against it

 

[MikeK]

Bank transfers are the standard method of moving money between customers and vendors in Germany. Every business I work with, from Amazon sellers to the doctor's office, prints the banking information on the corporate letterhead or invoice.

 

[whatknot]

I know, makes no sense to me either

Many companies over here print their bank details on their statements and web sites so how a bank can advise against it is beyond me

 

[RogerS]

I know, makes no sense to me either

Many companies over here print their bank details on their statements and web sites so how a bank can advise against it is beyond me

Because banks are rear-orifices and only interested in themselves. Their advice is pure bovine excrement TBH. Did you ask them why they were saying that? I bet that if you did then the reply would be nonsense or some BS along the lines of 'We are not at liberty to discuss our security arrangements'. Total ********, of course.

On a positive note, I'd like to thank you for raising this issue (the PayPal bit...not the dozy banks!) as I might well have fallen for this scam. I stuck a nearly new Asus Chromebook on Gumtree and within 30 minutes had someone asking if it was still for sale...'Yes, it is'. Then replying...do I have a PayPal account, they will pay for the postage etc etc. Yeah right...

I replied saying I'd take a bank transfer or cash on collection and guess what.....no response

 

[whatknot]

I don't know why I didn't think you check before but just googled the persons email address, only thing I found was a post on one of the telephone reporting sites, suggesting this person was a scammer using a different name to the one she gave me, so perhaps I was right after all

I was going to reply to explain to the "buyer" but think i will just ignore it now

I am still unsure how this scam might work (if indeed it is one) but better safe than sorry

 

[ScaredyCat]

Sending a courier and paying by paypal is one of the oldest scams in the book.

Don't fall for it. Next thing you'll be telling us that the buyer works offshore...

.

 

[RogerS]

....
I am still unsure how this scam might work (if indeed it is one) but better safe than sorry

The scam is that they will dream up some sort of excuse ...non-delivery (you don't have a leg to stand on as the contract is between them and the courier (even assuming it's a boNa fide courier like DHL and not a man with a van) OR the thing isn't as stated in your advert OR it 'doesn't work'....in fact any old excuse. They could tell PayPal that the cat ate it and still PayPal would find in their favour and you would lose your money.

That is one reason why I have a dedicated bank account purely for PayPal funds coming in. The bank account has never more that £1 in it. As soon as I sell something and get paid and the money is in the bank account then it's transferred out immediately to my main bank account. If PayPal wants to kick up a fuss then we can have a discussion about it. Not them simply grabbing the money from my account.

 

[whatknot]

Yes I understood the theory but in the paypal blurb it does state that once paid they have to request a refund and only then can they open a dispute case, however it is ambiguous, as I said from the start

Needless to say it raised my concern, hence the post, I shall err on the side of caution, for a ten quid item it wouldn't be so bad but for a £100 its a lot to lose

Having said that I have been scammed via ebay so nowhere is safe, bar of course cash on collection which is my preferred method

 

[whatknot]

No we didn't get that far, so had no idea where they were supposed to be

What raised my suspicion was that soon after posting the item which has seven photos, the enquirer asked if I would email the photos to a given email address, so my first thought is why if the photos are on Gumtree, but there could be a reason I did email them

But within a minute of sending I get a reply saying they will pay my paypal and arrange a courier etc , so they didn't even have time to open the photos much less inspect them, obviously the only reason they wanted the photos emailing was to get my email address (and be off Gumtree of course)

Anyway my suspicions appear to have been well founded

Perhaps they prey on those selling prams & baby type items, thinking they would often be young and naive?

Sending a courier and paying by paypal is one of the oldest scams in the book.

Don't fall for it. Next thing you'll be telling us that the buyer works offshore...

.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Cash only sales with me on Gumtree.
So many have been scammed on that site.

 

[whatknot]

Well to wrap it up

I ignored suspected scammer and surprise surprise they haven't made further contact

But last night I got another prospective buyer, who has just followed up and collected, paid in cash

So all is well that ends well

 

[Lons]

Good result whatnot, always another buyer turns up if you're prepared to wait.