Pay Pal Con

[Tiffy]

Sorry posted in wrong section.
I have now had 2 offers to pay by pay pal and suspect a con as no
genuine buyer would offer to pay full advertised price without viewing ,especially if they had to come and collect , and could then pay in cash

The problem with pay pal , is that if a buyer makes a complaint about
a purchase they are rather quick to take the cash back from your account.

That with a mechanical object its easy to say the engine does not work ,
or the Rib is not up to advertised standards .

You then have the problem of trying to collect your Rib , which may
even be abroad

Has any other seller had this problem or been caught ?

I do not mind pay pal for small items ;but not for £4950

[Screaming04]

Could be a scam, however, when your price is 4950 firm what offer do you expect? I paid close to that amount to a member here. Sight unseen, via pay pal, no problems. It was a deposit however, balance paid in cash on pick up.

[akirk]

you have to think from the perspective of the purchaser as well...
it gives them a safety net - maybe an engine might not work / a boat might sink

Alasdair

[LWman]

My personal opinion would be to steer clear of paypal for such a large payment, theres bound to be a catch, because what would be wrong with them nipping to the bank to withdraw the money? If they want to use paypal so they are covered, then they are likely to be the people who will complain at the slightest thing like a scratch or something ridiculous. I use paypal on a daily basis & generally dont like it. I wouldnt recommend it for such a large sum. Have a read into "chargebacks" also, i think this is where its linked to their credit card & alls they have to do is contact the company & say their paypal account has been used by an unauthorised person. This then means that paypal covers the chargeback, meaning you have the money, but the buyer hasnt paid a single penny. I dont know the ins and outs of this though, so not sure how/ in what circumstances it would apply.

[kerny]

I've mainly used paypal for buying stuff usually off fleabay and never had a problem, however I have sold a bit of stuff off fleabay max £ 400 and have found what they charge is a bit steep . So when it comes to thousands I would defo ask for a cheque up front, okay it takes 5 days to clear, but no charge

[bigscott]

Its not that unusual, I bought an outboard a few years back and used my credit card to pay via paypal that way I had twice the amount of protection ( my thinking anyway )

Having said that, its never a bad thing to be cautious. Online fraud is on the up and they are getting clever

[akirk]

when I have sold cars on ebay I have taken a very simple approach - the buyer has to come to pick it up - so we meet either at my house and then go to the bank, or at the bank. They bring cash and if the bank accepts it they get the paperwork and keys...

absolutely no risk for me - for them, well they know where I live, but ultimately they have the goods and as the items are sold as seen and they have an opportunity to inspect before purchasing / auction end, they have the ability to manage that risk....

there are very few methods now which don't have some element of risk - ultimately there is still the need to calculate risk based on our judgement of situation / person...

Alasdair

[TangoTango]

Turning up somewhere to meet a stranger with nearly £5K in cash isn't entirely without risk either. Better to go to the bank and sort it out that way or take a bankers draft.

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by TangoTango

Turning up somewhere to meet a stranger with nearly £5K in cash isn't entirely without risk either. Better to go to the bank and sort it out that way or take a bankers draft.

A local broker to me took a bankers draft of £12,000 for a new rib. Kissed goodbye to £12,000 at the same time as it was fake so that's not fool proof either!! His insurance refused to cover him saying as he handed over the keys it's fraud not theft!

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Boats&Outboards

A local broker to me took a bankers draft of £12,000 for a new rib. Kissed goodbye to £12,000 at the same time as it was fake so that's not fool proof either!! His insurance refused to cover him saying as he handed over the keys it's fraud not theft!

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

Take the buyer to their bank and get them to have the bankers draft made out in front of you, then with them present pay it into your account.