paypal SUCKS

[Fly Mach .86]

Last August I sold a vintage sterling silver cigarette lighter to an ebay buyer in China. Four months later he claims he never got it. Four months?? Paypal refunded his money $141.75 from my account based on his claim. I sent paypal the original tracking number but they say it is not enough information. How can I be held responsible for something after it leaves the US? I will be cancelling my paypal account soon. (Not that they give a $hit). Anyone else done with paypal?
Elliot

[T77911S]

I bought a microphone from a guy. it was around 2 months maybe and I did not get it.
went and got my money back.
then a few weeks later I got it.
it had the original post mark of when he shipped it way back when.
it was lost in shipping for a loooooog time

I sent him the money again.


send it signature required or return receipt

[asphaltgambler]

Shipping anything outside the US is a gamble. As far as I know - impossible to confirm if the buyer actually receives it. If you ship responsibly - that is where your obligation ends. I ran into this a long time ago, similar circumstances but a lower priced item. I wrote it off.

I now use wire bank wire transfer outside the US even for small stuff. The cost is pennies really on a transaction. If anyone balks at that - I say look at my 100% rating since 2001.

[javadog]

PayPal does suck. Fight the issue, you'll probably eventually prevail. If the buyer didn't buy insurance on the postage, be sure to mention that. Get eBay involved, too.

eBay sucks worse. They've changed their policy and will now automatically side with a buyer in a dispute, even if it's on a no-return item.

By the way, I won't ship worldwide. China is but one country I won't ship to.

eBay has some shipping service now that has you ship the item to them, then they ship it out of the country. Might be an option if you still want to ship to ****holes like China.

[JackDidley]

I had a problem with Paypal last spring. I unlinked a bank account from my Paypal account and they kept trying to take money from it. This caused overdraft charges. I tried email and phone calls many times. Ended up losing about $50 on the deal and it took several months to get my account functional. Have not used Paypal since. The suck part is it is very difficult to sell on ebay without Paypal so I do not sell anymore.

[aigel]

My experience too. It is a criminal organization in my book. How do they get away with this? Aren't they a bank and isn't there any oversight?

Screwed me out of 200 bucks long time ago in a similar fashion when a seller refunded me money and they took it back because they were "unsecured funds".

I sell most my stuff on Craigslist as a result. No more Ebay.

G

[legion]

Back when I sold my 951 in 2008, I ended up selling some items I had left behind in the garage on eBay. To simplify things for myself, I charged flat shipping and only shipped in the lower 48, no exceptions.

One guy in Germany kept bidding (and winning) on a $7 item with a $3 shipping fee. It was going to cost me $35 to ship it to Germany. I kept cancelling his bids, sending him a note that I wouldn't ship to Germany, and he'd turn around and rebid within minutes. I ended up blocking him from my auction and he sent me a profanity-laced message.

One guy, who was a member on Pelican at the time, filed a dispute because I charged him $15 for shipping (flat rate, remember?) and it only cost me $14.93 to ship the item. That pissed me off but I refunded him his 7¢ because it wasn't worth my time to take it any further.

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by Fly Mach .86

Last August I sold a vintage sterling silver cigarette lighter to an ebay buyer in China. Elliot

I read this sentence and stopped right there.

I've been using Paypal for years and have never had an issue. But, I've never sold to a buyer outside of the US. Especially China or the ME. Not sure Paypal is to blame.

Common sense would tell you that you are asking for anything other than a smooth transaction selling an item to a buyer on the other side of the planet.

[Eric Coffey]

Yep, they are poison. They stiffed me on a high-dollar transaction where the buyer paid via CC and then did a charge-back after receiving the item. I had all the info/proof necessary to refute the claim...they didn't care. PayPal sides HEAVILY with buyers apparently, and their "seller protection" is a joke. Sellers beware...

[RWebb]

PayPal sides HEAVILY with buyers because they make more money that way.

Believe it or not, Paypal used to be WORSE - a few years ago a dozen or so state Attorney General got fed up with consumer complaints and sued them. IIRC, that is was forced ebay to sell off Paypal.

I don't use them. I do sell on Amazon but you have to have a UPC for each product to sell there.

[Steve Carlton]

Did PayPal go rotton before or after Musk was there?

[Arizona_928]

I actually had a problem with them as a buyer.
I never got an item. Filed a claim with fedex(denied as i'm not the shipper), and stolen police report. (was worth north of 1,000$). They said pound sand....

Worthless... Ebay ended up making it right. Crazy even to think of eBay helping out before paypal. I guess there's a reason why eBay has its own checkout that can charge you now.

[OK-944]

These days I only accept cash, check (with time to clear the bank), or money order. Problem is, many potential buyers these days will only agree to purchase with PayPal - so no matter how good a deal I offer, my for-sale items often just sit.

[pmax]

Any buyer sending cash or money order is just asking to be scammed. Two way street.

For small items, sellers should just account for it as cost of doing business and making money on the Interwebs.
For items of significant value, buy shipping insurance.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

I've been using Paypal for years and have never had an issue. But, I've never sold to a buyer outside of the US. Especially China or the ME. Not sure Paypal is to blame.

Not correct. Just because you haven't been bit doesn't mean this is a reputable company. If PayPal supports international sales, they need to support them. And taking back money after months on a transaction that was properly followed through by the seller is a scam, short and simple. You can't put the blame on the PayPal user here. It is entirely with the company.

G

[pmax]

Originally Posted by JackDidley

I had a problem with Paypal last spring. I unlinked a bank account from my Paypal account

Giving Paypal access to your bank account is like not upgrading to Win10.

Not advisable.

[stevej37]

I've used PayPal since their inception. Mostly for buying.
Never had a problem.

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by pmax

Giving Paypal access to your bank account is like not upgrading to Win10.

Not advisable.

This account was only for Paypal. Kept a minimum amount of money in it. Could not believe they kept charging it after I unlinked it. I had to go to the bank to block them. I did have a credit card linked. No more.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Fly Mach .86

Last August I sold a vintage sterling silver cigarette lighter to an ebay buyer in China. Four months later he claims he never got it. Four months?? Paypal refunded his money $141.75 from my account based on his claim. I sent paypal the original tracking number but they say it is not enough information. How can I be held responsible for something after it leaves the US? I will be cancelling my paypal account soon. (Not that they give a $hit). Anyone else done with paypal?
Elliot

Did you have Tracking to his door in China? If you have Tracking to his door you know whether it was delivered or not? If not then you can take it up with the carrier, provided you have insurance. Without Tracking to the door who knows what happened to the item?

If he received it both Ebay and Paypal will indemnify you under Sellers protection.

I will only use Ebay Global Shipping for foreign sales. The item is sent to Erlanger KY which is their Global hub. Once it is received in Erlanger your responsibility ends. Then it is on Ebay. Anybody asks to use another carrier for shipping to a foreign destination I say SORRY.

The foreign person can use an Agent in the USA to make a purchase for them, where I ship to the Agent who then forwards the item. My responsibility ends with it being received by the agent.

No matter what you sell on Ebay you need Tracking to the door. once it is received you are clear. Alos if a Buyer tells you to shp to another address than listed on the ebay account I tell them the sale must be canceled, he has to change the address on the account to where he now wants it shipped and to repurchase the item. This in non negotiable. I will only ship to the address on the account.

Also FED Ex Smart Post does not insure the item unless purchased.. Fed Ex Home Delivery and USPS Priority mail automatically insures to $100.

[porsche930dude]

yup i only use the global shipping program. so much easier that way. Costs them alot more i think but who cares. Iv had a few people dispute that they never received it but ebay has always let me keep my money and refunds them aswell. And yes paypal and ebay have gotten alot better than they used to be. And iv never had a problem getting my money back as a buyer so it kinda evens out. I just wonder what they do with all the money they make. Surely it doesnt cost 10 billion a year to run the place.