Buyer says she can't pay because of PayPal issues... HELP

[vip-marketplace]

Hey guys!

I listed a laptop recently and it sold earlier today.

However, buyer didn't pay. I wrote to her asking if she changed her mind (since by experience when buyers don't pay right away they rarely do pay at all).

She wrote back saying she's having trouble with her PayPal account...

Here's what she told me

(NOT ACTUAL MESSAGE! DON'T DELETE THIS THREAD!)

Dear Seller (me),

I tried to pay right away but paypal is giving me issues. I had to create a new account and now it wont let me pay for anything until I confirm my ban account in 3-5 days because they dont know the difference between CIBC and Presidents Choice. I wish I could just use my master card and pay you directly. 

If you dont want to wait I understand, I didn't even realize I had to use paypal its been so long since I used Ebay.

- Buyer (her)

Does that seem legit? It's my first time selling an item so expensive (~800$) so I'm worrying about getting scammed.

The buyer only have 3 feebacks but has been on ebay for 4-5 years.

Is it true that she can't pay  until she has confirmed her bank account? I was under the impression that she could use her credit card?

Let me know what you would do and if you smell anything fishy please!

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Yes she has to confirmed her bank account which PayPal deposited a few cents to her bank account twice and she must check her bank account and confirmed back to PayPal the exact amount of deposits, 2 of them.  That way they will knew it is her.

[vip-marketplace]

Couldn't she use her credit card on PayPal?

[rockp5233]

Yes it seems fair too me, but she may just use a credit card in her Paypal account !?!?!  

[mr.elmwood]

Buyers can pay using one time payment. Kind alike a temp Paypal acct. They do not have to go through the whole procedure.

This whole thing smells.

[vip-marketplace]

Thanks Mr. Elwood! You're worrying me but she/he may really be trying something funny.

This is the first valuable item I sell and I've never seen this kind of situations before so I also believe it's kinda weird.

I told the buyer that if she was serious about buying it and wasn't going to change her mind, I was willing to wait for her to solve her PayPal issues.

She answered the following:

(NOT ACTUAL MESSAGE! DON'T DELETE THIS THREAD!)

Nope, no second thoughts, in fact I was pretty frustrated last night when I discovered I couldn't pay it right away as I'm really really looking forward to the new computer, right now all I have is a small netbook and you just cant do anything on that. I'm going to see today if I can load a different card with my existing one and get it paid for today, fingers crossed. If not then I'll have to wait on paypal as frustrating as that is.

What would you do? Would you try to get this transaction cancelled and find a less fishy buyer or should I give her maybe a day and see if she manages to pay with another credit card?

Keep in mind she only have 3 feedbacks (but have been on PayPal for 4-5 years) and doesn't have a confirmed address. Last feedback was about 2 years ago so it seems partially legit that her PayPal account isn't up to date.

Thanks for any insights on this. This is helping me a ton as I'm new to all this.

[mr.elmwood]

I had something like this back at Christmas. Guy bought a $300 part, Paypal phoned to verify with the cardholder. Card in Wife's name. She denied the purchase as he had not told her, so, she didn't know. Took a week of back and forth. I Actually phoned Paypal and got their side of the story.

End of the deal, I got paid, customer got their part.

Try phoning Paypal.

[pierrelebel]

"What would you do?"

Since the buyer is in Canada, and wants to complete the transaction as soon as possible,  I would suggest she sends payment through Interac email money transfer.

The program is available through President Choice bank (owned by CIBC).

The process takes only an hour or so from the moment the buyer sends the money until you deposit it into your bank account (after answering a security question).

It is safe for the seller (recipient of the money) as no chargeback is possible.

[mr.elmwood]

---

@pierrelebel wrote:

"What would you do?"

Since the buyer is in Canada, and wants to complete the transaction as soon as possible,  I would suggest she sends payment through Interac email money transfer.

The program is available through President Choice bank (owned by CIBC).

The process takes only an hour or so from the moment the buyer sends the money until you deposit it into your bank account (after answering a security question).

It is safe for the seller (recipient of the money) as no chargeback is possible.

---

Even I have learned how to use this. My experience, more like half an hour.

[vip-marketplace]

Hey guys!

Thanks a ton for the e-Transfer idea!

I proposed it to her this morning. But apparently it's not working...

She sent me 4 more messages today.

Could you please tell me if it all seems plausible?

#1

I've done email transfers before but this time the funds I am using are on my husband's card. I created an account for him and everytime I go to try and pay for the computer, which is about every hour, the paypal thing comes up saying it can not make the payment at this time and to return to the merchant. When I log on to the paypal account it asks me to verify his bank account. I'm going to see if I can come up with his old paypal account, but its been something like 10 years since he used it last.

#2

If you decide you dont want to wait I'll take my chances. I do want to computer, I just wish I could pay you right now, I even wrote Paypal and complained about it all.

#3

Just tried again and this is what it returned

This payment cannot be completed and your account has not been charged. Please contact your merchant for more information.

Return to merchant and try a different payment method
We are not able to process your payment using your PayPal account at this time. Please return to the merchant's website and try using a different payment method (if available).



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I thought I had it working too. At this point I'd have to say put it back up for sale, I dont think its paypal, I think its ebay and I dont want to tie it up trying to figure it out.

#4

The only otheer thing I could thin to do is try making an account in my husbands name and buying it through that account, maybe it doesn't like me using his account.

Did I need to enable something in eBay or Paypal for her to do the e-Transfer?

[pierrelebel]

"Return to merchant and try a different payment method"

That is correct. That is why Interac email money transfer has been suggested.

"Did I need to enable something in eBay or Paypal for her to do the e-Transfer?"

No.  the Canadian banking system has nothing to do with eBay or PayPal.  Interac in fact competes with PayPal.

A money transfer can only be initiated by the buyer (sender of money)  It is done online only and the money comes from the bank account, not a card.

You can send this link to your buyer in case she does not really know how the system works:

http://www.interac.ca/en/interac-etransfer/etransfer-detail

Good Luck.