It could work if the buyer is using a different PayPal account than the one linked to the eBay user ID with which she made the eBay purchase.
Is there a risk of scam? Yes.
"Interact e-Transfer but it didn't work apparently"
That is nonsense. The Interac system works 100% of the time IF you have money in your bank account. I suspect she does not understand how it works or even tried.
If the buyer (relatively new to eBay) cannot pay through PayPal using the PayPal account linked to her User ID, and cannot or does not want to use Interac, I suggest you ask her to go to the bank tomorrow and send you a bank money order by mail.
While delaying the transaction by a few days, that would basically eliminate the risks of fraud.
Two threads on the same topic, same buyer? No. This is too deep. As I heard a collection agent say "You have more stories than Aesop's Fables".
Sure they can pay you directly through Paypal, funded with a stolen credit card. This "buyer" has too many schemes going. They know you want the sale and the profit.
I'm with Pierre, have them send a bank Money Order, nothing else. You can take that to the bank. Sorry about that pun.
More stories. I have not heard of any $700 limit.
I have never read anything from Paypal phrased like that. Is the email really from Paypal? That is a common ruse, phony Paypal emails.
Telephone Paypal and talk directly to them.
No, it is not safe to ship.
I have never read anything from Paypal phrased like that. Is the email really from Paypal? That is a common ruse, phony Paypal emails.
Telephone Paypal and talk directly to them.
No, it is not safe to ship.
"what can I do to get myself out of this situation?"
One step at the time.
1) advise buyer of the hold by PayPal. Nothing else.
2) if PayPal clears the $700 payment, immediately refund both payments to the buyer explaining - at that time - that multiple payments unfortunately violate PayPal/eBay protection policies and you cannot ship under the circumstances
3) Once refunded (assuming it gets that far) suggest using a different payment method if she still wants the item. Failing that you will ask eBay to cancel. That could be tricky as she may decline the cancellation and you are stuck with the final value fees.
If it is a scam, PayPal may refuse to complete the $700 transaction (yes I have heard of those safety limits). Then it is a matter of contacting eBay by phone to get your FVF credited.
You will not make any profit as the original $700 will become a chargeback as it is funded with a stolen credit card, or, manufactured number.
Why would you complete a sale where, at best you expect to make no profit, or worse, lose everything?
This is for the laptop, isn't it?
You already have Paypal's generic answer. Their answers are only as good as your questions. All the best advice has already been presented here. We are all wrinkling our noses at the smell and you are forging ahead.
Maybe this is all legit, but, I really do not think so.
Why would you complete a sale where, at best you expect to make no profit, or worse, lose everything?
This is for the laptop, isn't it?
You already have Paypal's generic answer. Their answers are only as good as your questions. All the best advice has already been presented here. We are all wrinkling our noses at the smell and you are forging ahead.
Maybe this is all legit, but, I really do not think so.
Pardon me for playing devil's advocate, but, how does signature protect our OP from a CC chargeback? Sig protects against INR.
@ricarmic wrote:
MrE Perhaps I missed it somewhere but I don't recall OP saying that the buyer used a credit card. When they talked to PP the PP advisor should have been able to tell them if it was a CC that was used or not which might help them make the decision. All I have been trying to put forward is that while a lot of the "worst case" scenarios are being put forward, I myself have encountered a number of transactions, some of them "big" like this, that I thought for sure were going to be trouble and weren't. However other transactions that I didn't expect to be were a problem. This dilemma is true for any of us that do larger transactions, especially for stuff that is prone to "crime" type situations like this one is. The OP also has the option to call the buyer and talk to them in person, although that also opens up another problems too. Certainly the way things have happened so far, some "warning signs" have been tripped, however the OP has to balance the risk of completing this transaction with cancelling, relisting (likely getting bad FB from this buyer), finding another more reliable buyer against hanging onto this $$$ and hoping it works out. I don't know the right answer, my situation is different than the OPs, I'm only putting out some of my experiences in the hopes it will help them or others experiencing a similar situation make their decision....
The part you missed was me jumping to a conclusion. Due to the PP payment being delayed, that suggests to me it is not from an existing balance or a bank account. It says to me that it is funded by a CC.
I used the example of a wonky sale I had, last December, that sounded like this and it turned out fine. Our OP was worried about being scammed yet seemed to be ignoring the best advice and was determined to go forward, aka, scamming themselves.
All of us provided a lot of good advice and good procedural steps. OP seems to be determined to move forward as fast as possible. I find their enthusiasm worrisome. I would love this to have a happy ending as a perfect example of every worst case scenario and it still worked out.
The hi-lited section the buyer should do as well. eBay at one time owned Skype for this very purpose.
@mr.elmwood wrote:
@ricarmic wrote:
MrE Perhaps I missed it somewhere but I don't recall OP saying that the buyer used a credit card. When they talked to PP the PP advisor should have been able to tell them if it was a CC that was used or not which might help them make the decision. All I have been trying to put forward is that while a lot of the "worst case" scenarios are being put forward, I myself have encountered a number of transactions, some of them "big" like this, that I thought for sure were going to be trouble and weren't. However other transactions that I didn't expect to be were a problem. This dilemma is true for any of us that do larger transactions, especially for stuff that is prone to "crime" type situations like this one is. The OP also has the option to call the buyer and talk to them in person, although that also opens up another problems too. Certainly the way things have happened so far, some "warning signs" have been tripped, however the OP has to balance the risk of completing this transaction with cancelling, relisting (likely getting bad FB from this buyer), finding another more reliable buyer against hanging onto this $$$ and hoping it works out. I don't know the right answer, my situation is different than the OPs, I'm only putting out some of my experiences in the hopes it will help them or others experiencing a similar situation make their decision....The part you missed was me jumping to a conclusion. Due to the PP payment being delayed, that suggests to me it is not from an existing balance or a bank account. It says to me that it is funded by a CC.
I used the example of a wonky sale I had, last December, that sounded like this and it turned out fine. Our OP was worried about being scammed yet seemed to be ignoring the best advice and was determined to go forward, aka, scamming themselves.
All of us provided a lot of good advice and good procedural steps. OP seems to be determined to move forward as fast as possible. I find their enthusiasm worrisome. I would love this to have a happy ending as a perfect example of every worst case scenario and it still worked out.
The hi-lited section the buyer should do as well. eBay at one time owned Skype for this very purpose.
buyer s/b seller
Email is not a valid form of contact.
@ricarmic wrote:
ggmal: I have no experience selling in your category but I suspect it is a difficult one in terms of problem buyers. I don't know how much you follow the boards but you'll need to build a cost/pricing model that builds in margins to cover losses due to bad buyers. We (almost) all experience the jitters around the bigger transactions..... I hope it works out whichever way you go....
What RIC says. You mentioned that the remaining $80 was more or less your profit. Eek. That is way too thin. Too thin to cover the vagarity of what can go wrong. Remember, Murphy was an optimist.
On a $780 sale, my breakdown is more like this:
Sale 780
shipping 40
fees 62
packaging 1
COGS 70
Total 173
Profit 607
