Hi all, i just listed a watch on the bay and next thing i know this gentleman whose Ebay registration spanned way back 2010 with just 2 feedbacks asked he can paypal me straight. Wanted to know if anyone been taken for a ride before?

There is a buy it now actually......

 

He is trying to see if you are willing to sell for less because you will save the 10% eBay fee. It is against eBay rules obviously.

 

I think this will become more and more common given the tax situation on Ebay. Most buyers in the US are now responsible for sales tax in their states so it makes sense for them to buy outside of Ebay.

 

i played along... said payment made and suggest that i check on my spam, indeed there were paypal lookalike but no funds in my paypal

 

I've been the buyer in a similar situation, where I did a fair bit of due dilligence on the seller, then agreed to bank transfer him the cash in exchange for him sending me the watch. In other words, all the risk was on me. Clearly, eBay might take a dim view when he cancelled the auction but that's up to him to assess.

 

Funds don't usually take very long to show up in PP, so I guess he was trying to scam you. Interesting. And obviously you can't report him to eBay since you were breaking rules yourself.

 

You can always forward mails that appear to be scam to spoof(at)paypal.com. I'm 99% sure this guy is trying to scam you and giving out your email address might not be the best idea.

 

It's a common tactic of scammers to hack old inactive accounts, the 2 feedback is a red flag (though not necessarily indicative of a scam) but always check your PayPal account before shipping anything. And never click links in PayPal emails, especially if it's in your spam folder.

 

Standard scam technique. They rely on people accepting the email as gospel and not actually checking their PayPal account. You can either follow up with PayPal with their spoof reporting email or, like another user here a while back, just send them a rock so they think their successful for a few days.

 

And of course, if you do get funds in your PP account and have shipped the watch, get them out to a bank account ASAP in case the "buyer" declares that they received a box of stones or something... at least then, your money is safe elsewhere and PP can't claw it back.

 

You can report the incident to PP [email protected]

 

Well... yes they can try. They can transfer it back and/or charge your credit card if you have one on file.

 

Don’t - there are too many easy ways to get scammed If you go off eBay. Yes, I’ve had problems with eBay, both as a buyer and seller, but each time, by following the process and using either eBay and PayPal and backed up by American Express, the issue was always been decided in my favour.

And if he doesn’t want to pay his taxes, well perhaps next time his house is on fire he might consider using a bucket and water rather than calling the fire brigade...

 

So true - like all the people in the UK who incorporated as sole member companies to save having to pay income tax and national insurance now bitching about not being eligible for government help.

 

Yes - and all the cruise liner owners registered off shore to avoid taxes and now begging for favours.. the list is long and I little sympathy for any of them.

 

I'm guilty of doing that and scoring some great deals that way. I always do it within EU and we do it via wire transfer. Never got burned, but i know that there is a huge risk on my side.
Wouldn't do it at random though or with a sub 100 feedback seller.

 

I followed a seller to buy off eBay last year. Made me super nervous, but he was very responsive, had good reviews on WUS, and sent me some specific photos to verify that he really the watch in his possession. He also accepted paypal, so that gave me some measure of safety. All went well in the end.

 

Even if someone does that and PP rules in their favor, keep in mind that you will have a negative balance in your account and the next time you receive money they will debit from your new payment. Or, I think, they can take it directly from your bank account on file. PP always wins which is why they made $18 billion last year in revenue

 

My credit card companies have direct access to my bank account because I use bill pay. They can’t automatically withdraw funds if I don’t pay my credit card bill.

in the event of a fraudulent transaction PayPal freezes the money, they don’t take possession of it. They just stop you from using it if it’s in your account. Newer PayPal users have a hold on the ability to withdraw funds while established and high frequency members can withdraw funds immediately. It’s because you’ve built a level of credit trust with them.

If you withdraw the funds and the investigation sides against you (could take a long time) you’ll be responsible for payment. As mentioned before PayPal can take you to collections if you never pay but they won’t go into your bank account and withdraw money independently.

I think most users on this forum follow PayPal guidance (use signature required tracking) and should be covered in the event of a dispute. PayPal makes their money from sellers not buyers so they need to be fair but also don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them if the rules have been followed.

 

I don’t think they can withdraw money from your bank without authorization but they will definitely debit the money from any/all of your next payment(s) to cover your negative balance. You also cannot spend money until that balance is paid. If left unpaid, obviously, it ends up on your credit report. Most people play by the rules hopefully