Hi guys ,

I'm about to buy a watch from a guy that i've met on a FB page lately . He has his own website selling watches and seems to have many of that to sell .
We agreed on a price and i'm about to pay him by paypal .
Basically , what do i have to do is to put his email adress and the amount , right ?
He also told me that have to not tick the " merchendise " to get away from the fees and the taxes because it comes from the US to France .
What should i do ? Do i need to follow the advice ? Am i still protected by doing this this way ?

How can i make sure that i won't get ripped off / robbed ? Just curious because i have no experience with Pay pal .

Thank you .

Merry Christmas !

Sasha

 

I think you have to tick the ‘buying goods/services’ option in order to benefit from PayPal customer protection (fraud etc.). The seller will incur a fee of about 4%, which they will usually ask you to pay.

 

Without knowing the seller I would not speculate about their integrity but by using Paypal and not checking the merchandise box you mean you are sending a gift? if so you are leaving yourself open if things do not go the way that you think that they will with the transaction. I would recommend paying a bit more and playing by the rules.

You will of course still have to pay any duty that French customs demand on the goods you bought and without full proof of what you paid for goods and postal fees they will savage you for money if they are like Portuguese customs

 

I would ask for an invoice via Pay Pal w/all the details about the watch - model, SN, return policy, etc and I will only pay only using the "goods/services" option. You and the Seller must figure out how to work the PP fee. This option will protect you just in case anything goes awry.

 

the thing is that i'll probably have to pay my import taxes .

 

You can get a quote on that from your customs agency...

 

So what about the sellers here on the forum that ask for gift payment on paypal. Are we to be suspicious about them?

 

+1 He’s not trustworthy.

 

The poster asked for advice about their first Paypal transaction and it is not really about anyone being suspicious of anyone but more What if things go wrong.

I meant no offence to the seller as I do not know them but the inexperienced buyer asked for advice on buyer protection...In this case it is complicated by the goods coming from the USA to France in Europe so if the buyer does not have the correct details to offer to customs as proof of purchase then they will be screwed. If the parcel goes missing they will have no protection from paypal unless they play straight and pay the fees that are due for this kind of transaction. It is just my opinion and what I would do myself.

 

I use that for friends I’ve made here. I’d never ever use that for someone I have no history with.

 

Have you ever heard or buy with Tim Hewitt ?

 

You could ask him for references. Then think about how well established the people giving references are.

Paypal is performing a service, and they deserve to get paid for it. I'd decline to do the friends and family "sale" with someone I wasn't very experienced with or could provide references whose reputation I knew.

 

Perhaps not suspicious of their integrity, but suspicious of their greed. It's against PayPal's terms of service for the seller to demand that the buyer pay the fees. I once did 3 PayPal "gifts" in one month, and got a nasty email from PP saying that my account could be terminated if I continued.

 

Same thing happened to a friend of mine.

 

Glad to see you are doing your research on payment.

Now a bit of research on the watch, Do we get a picture of the watch ?

 

+1 with the recommendations so far. Do not send the payment via the "friend/family" option unless you know the seller as you lose the buyer protection offered by PayPal.

I've purchased a few items on eBay.de and many sellers refuse to accept PayPal unless the buyer is willing to pay the additional 4%. IMO it's a fair request - the advertised price is the net price.