PayPal Scam anyone?

Paypal scams such as where a buyer makes a payment via paypal but then claims that the goods didn't arrive or were not as described. In the case where goods aren't as described the buyer returnsthe 'item' but seller just receives a box of junk and not the item that was originally sent.

Happened to me many years ago when I sold a box of 5 harddrives to a buyer with zero feedback. Back then I was selling a few hundred drives a month so just put it down to the cost of doing business on the bay. Still sucks though.

In such cases paypal always side with the seller and the buyer simply ends up with bothe item AND the money.

I think I'd be very (very very) reluctant to sell something of value, ie more than a 1000, and take payment via PayPal.

So.
(1) how do you guys do it?
(2) ever had any bad experiences?

Plenty of bad experiences but I’ve has more good than bad. I believe some people videotape opening returned items. That adds a layer of protection if you get a bunch of rubbish back.

Years ago I sold a ps3 that was alleged to have arrived DOA. Well the guy had ripped the thing apart, removed things (likely the hard drive) and tore all the “warranty” tape labels. I called ebay and said this is crap - they refunded me all the money the guy paid and I got to sell the ps3 again “for parts as-is”

Sorry. Of course I meant to say that PPal always sides with the BUYER and the buyer end up with both the item and the money.

One of the most important things is for sellers to also conduct due diligence on their buyers. I'm fearful of these scams but want to make sure I'm well connected with my buyer before proceeding. I connect with them via LinkedIn and other social media where profiles and information can't be "faked"

With high value items isn’t the standard practice of either declining bids from, or asking low feedback buyers to contact the seller first, a pretty safe way of going about things? Sure, there are always some that can still slip through and sting you, but I would, I think, be comfortable selling to an eBayer with say 25+ positives as a buyer, but I’d be looking at what they bought, how long they’d been on eBay, what they sell if they do sell, and generally try to build up a picture of the person. Just as when you’re on the other side of the fence, as a buyer, it’s important to look carefully at who you’re dealing with.

It’s easy to get excited about achieving a high price and perhaps that’s where sellers are vulnerable. Just as there are always buyers who think they found a bargain and jump in before thinking coldly about it, sellers can be prone to the same mistake.

How do you do that on eBay, where any random member can make the purchase?

As a seller you can cancel a bid. eBay doesn’t like it, but one of the acceptable reasons is if you are uncomfortable with the bidder. It’s obviously easier to do this before the auction ends, but that means checking out every bidder as they bid. I’m not sure how easy or even if you are allowed to cancel a bid after an auction has ended, but I imagine if you need to put a case to eBay outlining your concerns about a bidder they will deal with it sensibly.

I think ebay sellers in some countries are allowed to disable the paypal option and only accept certain payment methods such as bank transfer, cash on collection etc.
Obviously paying by bank transfer forces the buyer to do the 'due diligence' thing and confirm that the seller is genuine. Refusing PayPal would likely put some buyers off and the seller would need to accept that some buyers won't bite. But if I was selling a high value item I'd prefer that. So what it puts off some buyers off. I have +1000 feedback rating on ebay so would hope that my item is interesting enough to still pull in serious bidders.

But in the UK (I might be wrong) I think the PayPal option can not be disabled. ebay/paypal are protecting the buyer - "Over" protecting the buyer so buyers here have zero risk. In a way that's a good thing I think. There's a lot of scammers selling on ebay.

I said "Might be wrong" because I've mostly sold things for around couple hundred quid. Occasionally, rarely more than, say, £1500 so was always happy to accept PayPal so never looked into disabling that option. But anything more than that and I'd be looking for the checkbox to disable PayPal - if such a checkbox exists. I hear that it can't be disabled in the UK.

So on the one hand I know I'm not a bad seller. But on the other I know that there's a lot of bad sellers and buyers should be protected.

But I guess that just means I'll never sell an item worth more than, say, 1500 quid on ebay.

Look at their history and length of account. I generally do not accept offers from people whose accounts have just been made over the last few days and have 0 feedback. Sometimes there are long standing members with 20-30 feedback, and I accept those. It’s just a matter of finding out your tolerances for comfort in accepting deals and offers.