I have sold a watch today using PayPal. I noticed that the account that was used is unverified and that's a big red flag.

I did due dilligence on the buyer. He is an active member of WUS, i checked his references, he provided the scan of the US driving license. His references are solid. He bought/sold low value watches on the forum but also has couple of higher ticket items under his belt.

Yet still, I am reluctant due to the PayPal as a payment method and what is more the account is unverified. Am i overreacting ? With all the WUS identity being hacked/stolen and recent reports of scams i am rather worried.

I sold a lot of watches on OF and usually insist on bank transfer.

PS. i haven't sent the watch yet and was not aware thtat the buyer's paypal account would be unverified. Contemplating refunding the buyer...

Thanks.

 

It’s not hard to verify... why don’t you ask him to verify before proceeding and then your bases are covered?

Sounds like you’ve got a better handle on the buyer and their references than most do when they make a sale, so I would cautiously proceed, especially if this person has lots of posts and still posts regularly (they likely wouldn’t want to be public ally shamed within the WUS community).

 

So he's bought enough watches before but doesn't have a verified Paypal account?

Why does he say his Paypal account is unverified?

So many scams out there... Make sure everything is kosher first.

 

He is usually a seller,rarely a buyer. Usually deals with watches up to 1000 usd.

I haven't asked him yet why his account is unverified. That's going to be my next step.

Yeah i know... sucks to be seller/buyer recently...

 

I'm happy to provide a reference if you want to talk him into a wire transfer instead.

 

Thanks David. It seems like he is even more scared of bank transfers than i am of PayPal I will let you know if that's needed, thanks for the offer.

 

Also heard of an issue if you ship to non-verified paypal address you have no protection but don't know enough to say with certainty...

 

Yeap, I heard/read about it as well. Not that PayPal offers a big protection for seller anyway

 

Is banging a chick you don't know from an AIDS riddled country a good idea? If you think so then go ahead and sell to that unverified account.

 

First. let's get the joke out of the way....

If you want to get paid in $3 bills, then go for it!




Okay, now that's out of the way, I think "unverified" simply means that the user hasn't connected their bank account to their PayPal account. I've been out of the game for a while so I might be wrong.

 

He has to be verified for that I thought.

 

DONT ... JUST DONT. Wire Transfer.

 

I wouldn't do it.

 

if he's not prepared to do a bank transfer (and you have references) due to concerns but thinks its ok to have an unverified account from which to pay for goods, that'd raise alarm bells and I'd be walking away.

 

Thank you for all the inputs. The buyer is going to Verify his PayPal account.

 

Think buying the buyer in this case through feedback and references more important than him having his PayPal account verified. More important is to ship only to the address provided by Paypal, shipping elsewhere would void the PayPal protection. You also need to insured the package above certain sale value (think is $500), but since understand you are using Parcel Pro these days that is already covered. I have accepted Paypal friends and family on sales myself, which essentially provides the buyer with a similar protection as bank wire (very little), but no fees for either side.