Selling via a forum - to Germany

Pablosammy

Hi,

I'm selling a camera lens on a subscription-only camera forum, and I've received interest from a person in Germany. He wants to pay by Paypal, and there are no weird requests - everything suggests he is legit. The lens is worth £1,050.

What protection will I have? I don't think Paypal offer protection for non-eBay sales outside the UK/US/Canada trio. What's to say he receives the lens, and then I get a Paypal chargeback?

Are there any ways I can do this safely? Clearly, I'll be sending it fully recorded and signed for.

Thanks in advance.

Sam

blue_haddock

Get him to pay for it by sending payment as a gift - no chance of a chargeback but very dodgy for the sender. Failing that get a bank transfer

cyberbob

The risk for you is very minor directly from paypal because as you said there is no buyer protection for off ebay sales outside the UK/Canada/US
You could though still be liale for a credit card chargeback which as there is no seller protection paypal wont cover you for.

I wouldn't do it. I would also be telling your buyer if he came here that its to much of a risk for him especia;;y if you suggested a gift payment

Pablosammy

I thought a chargeback was initiated by their bank, not Paypal, and as such, a gift is still vulnerable? For example, if they say their bank account had been hacked? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Cheers,

Sam

Pablosammy

cyberbob wrote: »

The risk for you is very minor directly from paypal because as you said there is no buyer protection for off ebay sales outside the UK/Canada/US
You could though still be liale for a credit card chargeback which as there is no seller protection paypal wont cover you for.

I wouldn't do it. I would also be telling your buyer if he came here that its to much of a risk for him especia;;y if you suggested a gift payment

Cheers for the advice. It just seems frustrating to me that there is no way of doing a safe transaction with a nearby EU country resident.

gavjbrown

What about bank transfer, get him to send it in euro and select "share costs" to avoid any fees.

Not done one for a while but hopefully someone can tell you of any recent changes.

soolin

Pablosammy wrote: »

Cheers for the advice. It just seems frustrating to me that there is no way of doing a safe transaction with a nearby EU country resident.

Paypal for the buyer is safe, bank transfer for the seller is perfectly safe. The problem is both sides cannot have complete protection, only one side can have that .

oldtoolie

I sold a Wii game console to a German. I had his name and address. Via Google, I investigated him. Found his university thesis, found his home with Google maps and sattelite. The address cross referenced with his father and the phone number matched. This gave me confidence and the deal went through. That was only £130.

The lens is much more expensive. But, if he pays by bank transfer, you have very little to worry about. Really the risk is the buyers. Europeans use bank transfer more than we do so the buyer should be familiar with it. He will need the SWIFT/IBAN number which you can get from your bank. You could offer to pay as you would be saving the PayPal charge.