Help - Problem with Paypal and Ebay

JoanneP_2

I recently sold an item on Ebay and was sent a cheque. The cheque bounced so the buyer eventually payed me by Paypal. I got the payment through and sent the item off.

This morning I have had an email from Paypal saying that the payment has been reversed. So now my item is with the buyer and they have got their money back leaving me out of pocket!

I contacted Paypal and they are not interested and can't help. They said that it was a fraudulently used account and that there is nothing they can do and for me to contact the police, which I have done this afternoon.

Has anyone else had this happen and actually get their item or money back?

I sent the item by Special Delivery so I have evidence that they have had the item and got their signature as having recieved it.

I am at a loss of what to do now. Its the first time I have ever sold anything on Ebay and its really put me off. I certainly won't use Paypal again. I thought it was safe.

If anyone can help I would really appreciate a bit of advice on this.

Thank you

matto

Would be interesting to know why the cheque bounced. Was it stolen or insufficient funds? If the latter you'd have a pretty good idea of the identity of the buyer.

kevinyork

Hi Joanne,


This is the worst part about using Paypal, a chargeback. Ive had a few but then offset against the volume that I receive through Paypal they are relatively infrequent and if I didnt accept Paypal payments then many eBayers wouldnt buy from me.....its such a major part of the eBay system now that many expect it.

Paypal will protect you as a seller if the person you sold to has an account which is verified and you shipped to a confirmed address. If you click on the transaction in your paypal account you will see 'seller protection policy' half way down and it will say eligible or not eligible and under the postal address it will say confirmed or not confirmed. If your transaction shows 'eligible' and 'confirmed' then because you sent it special delivery (i.e. a trackable postal method) you will be protected by Paypal and will get some money back. Im guessing when you say Paypal are not interested that the transaction isnt covered by their protection.

If its not covered by Paypal then I know it sounds silly but still contact the buyer. You can get their telephone number through eBay (and if they have not given a number to eBay or its not a proper number you can report them to eBay for not havng the correct contact details) or email them. I had a chargeback where the buyer had absolutely no idea a chargeback had been instigated and it turned out their credit card company had made a mix up which he knew nothing about. As soon as I contacted him I got a cheque the next day.

Finally, if you still dont get anywhere then yes its a police matter. You will probably have to push them to ensure they deal with it but effectively its obtaining goods by deception or something similar. Its very good you have a special delivery confirmation and you can obtain a print of the signature of the person who signed for the item from Royal Mail's website.

Make sure you start the non paying bidder process on eBay for the transaction too. That will ensure you get your eBay fees back if they dont pay and they will get strike and possible suspension.

Best of luck.


Kev