Ebay scam, If you are looking to sell using ebay and paypal, my advice don't do it!

adsingleton

I stated when on the phone to paypal and my girlfriend was in the room with me, when she was explaining the 21 day hold my exact words were "so you are saying whatever happens the money is mine after 21 days", because at this time ebay and paypal were both aware the buying account had been hacked and the advisor I have her name and staff id if you would like it stated "that is the case sir"

I appreciate any further constructive help

soolin

We are then back to the fact that there is a very clear warning on all paypal emails, right at the top where you have to read to get the buyers details.

We have this discusison about scams every few months, how to protect people etc. However, those that are savvy enough to read the rules (not even small print) don't need to be warned, the vulnerable ones who don't read the warnings are also likely to not heed any warnings, regardless of where they are posted or how they are presented.

The only way to stop scams is to stop falling for them, which means getting the message out there, but there will always be some people who will never be reached and only find out the hard way.

I have a standard post that I link to whenever anyone comes on MSE asking about the basics regarding selling on ebay, it's getting a bit out of date now but the paypal scam is mentioned prominently on that:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1623183

However the obvious drawback is that needs a pro active seller who wants to make sure they don't fall for anything before they sell, if someone doesn't ask, and doesn't read the sticky threads, nor the paypal emails, nor any of the terms and conditions they will never know about the scams.

soolin

adsingleton wrote: »

I stated when on the phone to paypal and my girlfriend was in the room with me, when she was explaining the 21 day hold my exact words were "so you are saying whatever happens the money is mine after 21 days", because at this time ebay and paypal were both aware the buying account had been hacked and the advisor I have her name and staff id if you would like it stated "that is the case sir"

I appreciate any further constructive help

Just out of interest then, did you make the scammer wait 21 days before you allowed them to collect?

cyberbob

adsingleton wrote: »

I assume paypal record all their calls, Their advisor informed that no matter what happpened the money was mine after 21 days, Soolin I appreciate what you are saying but ebay are the one who set me up with this scammer if a murderer or worse meets someone through facebook, they would get sued, so how come the rules are different if a thief takes advantage of me through ebay?

Meanwhile back in the real world.

You're getting rather silly now. You just can't seem to accept it can you. In simple terms this situation is your fault. You never researched and found out what was needed to comply with seller protection. You ignored all the information on the paypal and ebay websites and ignored the paypal emails that state you need an online signature to prove delivery. You weren't forced to sell to this man. They didn't put a gun to your head. You made the decision to sell to him to agree to his to pay via paypal. Your choice no one else's.

You can try and blame others all you want but it won't change the situation. Waste your time trying to pursue ebay and paypal if you wish, but you wont; get anywhere.

Stop being obsessed with ebay your only course of action is to chase the guy up via other means. e.g small claims court.

And BLT thanks so much for the laugh:rotfl:

adsingleton

Well from now on I will make sure I do my research before doing any online trading although I doubt very much I will ever have the confidence to do it again.

Booley

Ok so Adam didn't do his research but other big sellers on here have even admitted themselves that when they first started out they were fortunate enough not to have been scammed and so as they went on to become 'bigger' they became better at what they were doing.

Yes there's safe selling guidelines and we know they should all be read and taken heed of but just how many sellers have had their full quota of weetabix when they first sign up to sell ?

To call Adam naive is justified, he admits that himself. For him to look to Ebay/Paypal is natural, afterall they are his only line of contact now albeit useless. There must be many an Ebay seller who can say "There but for the grace of god".

That was a tad condascending Bob. It's all fine and peachy when you know exactly what you're doing. Perhaps had this not happened to Adam it would be him in the future trying to help someone else out and hopefully not calling them silly. I know ... I know all the seasoned Ebayers will be saying "Well it was his fault".

The fact is he's just lost a lot of money and it's not easy to sit back and do nothing. His fault or not.

patman99

Ebay/Paypal are no more liable than someone who runs a bootsale is if a scammer turns-up, pays their pitch fees, then proceeds to sell 'brand new in box' laptops that turn out to be boxes weighted-down with brick rubble.

OP, I really can't believe you haven't signed-on for benefits yet. If you had, then you would be getting your rent paid for you.

The lesson to learn is that Ebay scammers are well-equiped to find first-time sellers listing high-value items. They will have multiple accounts, each with 100% f/b. They will buy a few high value items on each account, claim non-delivery, get their refund from Paypal, then use another 'safe' account to re-sell the item.

macfly

pat - that is not a great comparison. If the car boot forced you to take an electronic payment, and took a percentage of your takings, then it's similar.

Smit1970

Looks to me as if you have lost your TV and you will never see the doh again.

The big red flag is use of Paypal for collection items. Irrespective of what eBay say, I always specify cash on collection for collection only items.

You do get the odd smart аrse who sends a Paypal anyway; I simply refund them. If they don't want to pay cash -- shop elsewhere.

Paying 5% to "receive" money from someone stood in front of you is ludicrous IMO.

Personally, I would publish his full name, user name, phone number and address here and write it off to experience.

To the OP: You gut stung by eBay and Paypal, it happens quite often.

soolin

Smit1970 wrote: »

Looks to me as if you have lost your TV and you will never see the doh again.

The big red flag is use of Paypal for collection items. Irrespective of what eBay say, I always specify cash on collection for collection only items.

You do get the odd smart аrse who sends a Paypal anyway; I simply refund them. If they don't want to pay cash -- shop elsewhere.

Paying 5% to "receive" money from someone stood in front of you is ludicrous IMO.

Personally, I would publish his full name, user name, phone number and address here and write it off to experience.

To the OP: You gut stung by eBay and Paypal, it happens quite often.

You do have to love that amateur name and shame site, especially the big bold advert for buying on ebay. I love the idea even more that anyone who is going to be scammed because they don't read the large printed warnings on the emails, is going to actively seek out a name and shame list.

Whilst I believe the oP has little or no chance of seeing his money again at least there has been some useful advice posted on this thread for him, best to fight a little rather than give up entirely.