How safe are Paypal "Echeques"?

supersaver09

I've just been paid via an Echeque for quite an expensive Ebay item.I'm thinking of cancelling it as i've heard Echeques aren't that safe and buyers can cancel the payment long after you've sent the goods out.Is this true?

Oliver14

You have to accept an echeque as it's a paypal payment. Just wait for it to clear (can take 7 days) before you send the item then it's like any other paypal payment.

Just inform the buyer of this as sometimes they do not realise its an echeque.
https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/guides/echeques/

soolin

Like Oliver says do not send goods until echeque clears. Paypal will have stated that in their email to you and I always find it useful to cut and paste that across to the buyer with a polite email apologising for the delay in despatch.

terra_ferma

I get quite a few of them, you just wait patiently until they clear. I send a message to let them know that they've got to wait, and when it's cleared (unless I know I'll post very quickly).
I got the template from someone who kindly posted their version here.
Sometimes they've taken longer than what paypal tells you, but a part from that, no problems.

supersaver09

I've read that people have been scammed via Echeque.

Basically, after receiving the item, they inform their Bank their payment was unauthorised, the funds are then placed on hold & Paypal normally reverses the payment.

If that's true, it doesn't sound too safe to me!

Here's more info:

One loophole that PayPal have left wide open is their PayPal eCheque system. This is a method, whereby the 'buyer' can purchase using other debit card details away from the actual PayPal account balance.

Sounds OK, read on.

When you receive the notice that you have been paid, you then wait 7-10 days for the funds to clear, after which, you will receive notification that the funds have cleared and are in your account.
Now, normal practice would be to ship the goods and the transaction would be complete. No problems there then.

BUT THIS IS WHERE THE SCAMMER TAKES THE ADVANTAGE

After a period of time, the user who wishes to abuse the system, will report the transaction to their bank as being fraudulent (or indeed it could well be that there account has been misused, no conclusive evidence to determine either way, so we will assume that the user have full knowledge) and their bank will reverse the transaction and PayPal will soon follow, taking the money out of your PayPal account, even if this results in your balance going negative

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/334526

terra_ferma

supersaver09 wrote: »

I've read that people have been scammed via Echeque.

Basically, after receiving the item, they inform Paypal their payment was unauthorised, the funds are then placed on hold & Paypal normally reverses the payment.

If that's true, it doesn't sound too safe to me!

and that is different from any other paypal payment because..?

Oliver14

supersaver09 wrote: »

I've read that people have been scammed via Echeque.

Basically, after receiving the item, they inform their Bank their payment was unauthorised, the funds are then placed on hold & Paypal normally reverses the payment.

If that's true, it doesn't sound too safe to me!

Here's more info:

One loophole that PayPal have left wide open is their PayPal eCheque system. This is a method, whereby the 'buyer' can purchase using other debit card details away from the actual PayPal account balance.

Sounds OK, read on.

When you receive the notice that you have been paid, you then wait 7-10 days for the funds to clear, after which, you will receive notification that the funds have cleared and are in your account.
Now, normal practice would be to ship the goods and the transaction would be complete. No problems there then.

BUT THIS IS WHERE THE SCAMMER TAKES THE ADVANTAGE

After a period of time, the user who wishes to abuse the system, will report the transaction to their bank as being fraudulent (or indeed it could well be that there account has been misused, no conclusive evidence to determine either way, so we will assume that the user have full knowledge) and their bank will reverse the transaction and PayPal will soon follow, taking the money out of your PayPal account, even if this results in your balance going negative

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/334526

That's the same as any other paypal payment. As long as you have !!!!!! of posting (keep it for 6 months) you are protected via paypal for fraudulent use of a card under seller protection.

supersaver09

Well, i contacted the buyer and she hadn't even realised her payment was an Echeque! She wasn't too keen on the fact that she'd have to wait up to 10 days (or more) for the payment to clear either.

She agreed to allow me to cancel the Echeque payment and is now paying me via Bacs.

That's good enough for me.