Selling a motorbike - cash or paypal

littleredhen

My husband is selling his motorbike and he would be asking for cash - the purchase price will be over £5,000.
However, a buyer has emailed about using paypal - I am a bit cynical about using this method for the following reasons

it costs money to sell
buyer can raise a dispute
buyer can raise a charge back if using a credit card

Could any of you good people help with our dilemma

Stick with cash or use paypal??

NeverAgain_2

I expect others will be along shortly who know more than me, but the short answer is do not use Paypal.

Too easy for the buyer to raise a dispute and get the transaction reversed, or use a dodgy Paypal account, or do lots of other things which we honest folk don't understand.

Which is why they work.

vax2002

CASH ONLY: stuff e.bays rules, this is real life and Paypal are a crooks paradise watering hole.
If they dont like that reputation, they could always stop helping people to steal.

pitkin2020

This question constantly pops up over and over.

DO NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL, only accept a paypal payment if you are posting something that has an online trackable method. A car/motorbike/boat/wife is highly unlikely to be posted but will be collected. You can't prove the item has been collected, no matter what proof you get as paypal only accept an online trackable method as proof. The buyer can then claim item not received and get his/her money back.

Its just not worth the risk of the fees. The person will have to come and collect the item, so its no real hardship to them to bring cash on the day or make a BACS payment prior to collection.

In fairness if you explain to someone the reason behind not accepting paypal payments instead of just saying a flat no they will understand. If they don't understand and still insist on paypal i would look for another buyer.

victor2

I'd second that. Cash Only.
Even then, insist on going with the buyer to a bank to deposit the cash before parting with the keys.
Bank drafts are supposed to be as good as cash, but there have been cases of forged ones being passed. Even the bank doesn't realised they're forged until it bounces back. That may be a bit OTT as an excuse not to accept one though. I'd probably be content with the bank either accepting cash or a draft. Bit more info about them here http://www.bba.org.uk/customer/article/understanding-a-bank-draft

NeverAgain_2

...or make a BACS payment prior to collection...

BACS payments for individuals are now under the banks' faster payments scheme.

I've used it a couple of times and found it works well.

This link is to NatWest, but all the main banks offer the service.

http://www.natwest.com/microsites/personal/faster_payments_service/faster_payments_faq.asp

shaun_from_Africa

If the buyer wants to use paypal then they must have the finds available either in their bank account or on a credit card.
If they really want the bike then they should be able to get hold of the cash and pay this to your hubby directly.

DO NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL, only accept a paypal payment if you are posting something that has an online trackable method. A car/motorbike/boat/wife is highly unlikely to be posted but will be collected. You can't prove the item has been collected, no matter what proof you get as paypal only accept an online trackable method as proof. The buyer can then claim item not received and get his/her money back

There is no paypal buyer protection for vehicles or for items that can't be posted so the buyer can't claim for item not received through paypal.
They can however attempt a chargeback through their credit card issuer if their paypal account was funded this way.
I know that the end result to the seller is the same (they lose their money), but this will not be the fault of any paypal policy.

littleredhen

Thanks to everyone so far - you have confirmed my suspicions - I could see no reason for the buyer not to bring cash when collecting the bike.
I did do a quick search as I thought this question had popped up before but couldn't see anything at a glance.
Have a good day:)

Gothicfairy

I don't think you can do a charge back claim for bikes and cars etc but I might be wrong.

I also think you don't have to take paypal for cars / bikes etc as they have different rules. Some sellers take a paypal deposit to make sure that the seller does turn up and then the rest in cash, you could maybe offer that if they want to prove that they are serious etc ?

What I am wondering is if they want to pay by paypal so that they have the bike before setting out to collect rather then getting there and find it sold ?
Of course it could always be a scam ( how much feedback does this buyer have ? What have they bought before ?)

Personally I would stick with cash but the problem you might have is that there is nothing to stop them paying by paypal.

Soolin on the ebay board would be the best person to ask as she is very good on all things ebay / paypal.

shaun_from_Africa

You can attempt a chargeback for any purchase as this is a credit card thing and nothing to do with paypal.

vikingaero

Anything other than PayPal. Even bartering in turds would be preferable.

Once £5k hits your PayPal account they'll probably "investigate" and think "we could have £5k for 180 days interest free" and freeze your account for "suspicious activity".