Advice re Credit Card Protection for Ebay Purchases

hollie.weimeraner

Not sure if this should be in Credit Cards or Ebay but here goes. I have bought a number of items in the past using ebay and have always paid via Paypal using my registered credit card. I am considering buying a laptop (value £600) and will be arranging to pick the item up personally with an option to pay either by cash or by Paypal. Obviously I am trying to ensure that the goods are as specified but what I was wondering is if I pay by Credit Card (through Paypal) and I turn up at this guys address and find it doesn't exist or the goods are not as specified am I entitled to the same right of refund from my credit card provider should I not be able to resolve the matter with the seller?

This is quite important to me as there are pros and cons with paying cash - at least I can check the goods prior to purchase but if it goes wrong a couple of days later then I'm up the Swanee so to speak, wheras paying by credit card usually offers further protection should this situation occur.

I have contacted my cc provider and they were rather vague, stating I would need to put my request in writing (which i intend doing) but I won't get a reply by weekend unfortunately which is when I will be due to pick this up if I am the successful bidder.

VH

I've heard of a couple of cases of people claiming money back for EBay purchases that have gone wrong but it would probably depend on the credit card company.

I suppose another question is whether the laptop is new or used, I could be wrong but I would have thought this would have a huge bearing on what your CC company think.

You sound very unsure about this seller!

I'd say that as long as you do all the usual checks, you should be OK. Paypal will allow you to do a chargeback anyway if things go wrong, but this is all assuming the seller doesn't empty their account!

Personally though I wouldn't buy anything of that kind of value from EBay. But I assume you've shopped around and it's a decent price?

It may be worth you posting the item number here so a few of us can check the item and the seller out.

hollie.weimeraner

I have used ebay a fair bit, both to by and sell items up to £350 without a problem. If I am unsure of a seller I normally arrange to visit and collect but as this was a computer I was wanting to know whether I was afforded the same protection. Paypal limit liability to £500 which isn't too good really considering the money they make from the site, but thanks for replying.