Gumtree, iPhone & Paypal....

Twopints

Hi, I am hoping for some help here as I believe this is where all the Paypal experts live.

My son is selling an iPhone via Gumtree (i know....) and has been contacted by someone offering to pay by Paypal "including Royal Mail International Signed for postage". Now, this is ringing every alarm bell possible. I assume this is a scam but not sure exactly how - can anyone explain what is likely to happen if he sends the phone to this person?

Thanks.

:beer:
ETA: {Ah, OK, some basic Googling found most of what I needed to know!}

Buzby

Easy - PayPal will reverse the payment if there is no tracked delivery. For certain countries, a signature is often the last thing on the mind of the postman. It is not worth the risk of reversal. Insist on a bank transfer, cash or currency you are happy with, then if it doesn't arrive you can claim compensation and repay the purchaser, rather than lose the money, and the phone.

mrcol1000

It depends on the country. Some of them it is fully tracked. Some countries it is fully tracked until the point it leaves the UK. If you want to go forward with the sale I would go on Royal Mail's website and see how much tracking is provided.

It does sound like a scam but also in a lot of countries it is impossible to get latest electronics or they cost a small fortune. Unfortunately they also tend to be the countries that do not have reliable postage service.

motorguy

Twopints wrote: »

Hi, I am hoping for some help here as I believe this is where all the Paypal experts live.

My son is selling an iPhone via Gumtree (i know....) and has been contacted by someone offering to pay by Paypal "including Royal Mail International Signed for postage". Now, this is ringing every alarm bell possible. I assume this is a scam but not sure exactly how - can anyone explain what is likely to happen if he sends the phone to this person?

Thanks.

:beer:
ETA: {Ah, OK, some basic Googling found most of what I needed to know!}

Has he been contacted by email or by phone?

Chances are if he agrees he'll get a badly worded email supposedly from paypal saying they are holding the cash for him, or similar.

soolin

motorguy wrote: »

Has he been contacted by email or by phone?

Chances are if he agrees he'll get a badly worded email supposedly from paypal saying they are holding the cash for him, or similar.

Thinks the real scam i suspect, a variation on the old bank 'you've got funds' scam . Or the variation where you get a supposed email from PayPal telling you your funds will be released into your account as soon as you provide tracking- that still gets some people who think PayPal operate some sort of escrow service.

Ms_Chocaholic

Slightly off topic .... but has he thought of selling it on a local FB selling page, there's lots of them about and it's usually cash sales.