Where do I stand legally?

Carlfitz77

I was selling a product on eBay and someone messages asking to buy the product outright. We exchanged emails and the sale went through. They paid £830 through PayPal and I posted the item. Then PayPal said there is a dispute and authorisation was not given for the payment. I opened a case and provided a prof of postage and a proof of delivery at the address. PayPal went in favour of the other party and now my PayPal account is -830 and they've passed it on to a debt collecting agency. I'm innocent, why should I have to pay? Are they saying I've commuted an act of fraud? Is there any way out of this?
Thanks for any help in advance

Tixy

Welcome to the forum

You may be better posting this on either the Ebay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales section of the forum. Whilst the sale wasn't done through ebay the posters on that section of the forum are probably most familiar with how paypal operates in relation to disputes.

marliepanda

With proof of delivery PayPal should not have refunded them? Did they give a reason why?

Sinhanada

Paypal are difficult to deal with and tend to side with the buyer. You need to outline why they have upheld the buyers dispute and then more advice could be given.

Carlfitz77

I've received no email from PayPal and on the account it just says case closed.

FireWyrm

You didnt go 'outside' Ebay procedure did you? Please tell me you didnt. If you did, then that is why it is closed and I'm afraid that there is nothing you can do about it. Paypal decisions tend to be final. My guess is that you are the victim of 'chargeback' fraud where the scammer 'buys' the item 'outright', pays via Paypal and then charges it back. Unfortunately, you've been had and there is little you can do to rectify the matter. Your goods have simply been stolen.

Carlfitz77

But I haven't lost anything. Just a PayPal account with -830. They won't be getting anything either. It sounds like this is a common thing and you're familiar with it. If I've given proof of delivery why has it gone in their favour?

FireWyrm

You have lost something....the goods you shipped. You have been scammed. End of story. You are liable for the money owed to Paypal and if you dont pay shortly, expect debt collectors and all kinds of hassle in the very near future as well as a trashed credit rating.

Ebay have lots of information on this type of scam. They say specifically that you are NOT to go outside procedure for selling and if you do, the Buyer Protection is invalid. If you didnt go outside of procedure and you did supply proof of delivery, then the chargeback is more likely to have originated with a bank directly and Paypal have to honor it. This is the problem with selling high priced goods in this way...it could ALWAYS go horribly wrong as you have just found out. You have lost your goods and are out £830.

blisteringblue

Yep, sorry to say it happened to me a few years ago for almost £200 of video equipment, mine was out and out fraud on a compromised account but because I didn't ship with a signature on delivery I lost the sellers protection.

I'd withdrawn the cash from paypal so like you it went minus in the account. I wasn't bothered at the time thinking, 2 fingers to ebay never use it again etc, but they soon pass it to a DCA so I just paid it back and learned a very valuable lesson. You really do have to follow every single seller protection point to the letter or else you lose.

Powered_By_Pies

Did Paypal give a reason as to why a dispute was raised by the buyer? Goods not arriving, or arrived damaged, not sold as described, etc?

It seems suspect that they'd just notify you of a dispute being raised and then side with the buyer and automatically refund the buyer if you provided shipping information. So it does sound like a scam.

Carlfitz77

I simply haven't got that kind of money, that's why I sold the item as I didn't have any. If I offer PayPal £3 a month can they still chase me? I'm willing to pay it back but it might take a while.