Accepting a bank transfer Ebay?

xxdeebeexx

Hi someone wants to buy one of my ebay items by bank transfer.
Is it a safe way to accept payment ?



tia


dx

MovingForwards

No, bypassing eBay and PayPal rules leave you unprotected and open to scams.

steviebabes

Bank transfer is one of the safest methods of payment for a seller. It's not very safe for the buyer but that's up to them.

soolin

MovingForwards wrote: »

No, bypassing eBay and PayPal rules leave you unprotected and open to scams.

There is nothing in the eBay rules to say you can't accept a bank transfer if buyer offers. You can even add it to your listings if you wish (there are some category and seller exceptions to this) although a seller cannot say they prefer it to PayPal.

I am also at a loss to know how this leaves you un protected against scams?

RFW

soolin wrote: »

I am also at a loss to know how this leaves you un protected against scams?

The only one I've heard of is someone letting the seller know they have transferred funds with a "copy" of their transfer. They give some story about why it won't yet appear in the seller's account for a few days but they need the item urgently.


If the funds are in your account then it's about the safest way to get paid.

dj1471

What are you selling?

If it's a high value, easily resellable item (e.g. an iPhone) I wouldn't accept a bank transfer. If the transfer turns out to have been made fraudulently (or the buyer claims it was in order to scam you) you will lose the money and the item and potentially get your bank account frozen for a period of time. Scammers are everywhere and accepting bank transfers is not as safe as it once was.

If I was going to accept a bank transfer as payment I'd set up a second account with one of the app-based banks (Monzo, Revolut, Starling) so if the worst does happen your main account won't be affected.

xxdeebeexx

The item is less than £20.
I'm not sure why the prospective buyer didn't want to use paypal. I've been selling on ebay for years and this is the first time that I've been asked to accept a bank transfer so I was caught off gaurd,

I've told the seller that I only accept paypal or cash on collection, but should someone ask to pay by bank transfer in the future I can go ahead and accept.


thanks for the comments


dx

soolin

dj1471 wrote: »

What are you selling?

If it's a high value, easily resellable item (e.g. an iPhone) I wouldn't accept a bank transfer. If the transfer turns out to have been made fraudulently (or the buyer claims it was in order to scam you) you will lose the money and the item and potentially get your bank account frozen for a period of time. Scammers are everywhere and accepting bank transfers is not as safe as it once was.

If I was going to accept a bank transfer as payment I'd set up a second account with one of the app-based banks (Monzo, Revolut, Starling) so if the worst does happen your main account won't be affected.

I would read up on bank transfers , they are not recoverable purely on the basis of sender requesting it.

dj1471

soolin wrote: »

I would read up on bank transfers , they are not recoverable purely on the basis of sender requesting it.

They are if they can convince their bank that it was made fraudulently. It's common for scammers to trick someone else into sending payment for something the scammer has purchased, in these cases it's the seller who loses out as the fraudulent payment will be recovered after the item has been shipped.

But scammers won't go to that much effort for low value items.

soolin

dj1471 wrote: »

They are if they can convince their bank that it was made fraudulently. It's common for scammers to trick someone else into sending payment for something the scammer has purchased, in these cases it's the seller who loses out as the fraudulent payment will be recovered after the item has been shipped.

But scammers won't go to that much effort for low value items.

On other parts of this forum there are stories regularly of people paying for goods via bank transfer and being scammed- none of them are getting their money back and are being warned that sending payments for anything is non recoverable.

All banks have their own warnings as well about only sending payments to people you know and/or trust .

Bobo_Brazil

soolin wrote: »

On other parts of this forum there are stories regularly of people paying for goods via bank transfer and being scammed- none of them are getting their money back and are being warned that sending payments for anything is non recoverable.

All banks have their own warnings as well about only sending payments to people you know and/or trust .

This.
also there's been some more high profils stories recently about people getting scammed over the phone and online.....quite often they have the crooks scammers' bank details and lots of other information.....the police have said in many cases it is difficult to pursue the case because the scammer will claim EU human rights and data protection, which makes it extremely difficult to pursue lots of leads.