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Resolved Am I being scammed?

B

bbplayer5

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 13, 2007
3,133
1,159
Sold my iPhone 4S on ebay... the guy sent the money via paypal, but I am unable to access the funds. He first said it might take 1-3 business days, but then he sends me this message:


From PayPal: When some sellers receive payments, we may hold the money in their pending balance for up to 21 days. We want to make sure that there are no problems with the orders, such as disputes, claims, returns, or chargebacks. After we determine that the order was fulfilled and the customer is satisfied, we may release the money earlier.
If we place your money in a pending balance, it belongs to you but isn't immediately available to spend or withdraw.

We'll let you know if payments on your account are held. We'll also let you know what steps you can take to have your money released earlier. If your PayPal account was already limited, you'll need to lift those limits before you complete the steps to release your payments.

So - the money is yours, but PayPal is going to hold it until our transaction is complete -i.e., I receive the goods & sign off on it. Please ship a.s.a.p.

Thanks!

-----


I have never had money sit there like that for any reason. Sounds like a scam to me.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, PayPal does this every once in a while. It's happened to me several times and I've always gotten the money.
 
Unfortunately it's not a scam. PayPal has been real strict about releasing funds from big ticket items. They do it for phones, concert tickets, or pretty much anything of real value. It's a way to protect the buyer from being scammed.
 
this is normally legit. i've had this happen a few times.

they usually hold the funds if you dont have much feedback, don't sell things often, etc.

it will get released once the item is delivered and positive feedback is left.

if no feed back is left, the funds are usually then released a few days after it was delivered
 
If the email didn't come directly from Paypal then DO NOT SHIP. Go look at your Paypal account and it should tell you the status of the payment (if he really sent anything) and if in doubt call Paypal directly and tell them about the message he sent. The Nigeria scammers usually send this type of message telling you to ship the item with a confirmed tracking number before they release the funds. You can usually tell it's fake by all the grammatical errors in the message.
 
Whats the buyers feedback? Sounds very fishy.

For one you can't access it, and secondly, hes rushing you to ship it, then hes saying once he gets it, it will clear.

Thats not how ebay/paypal works.

You should get the funds first, then ship it. Not the other way around.
 
I dont want to scare you, but it's always a good idea to not accept payment via paypal.
Paypal's policy is to side with the buyer, essentially.
They will believe the buyer if they say they didn't get the package, and return the money to them.
The only way you can prove otherwise is by showing proof that the package went from your hands, to his hands - which wouldn't work if youre posting.

Hence why often times people will say 'no paypal' on their craigslist postings.

source: experience from years of being almost scammed on ebay + craigslist.
 
That's how unholy union of eBay/PayPal works.

Certain high risk items, or if you do not have history of selling the category, are placed on hold by PayPal. This is to prevent "sell and dash" that some dishonest sellers can do. Like, open account on fake name, sell item for $600, mail a brick and transfer money off right away.

This is a legit (at least by PayPal standard) thing. They will release money 2-3 days after confirmed delivery, if no problems are reported. Max amount of time they can hold it is 21 days, or if dispute filed, longer.

My suggestion is to get the iPhone shipped via UPS/FedEx. I sell a LOT of items on eBay, ship via USPS, and about 1% is lost, even if tracking is there. Item progress simply stops at some point and nobody knows what happened. UPS/FedEx is more expensive, but more secure. Make sure your item is insured for it's total value. Take some photos of packaging. Save a copy of shipping label.

There are ways you can get screwed on eBay as a seller. Keep in mind, eBay and PayPal will always treat a seller like a common criminal, while believing anything that buyer says. If buyer said that you shipped them a brick, guess what, you will have very hard time proving that you didn't. There's no presumption of innocence, and burden of proof is always on a seller.

So, no, you are not being scammed when PayPal holds your money. In fact, they will allow you to use portion of that money to pay for shipping. But only if you buy shipping through PayPal.com. In addition, when you buy shipping through them, tracking number is uploaded automatically.

Good luck.
 
teknikal90 said:
I dont want to scare you, but it's always a good idea to not accept payment via paypal.
Paypal's policy is to side with the buyer, essentially.
They will believe the buyer if they say they didn't get the package, and return the money to them.
The only way you can prove otherwise is by showing proof that the package went from your hands, to his hands - which wouldn't work if youre posting.

Hence why often times people will say 'no paypal' on their craigslist postings.

source: experience from years of being almost scammed on ebay + craigslist.
Click to expand...


What payment method is best?
 
Juicy111 said:
Whats the buyers feedback? Sounds very fishy.

For one you can't access it, and secondly, hes rushing you to ship it, then hes saying once he gets it, it will clear.

Thats not how ebay/paypal works.

You should get the funds first, then ship it. Not the other way around.
Click to expand...

After eBay removed ability for buyers to receive negative feedback few years back, buyer feedback is a moot point.
 
Juicy111 said:
Whats the buyers feedback? Sounds very fishy.

For one you can't access it, and secondly, hes rushing you to ship it, then hes saying once he gets it, it will clear.

Thats not how ebay/paypal works.

You should get the funds first, then ship it. Not the other way around.
Click to expand...

You obviously don't have experience with it. The OP already received the money, paypal is just holding it for the time being.

jessica. said:
The buyer can claim you never sent the phone or it arrived damaged.
Click to expand...

Signature confirmation protects you against the former. The buyer can't get the money back until they get proof that the "damaged" unit has been returned to the seller (via delivery confirmation).
 
When you log on to your Paypal, do you see incoming funds with future Availability Date.

If there are received funds with future availability date. You are fine. Print label from eBay, it will update tracking information and as soon as buyer receives it your funds will be released.

PayPal is notorious in holding funds. Based on your history, number of transaction during certain period, transaction amount etc., Not that it is perfect, but painful to those who obey.
 
Its based off of your selling experience and how much money it is. I sold my 4s in mind August for over $500 and it did the same thing. Its also to help get the item shipped out faster so you get paid
 
Meanee said:
That's how unholy union of eBay/PayPal works.

Certain high risk items, or if you do not have history of selling the category, are placed on hold by PayPal. This is to prevent "sell and dash" that some dishonest sellers can do. Like, open account on fake name, sell item for $600, mail a brick and transfer money off right away.

This is a legit (at least by PayPal standard) thing. They will release money 2-3 days after confirmed delivery, if no problems are reported. Max amount of time they can hold it is 21 days, or if dispute filed, longer.

My suggestion is to get the iPhone shipped via UPS/FedEx. I sell a LOT of items on eBay, ship via USPS, and about 1% is lost, even if tracking is there. Item progress simply stops at some point and nobody knows what happened. UPS/FedEx is more expensive, but more secure. Make sure your item is insured for it's total value. Take some photos of packaging. Save a copy of shipping label.

There are ways you can get screwed on eBay as a seller. Keep in mind, eBay and PayPal will always treat a seller like a common criminal, while believing anything that buyer says. If buyer said that you shipped them a brick, guess what, you will have very hard time proving that you didn't. There's no presumption of innocence, and burden of proof is always on a seller.

So, no, you are not being scammed when PayPal holds your money. In fact, they will allow you to use portion of that money to pay for shipping. But only if you buy shipping through PayPal.com. In addition, when you buy shipping through them, tracking number is uploaded automatically.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

No true about believing the buyer and treating the seller like a common criminal. I had a dispute with a seller that would not honor my ending bid price and tried to raise the price. eBay sided with him even though I had the message on ebay to prove he was trying to violate their own policies. In the end they erased my bad feedback from him and left his bad feedback for me...

But on topic. Paypal is currently holding my funds from my iPhone sale so it appears to be normal. I have shipped it already and updated paypal and ebay with tracking information.
 
dubels said:
No true about believing the buyer and treating the seller like a common criminal. I had a dispute with a seller that would not honor my ending bid price and tried to raise the price. eBay sided with him even though I had the message on ebay to prove he was trying to violate their own policies. In the end they erased my bad feedback from him and left his bad feedback for me...

But on topic. Paypal is currently holding my funds from my iPhone sale so it appears to be normal. I have shipped it already and updated paypal and ebay with tracking information.
Click to expand...

Where do you update paypal and ebay with tracking numbers?
 
bbplayer5 said:
Sold my iPhone 4S on ebay... the guy sent the money via paypal, but I am unable to access the funds. He first said it might take 1-3 business days, but then he sends me this message:


From PayPal: When some sellers receive payments, we may hold the money in their pending balance for up to 21 days. We want to make sure that there are no problems with the orders, such as disputes, claims, returns, or chargebacks. After we determine that the order was fulfilled and the customer is satisfied, we may release the money earlier.
If we place your money in a pending balance, it belongs to you but isn't immediately available to spend or withdraw.

We'll let you know if payments on your account are held. We'll also let you know what steps you can take to have your money released earlier. If your PayPal account was already limited, you'll need to lift those limits before you complete the steps to release your payments.

So - the money is yours, but PayPal is going to hold it until our transaction is complete -i.e., I receive the goods & sign off on it. Please ship a.s.a.p.

Thanks!

-----


I have never had money sit there like that for any reason. Sounds like a scam to me.
Click to expand...

You still haven't been clear on this. You said the buyer sent you that message. What does YOUR paypal account say? What is the status of your funds as someone has already mentioned?
 
You're not being scammed. This is standard for ebay and paypal. I sold my iP4 last year on ebay. I swear it took about a month for the whole transaction to be completed and money deposited into my account. I will never sell on ebay again for this reason.
 
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