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Resolved Am I being scammed?

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.
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This probably happened very long time ago. Few years back, they made it so if you are a buyer, it's impossible for you to receive any feedback other than positive. If seller wants to leave buyer a feedback, there are 2 choices. Positive, or "I will leave feedback later".

Since eBay has ability to read any message, between buyer and seller, I am having hard time believing your story.

I sell a lot on eBay. My busiest selling month seen about 40 items a day shipped out. So, trust me, eBay does treat sellers like dirt. And this is after I pay them $2000/mo in fees, I still have hard time proving my case. Buyer Protection does not cover buyer remorse, so people simply open up "Significantly Not as Described" (SNAD) cases, and get their refunds this way. And when I call eBay, and try to tell them "So how come other 3000 people who bought this item didn't think it's not as described?", eBay rep shrugs and awards case win to a buyer.
 
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.
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As others have said, this is typical PayPal. It happened to me several times recently, with large ticket items (over $500.00)

Once the funds are cleared, ship the item. Email the seller stating such. If you ship too soon, you could be out money and merchandise.

Also, make sure to have sign for delivery. That protects you. PayPal is buyer friendly, not seller friendly.
 
bbplayer5 said:
What payment method is best?
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There are not many options. I have been using PayPal for several years, but if sell few things in quick succession, they hold funds. If I sell a iPhone, laptop etc., they hold funds.

Best is to print label from eBay and select insurance. That forces buyer to sign for the package and they cannot claim it is not shipping or damaged. One quick tip, eBay for some reason gives both Delivery Confirmation ($2.10) + Insurance (based on the value). Delivery Confirmation is unnecessary.

If you ship outside eBay, add tracking info manually.

Again adding insurance does the trick. You may spend $5 but it is worth every penny.
 
bbplayer5 said:
Where do you update paypal and ebay with tracking numbers?
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When you have tracking number in hand, go to your My eBay page, and where item was sold, there should be a dropdown box. Click on it and select "Add Tracking Number", and then "Mark as Shipped".

Give it about 15 minutes, and same tracking number will be updated in PayPal as well.

Edit: I use different seller tools and shipping service, so for me it may be a bit different. But these are basic instructions and you should be able to attach tracking number to it. And make sure you mark it as shipped when you do ship it.
 
Meanee said:
This probably happened very long time ago. Few years back, they made it so if you are a buyer, it's impossible for you to receive any feedback other than positive. If seller wants to leave buyer a feedback, there are 2 choices. Positive, or "I will leave feedback later".

Since eBay has ability to read any message, between buyer and seller, I am having hard time believing your story.

I sell a lot on eBay. My busiest selling month seen about 40 items a day shipped out. So, trust me, eBay does treat sellers like dirt. And this is after I pay them $2000/mo in fees, I still have hard time proving my case. Buyer Protection does not cover buyer remorse, so people simply open up "Significantly Not as Described" (SNAD) cases, and get their refunds this way. And when I call eBay, and try to tell them "So how come other 3000 people who bought this item didn't think it's not as described?", eBay rep shrugs and awards case win to a buyer.
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Happened a month ago and is still an ongoing dispute.
 
bbplayer5 said:
Cant they just reverse the money after I send the phone???
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No, if you do everything by the book. First of all, you have seller protection through eBay. Second, send it with tracking + insurance. It would cost you about $12 with priority mail, and you will sleep better at night.
Good luck.
 
So the sale ended yesterday, and today is when I couldnt get the money. You think its ok to send this away as long as I have pictures, tracking numbers etc??
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
PayPal is buyer friendly, not seller friendly.
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Not always, I got scammed by a person in Europe for $480. Purchased an auto accessory, and that guy keep telling me it is on its way, he was giving tracking numbers which I couldn't track. 45 days past before I realized, which is past PayPal claims period. PayPal took the complaint but never worked on it. I called several times over 6 months, they did nothing. Anyway, along with me that guy scammed several folks on a auto forum. Couple of years later, same guy started selling stuff again, his selling pattern got my attention, reported to mods, they shut him down this time.

Sorry for the lengthy post.
 
iphoneclassic said:
Not always, I got scammed by a person in Europe for $480. Purchased an auto accessory, and that guy keep telling me it is on its way, he was giving tracking numbers which I couldn't track. 45 days past before I realized, which is past PayPal claims period. PayPal took the complaint but never worked on it. I called several times over 6 months, they did nothing. Anyway, along with me that guy scammed several folks on a auto forum. Couple of years later, same guy started selling stuff again, his selling pattern got my attention, reported to mods, they shut him down this time.

Sorry for the lengthy post.
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You are correct. "Not always."

I have sold and bought a few items from over seas. As a whole, I don't do it. too much can go wrong, in my opinion.

Sorry to hear you got taken. That stinks.
 
bbplayer5 said:
So the sale ended yesterday, and today is when I couldnt get the money. You think its ok to send this away as long as I have pictures, tracking numbers etc??
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Did you get a payment notice from ebay/paypal? If so, you should be good to send it. I would wait for an official email from paypal/ebay confirming the buyer has sent payment.
 
For non-expensive items they usually hold the funds for about a week. For expensive items, it's longer. Don't think you're being scammed as this is completely normal for PayPal. As long as it appears in your pending balance, you should be fine.
 
spades1412 said:
Did you get a payment notice from ebay/paypal? If so, you should be good to send it. I would wait for an official email from paypal/ebay confirming the buyer has sent payment.
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Yes, it says pending... and I see this notice after it now. I should be good to go I guess.
 
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.
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Actually, that's exactly what eBay and PayPal does now. I sold an item and had to wait about 2 weeks for the funds to be available. It was in the account, but couldn't be transferred. They require you to ship the item, and wait for delivery to confirm they got the item to release the funds.
 
As EVERYONE has already stated I figured I'd chime in anyway... This unfortunately isn't a scam. I am always worried when I sell things on ebay as this is the unfortunate reality. Suprisingly, this isn't for only big ticket items as I have had this happen for EVERY game I've sold on ebay (no more the $60). It's no secret PayPal is a buyers service and as sellers we run the risk of being scammed and treated like criminals. Just make sure you photograph what you're selling, insure it, and most importantly get delivery confirmation.
 
Meanee said:
Claim a fraudulent charge. Or if their source method is credit card, reverse credit card charge. Especially with American Express. They are always cardholder friendly.
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No seriously thats what paypal does, google it. They hold everyones money for 21 days, or until both leave possitive feedback and the buyer is confirmed to have recieved their item.
 
Weird I just sold something and was able to transfer my money immediately. In fact, I have never had to wait for funds to be released me.
 
PhoenixMac said:
Weird I just sold something and was able to transfer my money immediately. In fact, I have never had to wait for funds to be released me.
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It's how PayPal "sees" you. And they typically review accounts once every month. So if you have a review coming up and you were able to complete a transaction before that, you are ok.
 
Agh the luxury of PayPal and its monopoly - I wish amazon would take a bigger interest in their payment system and build on paypals flaws
 
This is currently happening to someone I know right now, The funds are on hold until the buyer receives the iphone. Looks like paypal is doing this to a lot of iphone sales on ebay.
 
Paypal. Utterly twisted hethans. I especially love the holding of funds for 3-7 business days before withdrawals , simply to earn money on the interest for a bit longer.
 
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