Deal with Paypal instead of eBay? [Possible scam?]

[maplingstorie]

Hey guys,

I found a seller selling a PCI-e flash storage in eBay however, he prefers to deal with Paypal instead of eBay. The story goes like this:

He posted the storage card in eBay for bidding then i emailed him to ask if he could sell it to me. He replied me, "Let's deal with Paypal". I guess he wants to use his own shipping instead of eBay's? He's a member since Sep 2011 with 100% positive feedback with 22 stars. Is this a scam? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[iMacBooked]

Hmm, seems legit at first glance.. But I have no idea why he would'nt want to use eBay.. Using his own shipping method could be the reason, but I doubt something like that would make him not to use eBay. Maybe you should ask him? Because when you trade without eBay, you won't have any of those benefits in case he would scam you.

 

[Ifti]

He doesnt want to use eBay because eBay take a rip-off amount of fee's depending on the ending price.

If you go directly through PayPal, he still gets stung with PayPal fee's but at least he bypasses eBay fees - hence a cost saving to him.

You are still protected via PayPal regardless, so if anything should go wrong you can open a PayPal claim and get your money back etc. Just ensure you do NOT send and funds marked as a GIFT, as that offers no protection - purchase normally though and you'll have pretty much the same protection as going through eBay.

I would contact the seller and ask for a bit of discount since you're helping him save on fee's - only fair he passes some of that saving on to you

 

[maplingstorie]

Alright. Thanks for the feedback guys. I really appreciate them. I guess it's safe to say it's not a scam. will update further if there is a need to. Thanks again

 

[maplingstorie]

He doesnt want to use eBay because eBay take a rip-off amount of fee's depending on the ending price.

If you go directly through PayPal, he still gets stung with PayPal fee's but at least he bypasses eBay fees - hence a cost saving to him.

You are still protected via PayPal regardless, so if anything should go wrong you can open a PayPal claim and get your money back etc. Just ensure you do NOT send and funds marked as a GIFT, as that offers no protection - purchase normally though and you'll have pretty much the same protection as going through eBay.

I would contact the seller and ask for a bit of discount since you're helping him save on fee's - only fair he passes some of that saving on to you

btw, how do I purchase normally? I've never actually used paypal to directly send money over, I usually paypal to act as a middle man between let's say Amazon/Ebay and seller

 

[Weaselboy]

btw, how do I purchase normally? I've never actually used paypal to directly send money over, I usually paypal to act as a middle man between let's say Amazon/Ebay and seller

You can just go to the send money tab and enter his email address and send him money. But since he is already violating eBay's terms of service by doing this, you may want to have him create an invoice and send it to you describing the product. Then when you get the bill (invoice) from him on Paypal, you can just click to pay it. At least this documents what you are buying instead of you just sending money to some random email address.

 

[Ifti]

Agree with the above - let him send you an invoice an then you pay that

 

[talmy]

I've been selling software and a textbook I wrote using Paypal for payments for many years now. It required setting up an appropriate account with Paypal, and I've got a "Buy It Now" button on my website that generates the appropriate receipt and does the payment (and even prints the package labels) all via the Paypal site. Customers get Paypal's protection (my account would get shut off immediately if anything goes wrong) and, as mentioned, there are no Ebay fees paid. I'm also protected in that the shipping address is verified to be that of the customer.

Just transferring money person-to-person using Paypal won't give any protections, as far as I know.

 

[Apple Power]

I had zero problems with PayPal, in both sales and purchases. Excellent (real live person) help.
I cannot stand using emails when I have a problem, I want a real live person that I can explain problem to and then their assistance.

 

[maplingstorie]

Update

So the seller sent me an invoice and it looks very legit. Now one that's settled I have another thing to worry is whether it can fit in my nMP. I found out that the nMP has this bracket holding the PCI-e and I couldn't remove. But there's still a small hope that it may work without the bracket. Worse come to worst, i'll have no choice to but to return it

 

[dukeblue219]

I understand why he might want to skip eBay altogether for a straight-forward sale, but I will add this:

The only time I have ever been scammed on an online purchase was for a seemingly-legit Macbook Air years ago. I found the item on eBay and the seller suggested just billing me directly through paypal and then he would cancel the eBay auction. It turns out there are much fewer buyer protections for a paypal transfer than if it is tied to an eBay account, plus no ability to leave negative feedback. While I suspect his account was eventually banned he was probably able to scam a number of folks simultaneously on that one auction since none of us were able to leave feedback.

I *did* get my money back from Paypal, but given many of the horror stories about that, I was surprised and wouldn't count on it. Just be wary if anything starts to seem weird, like suddenly the seller is on vacation and "forgot" to ship the item before he left, etc.

For reference:
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Archiv...Paypal-invoice-Bad-or-Good-idea/qaq-p/3142073

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/paypal-buyer-protection.html

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Archiv...-a-Paypal-Invoice-for-the-item/qaq-p/10140913

 

[deeddawg]

He's a member since Sep 2011 with 100% positive feedback with 22 stars. Is this a scam? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!

If he sells stuff outside ebay, how would anyone leave feedback on ebay?

Just curious - why the desire to go with this particular seller rather than any others? As noted, you have fewer protections going with PayPal.

Remember, scammers succeed when a victim's greed overrides their common sense. This deal was already fishy enough to incent you to post asking questions and seeking explanations for why the seller is behaving differently from other sellers. Follow your instincts. You might possibly miss out on a legitimate deal, or you might be avoiding a scammer's trap.

 

[firedept]

If you are happy with the deal, then go for it. The invoice is legit as far as I can see. Been using Paypal for years and you will have their protection as long as the money is not sent gift.

If you want even more security on the transaction, you can pay it with a credit card through Paypal. This will then give you the CC company protection as well. The seller seems to only want to circumvent some of the fees Ebay would charge him.

 

[maplingstorie]

If he sells stuff outside ebay, how would anyone leave feedback on ebay?

Just curious - why the desire to go with this particular seller rather than any others? As noted, you have fewer protections going with PayPal.

Remember, scammers succeed when a victim's greed overrides their common sense. This deal was already fishy enough to incent you to post asking questions and seeking explanations for why the seller is behaving differently from other sellers. Follow your instincts. You might possibly miss out on a legitimate deal, or you might be avoiding a scammer's trap.

He does Sell in eBay though just that he can give me a cheaper price maybe 99 dollars cheaper if paid with Paypal. His deal is cheaper than usual but not unbelievably cheap

 

[marco114]

Personally, I would not buy this way. It's common for scammers to bypass ebay. I'd ask for a copy of his drivers license or something proving he is the legit person. Someone may have hacked his PayPal account.

 

[garya73]

The final value fee of an Ebay auction costing $1,000 is $100.

I don't understand the value of him offering you the same item on Paypal for $99 less. If he just sold it through Ebay, you would pay the $99 extra and that would probably cover the fees. I don't know for sure since you blurred out the cost on the invoice.

Saving $99 is small potatoes compared to what you are paying for the item. You could lose out big time if he doesn't come through on the deal.

How long has he been a member of Ebay? You can get 22 feedbacks pretty quickly. Or it can take a while. I have been on for a long time and only have 200, primarily as a buyer. Then you see these Powersellers with over 100,000 feedbacks, wow. Are his 22 feedbacks from selling? or buying?

I would also look at what other items he has sold. I know that after a certain time Ebay doesn't allow you to look at item listings, but if he has sold anything recently you can look. You can also look at what he is currently selling. You can also see the dates that he has sold things - are they all recent or spread out over time?

I noticed you are in Malaysia. Where is the seller located? It may be more difficult to get your money back if it is an international transaction.

The seller may also not accept a return if it doesn't fit in your machine. And I don't think you would have any way to force him to return your money. You bought the item as advertised. It would be your fault that you didn't make sure that it fit before you bought it.

I personally wouldn't do this deal. I would pay the extra money and get one in your country, either at a store or a legitimate online seller. At least you will have some recourse if it doesn't fit and you need to return it.

Other World Computing is known for their extensive testing to ensure that the item you are purchasing will work in the machine you have. They have a 960gb for $879 USD. You can always contact them to verify if the item will work in your system.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/PCIe/OWC/Mercury_Accelsior/RAID


Personally, I would be tempted to report him to Ebay for violating their rules.

You may also want to try running a Google search on his Ebay user name and his Paypal email address to see if you can find anything.

 

[nep61]

Hey guys,

I found a seller selling a PCI-e flash storage in eBay however, he prefers to deal with Paypal instead of eBay. The story goes like this:

He posted the storage card in eBay for bidding then i emailed him to ask if he could sell it to me. He replied me, "Let's deal with Paypal". I guess he wants to use his own shipping instead of eBay's? He's a member since Sep 2011 with 100% positive feedback with 22 stars. Is this a scam? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!

It could also be that by saying "Let's go through PayPal" he doesn't want to take any other form of payment... And even if you do sell an item "outside of eBay", you're still able to ship any way you please.

eBay and PayPal are just providing a form of protection for the seller and the buyer...
Yes they take their fees, but IMHO, trying to sell most anything on your own is a hassle. I don't mind paying the fees... I build them into the price of the item I'm selling, simple as that.

22 feedbacks is not a lot... but if he has 100% Positive then that's fine...
I only deal with USA Buyers and Sellers myself...

Good Luck

 

[maplingstorie]

strange thing though. He's still messaging me from eBay.

 

[maplingstorie]

Update: Received notification from Paypal and was given a tracking number from seller. Tracking number is valid.

 

[maplingstorie]

Update: The PCI-e has finally arrived. Everything works as intended. Happy buyer, Awesome Seller.