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iPhone X Question about selling iPhone through paypal

Brandonjr36

Brandonjr36

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 12, 2016
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There is a guy on this site wanting to buy my iPhone X but we both live in different states he’s wanting to PayPal the money to me. and me ship the iPhone to him. I’ve never used PayPal before. I just don’t want to lose the money and not have the phone. Am I better off just selling local or is PayPal guaranteed to give me the money? The phone is in perfect condition.
 
Once someone sends money with PayPal, (not using eBay) the money can not be "unsent". It's gone.

If you're concerned, you could tell the buyer that you need to wait until it gets deposited into your bank account (via PayPal) before you'll ship the phone. PayPal is safe for sellers. More risky for buyers because they don't have any protection if a seller doesn't ship an item.
 
now i see it said:
Once someone sends money with PayPal, (not using eBay) the money can not be "unsent". It's gone.

If you're concerned, you could tell the buyer that you need to wait until it gets deposited into your bank account (via PayPal) before you'll ship the phone. PayPal is safe for sellers. More risky for buyers because they don't have any protection if a seller doesn't ship an item.
Click to expand...
So he might as well just wire me the money then right? So i can have the cash in hand and send the phone to him?
[doublepost=1535052361][/doublepost]
Raist3001 said:
I would sell locally. Cash in hand.
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Yeah I was telling him the only way I would do it was for him to wire me the money then me send the phone. I told him I was uncomfortable using PayPal he still insisted using PayPal. I’m not the type of person to rip anyone off. I just don’t want to be ripped off myself either tho.
 
You're more safe using PayPal than meeting up and taking cash. PayPal offers buyer and seller protection, as long as you use the "Goods and Services" version and not the "Friends and Family" version. Goods and Services will require you to enter a tracking number (or you can print a shipping label right from the PayPal transaction), so both sides are protected. There's a 2.9% + 30 cent fee for goods and services, but it's well worth it for the protection. I've been buying and selling in Facebook groups and on eBay for years and have hundreds of succesful PayPal transactions under my belt.
 
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Brandonjr36 said:
There is a guy on this site wanting to buy my iPhone X but we both live in different states he’s wanting to PayPal the money to me. and me ship the iPhone to him. I’ve never used PayPal before. I just don’t want to lose the money and not have the phone. Am I better off just selling local or is PayPal guaranteed to give me the money? The phone is in perfect condition.
Click to expand...
I repeat Do Not Do Not Use PayPal. This person is scamming you, if you listed this phone on offer up, letgo, craigslist, or Facebook marketplace and they say want to Pay Pal you money and then have you ship. Its a No No.
 
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SisterBlue22 said:
You're more safe using PayPal than meeting up and taking cash.
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As long as you meet in a very public place, I would consider the transaction safe. I like meeting at my local police station.

PayPal offers buyer and seller protection, as long as you use the "Goods and Services" version and not the "Friends and Family" version. Goods and Services will require you to enter a tracking number (or you can print a shipping label right from the PayPal transaction), so both sides are protected.
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All the shipper has to do is send a rock with a tracking number. Now it's your word against the shippers. I would never purchase an expensive item via pay pal.
 
comptr said:
I repeat Do Not Do Not Use PayPal. This person is scamming you, if you listed this phone on offer up, letgo, craigslist, or Facebook marketplace and they say want to Pay Pal you money and then have you ship. Its a No No.
Click to expand...

I've sold a ton of stuff on FaceBook and used PayPal as the transaction avenue and have had zero problems. I know there's definitely scams out there though, but saying this is 100% a scam is way overblown.

OP - you can be scammed via PayPal, just like anything else. If you meet in person they can just rob you, or give you counterfeit currency. My point is there's some risk involved in every transaction dealing with used goods. If he pays you via PayPal and you login to your PayPal account via your own link (not one from an email PayPal sends) and verify the money is there, then you're safe to ship. I'd document with pictures that the phone is in the box, and ship it with signature required. That's about the best protection you can get. If you can talk him into sending it "friends and family", then he won't get any protections from PayPal and that further reduces the risk of being scammed. If I was the buyer though, I wouldn't go for that because then he doesn't have any protections in the event you try to scam him (not that you would, but speaking generally).
 
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ttusomeone said:
I've sold a ton of stuff on FaceBook and used PayPal as the transaction avenue and have had zero problems. I know there's definitely scams out there though, but saying this is 100% a scam is way overblown.

OP - you can be scammed via PayPal, just like anything else. If you meet in person they can just rob you, or give you counterfeit currency. My point is there's some risk involved in every transaction dealing with used goods. If he pays you via PayPal and you login to your PayPal account via your own link (not one from an email PayPal sends) and verify the money is there, then you're safe to ship. I'd document with pictures that the phone is in the box, and ship it with signature required. That's about the best protection you can get. If you can talk him into sending it "friends and family", then he won't get any protections from PayPal and that further reduces the risk of being scammed. If I was the buyer though, I wouldn't go for that because then he doesn't have any protections in the event you try to scam him (not that you would, but speaking generally).
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Yeah the only way I’m gonna do it is if he wires me the money through a Walmart or something like that. For one I don’t want to pay the 2.9% and 2 I don’t want to take the risk. I would just be better off keeping the phone or selling it local then to use PayPal.
 
I have a member I am buying a phone from and we are trying to find the safest way to do it that protects both of us. I suggested PayPal but he insists everyone warned against it for some reason. He is suggesting I just wire the money to him, I'm a bit wary of this. Is there a better way?
 
At some point there has to be some trust. There's no way to use an escrow service selling little things like electronics. If either of you are too suspicious of strangers and paranoid of getting ripped off selling sight unseen, then the only truly secure way is to sell it face to face with cash- but you could get mugged doing that.

The world of commerce got where it is today with trust. Maybe have a little faith that everyone isn't a crook.
 
now i see it said:
At some point there has to be some trust. There's no way to use an escrow service selling little things like electronics. If either of you are too suspicious of strangers and paranoid of getting ripped off selling sight unseen, then the only truly secure way is to sell it face to face with cash- but you could get mugged doing that.

The world of commerce got where it is today with trust. Maybe have a little faith that everyone isn't a crook.
Click to expand...

Except in cases like this, "trust" + "wire me the money" = an oxymoron. No one with any sense would wire money to a stranger. You have no reason to trust a stranger and no recourse if something goes wrong. Hence the popularity of PayPal which does protect the buyer.
 
Phone Junky said:
I don’t suppose it’s this guy?
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-iphone-through-paypal.2133731/#post-26380134
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Yes that would be me.
[doublepost=1535148715][/doublepost]
noobinator said:
If he isn't willing to do paypal and it's protection, then I'd run the other way fast. Wiring them is like handing them cash and expect to be scammed.
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I’m not scamming anyone. I just don’t trust PayPal. Even guys on here said the seller can be scammed through PayPal.
[doublepost=1535148857][/doublepost]
now i see it said:
At some point there has to be some trust. There's no way to use an escrow service selling little things like electronics. If either of you are too suspicious of strangers and paranoid of getting ripped off selling sight unseen, then the only truly secure way is to sell it face to face with cash- but you could get mugged doing that.

The world of commerce got where it is today with trust. Maybe have a little faith that everyone isn't a crook.
Click to expand...
I agree it’s me with the phone. I just can’t take no risks as I don’t have the money to buy another phone if for some reason I didn’t get the cash. But I would never rip someone off. That’s why I was hoping he was closer to my area so we could just meet up in person and do the transaction.
 
noobinator said:
If he isn't willing to do paypal and it's protection, then I'd run the other way fast. Wiring them is like handing them cash and expect to be scammed.
Click to expand...
Yeah exactly
Phone Junky said:
I don’t suppose it’s this guy?
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-iphone-through-paypal.2133731/#post-26380134
Click to expand...
Yup
[doublepost=1535149645][/doublepost]
Brandonjr36 said:
Yes that would be me.
[doublepost=1535148715][/doublepost]
I’m not scamming anyone. I just don’t trust PayPal. Even guys on here said the seller can be scammed through PayPal.
[doublepost=1535148857][/doublepost]
I agree it’s me with the phone. I just can’t take no risks as I don’t have the money to buy another phone if for some reason I didn’t get the cash. But I would never rip someone off. That’s why I was hoping he was closer to my area so we could just meet up in person and do the transaction.
Click to expand...
Well you have people here telling you that PayPal is the best way. It's not that I don't trust you but as said above nobody with any sense would wire money to a stranger.
 
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TH55 said:
Yeah exactly

Yup
[doublepost=1535149645][/doublepost]
Well you have people here telling you that PayPal is the best way. It's not that I don't trust you but as said above nobody with any sense would wire money to a stranger.
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Yeah I get that. That’s the exact reason I always sell local. There is no way for either one to get ripped off that way.
[doublepost=1535150694][/doublepost]https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2012/jan/27/is-paypal-safe-protectionSee there is several sites saying PayPal is not safe for sellers
 
Brandonjr36 said:
Yeah I get that. That’s the exact reason I always sell local. There is no way for either one to get ripped off that way.
[doublepost=1535150694][/doublepost]https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2012/jan/27/is-paypal-safe-protectionSee there is several sites saying PayPal is not safe for sellers
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The majority of people here are advocating PayPal. Only one random poster said it wasn't the best way, and he obviously didn't know what he was talking about. Let's keep this simple, PayPal is safer for you than me anyway and I'm still willing to do it bc it's still the safest.
 
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Brandonjr36 said:
So he might as well just wire me the money then right? So i can have the cash in hand and send the phone to him?
[doublepost=1535052361][/doublepost]
Yeah I was telling him the only way I would do it was for him to wire me the money then me send the phone. I told him I was uncomfortable using PayPal he still insisted using PayPal. I’m not the type of person to rip anyone off. I just don’t want to be ripped off myself either tho.
Click to expand...

Put yourself on the other foot if someone told you the only way they would except a payment was through a wire and not via an email to PayPal.

Sounds shady.

A Buyer can kind of track to you, or file complaint to PayPal about you, at least if you don’t send him the product like eBay.

Buyers have no way of knowing what type of person you are. I can fully understand why someone would be leery to sell to someone who would not except a PayPal payment.

As said before once the PayPal payment is sent it goes from his checking account to your checking account none of it is done on credit and cannot be disputed.

You can literally pull the money out of PayPal and put it into your own bank so even if you were worried about a reversal, that would not be possible if there was a zero balance. They cannot pull from your bank unless your PayPal account has money already in it anyway.

Oh and good luck selling your iphone. :)
 
I have a question. Since u can buy paypal account in the black market, use stolen credit card with fake paypal account. If the buyer purchase using this method and seller ship the item. Wont the seller have to repay back once is reported that money was pay with stolen account or credit card. Just wondering cause this already happen to me and i lost the item and the money was taken from my paypal account
 
Eduardmc said:
I have a question. Since u can buy paypal account in the black market, use stolen credit card with fake paypal account. If the buyer purchase using this method and seller ship the item. Wont the seller have to repay back once is reported that money was pay with stolen account or credit card. Just wondering cause this already happen to me and i lost the item and the money was taken from my paypal account
Click to expand...

:eek:

Ah, I didn’t know you can do this.

So the black market account has all the info including 3 CVS number on the back of the credit card?

Well the reversal would leave you owing but if you have 0 balance in your PayPal account not sure if they can take it back from your bank. Technically it goes back from where it purchased.

I’m assuming these black market accounts have a short lifespan before the real card holder disputes fraud in a 30 day billing cycle.

I guess Selling with cash in hand locally, though can be also dangerous, is safer with cash in hand exchange. I’ve sold and bought via PayPal without worry, we’ll until now.
 
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