I agree. There is very little threat for a seller to be scammed by accepting a Western Union wire transfer. eBay prohibits it to be listed as an accepted method in your listing because eBay is Pro-Buyer but once the auction ends you just discuss with the buyer as to what methods of payment will work for you. Your chances are higher of getting scammed through a PayPal payment for a laptop than Western Union. With PayPal it doesn't matter if you ship to a Confirmed Address or not, you're still having to rely on them to rule in your favor in the case of a PayPal dispute or a credit card chargeback. With something like a WU transfer or a bank wire transfer once the money is in your hands it's in your hands. You're not standing the risk for a chargeback 60 days or even a year down the road depending on how long the persons credit card company allows them to file a dispute against the charge. I would also suggest to your buyer that maybe he could do a bank wire transfer to you instead of western union. It would be a lot cheaper for him and it shouldn't cost you more than $10-$20 at most banks to receive an incoming wire transfer. I've done a number of them in the past and those were even international ones.
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Sold my SR MBP on eBay, buyer wants WU
- Thread starter Zorn
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I agree. There is very little threat for a seller to be scammed by accepting a Western Union wire transfer. eBay prohibits it to be listed as an accepted method in your listing because eBay is Pro-Buyer but once the auction ends you just discuss with the buyer as to what methods of payment will work for you. Your chances are higher of getting scammed through a PayPal payment for a laptop than Western Union. With PayPal it doesn't matter if you ship to a Confirmed Address or not, you're still having to rely on them to rule in your favor in the case of a PayPal dispute or a credit card chargeback. With something like a WU transfer or a bank wire transfer once the money is in your hands it's in your hands. You're not standing the risk for a chargeback 60 days or even a year down the road depending on how long the persons credit card company allows them to file a dispute against the charge. I would also suggest to your buyer that maybe he could do a bank wire transfer to you instead of western union. It would be a lot cheaper for him and it shouldn't cost you more than $10-$20 at most banks to receive an incoming wire transfer. I've done a number of them in the past and those were even international ones.
The other thing to remember about Ebay being pro Paypal is that they own Paypal, so of course they want you to use that.
As for taking a wire transfer, that would scare me a bit more than Western Union - just because you have to give the guy your bank account information...
As for taking a wire transfer, that would scare me a bit more than Western Union - just because you have to give the guy your bank account information...
You give people your checking account number all the time when you write a check to pay for something in a store. Banks have checks in place to prevent fraud from taking place but if you were that worried about it you could just open a free checking online to use to receive your wire transfers.
I really do love online bill paying. Hehe.Paypal or western union can both have scam problems. But Paypal is the best out of the 2, less effort and more protection.
For the buyer, not the seller. Trust me, you're a lot less likely to get scammed through someone sending you WU than you are someone calling their credit card company and either saying someone else made the purchase or they're just not satisfied. PayPal then will decide whether or not you qualify for protection coverage. There are plenty of PayPal users that have shipped to Confirmed Addresses and still gotten screwed.
Never Use WU on Ebay
Google this: "western union scam on ebay"
Never use WU on eBay and never send your laptop overnight, even if they paid with PayPal. PayPal can rescind fraudulent payment within 24 hours and if you already sent you computer, you lose. This happened to me. Always wait for 24 hours after payment received to ship. Even if they agree to pay above asking price if you will ship overnight, don't do it!!
Google this: "western union scam on ebay"
Never use WU on eBay and never send your laptop overnight, even if they paid with PayPal. PayPal can rescind fraudulent payment within 24 hours and if you already sent you computer, you lose. This happened to me. Always wait for 24 hours after payment received to ship. Even if they agree to pay above asking price if you will ship overnight, don't do it!!
And you think eBay is going to protect you with PayPal lol? People get screwed over all the time on eBay using PayPal. I was a Platinum PowerSeller on eBay this past year so I've received my fare share of payments through PayPal. Usually though you have nothing to worry about on lower ticket items that aren't of high value such as <$500 but you start messing with laptops that are worth $1,000-$2,000+ and the risk goes up much higher. I had someone buy a $2k+ Sony VAIO from me early last year and they filed a chargeback like 3 months later stating that someone had stolen their identity. Luckily PayPal covered me because I followed all the PayPal guidelines with shipping to a Confirmed address and everything but sellers still fall victim to PayPal ruling against them for whatever unsubstantiated reason all the time. Just go check out the official eBay forums or the Online Auctions forum on Fatwallet.
But like I said, I don't know where some of you guys are getting off saying PayPal is way safer than Western Union lol. If anything it's the other way around for a seller. You guys are thinking from a buyers standpoint with Western Union and not the seller. If any of you have feedback from real users that have accepted WU and got scammed through eBay then please post some links cause I'd like to know what happened. If not though quit going on about how it's unsafe and PayPal is cause you don't know what you're talking about lol.
HAHA. Thank you for proving my point. Also, it wasn't "lucky" that PayPal protected you - it was contractually obligated. You followed the rules, so you were protected. You don't want to know the crap that can go on with Western Union - which is completely unsupported by Ebay. Do a google search like someone else suggested and you'll see some real horror stories involving Western Union and very creative scams.
Once again, DO NOT DO IT.
Just Google it!
I just googled "ebay western union scam" and...
See for yourself
Why would you think a "new eBay" user account will happened to login and "find" your posting? Don't be foolish.
Send them an email request a personal, or Cashier check from which ever bank his/her country has (pretty sure they are not in the US so don't bother about the USPS money order), and INSIST that you won''t ship until the check is cleared. If they don't respond then contact eBay to void the transaction (so you won't get charge for the commission).
I just googled "ebay western union scam" and...
See for yourself
Why would you think a "new eBay" user account will happened to login and "find" your posting? Don't be foolish.
Send them an email request a personal, or Cashier check from which ever bank his/her country has (pretty sure they are not in the US so don't bother about the USPS money order), and INSIST that you won''t ship until the check is cleared. If they don't respond then contact eBay to void the transaction (so you won't get charge for the commission).
Better yet, just cut your losses. Re-list the notebook and stop wasting time with this scammer. Even if the check appears to initially clear they can have tricks up their sleeve to put a stop payment on it.
Report this fraudster to eBay and get on with your life.
Report this fraudster to eBay and get on with your life.
