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you know, I have sold many things on CL. Just last night a few people stopped by the place to pick up the items. I know it probably isn't the best idea to have people stop by, but it is so much easier, lol.

You're seriously asking to be robbed, unless you're selling $5 fake plastic trees. Lol
 
Regardless of how much feedback or who they are, I don't ship out any items until I see the money they owe in my paypal account.

Just to make sure I don't get scammed.

Anyone who doesn't is not very bright. Make sure all of you include 'will ship within 48 hours of CLEARED payment'
 
eBay is terrible. Been selling on there for over six years, 700+ feedback. I have done a lot more transactions than that though over the years.

They always side with the buyer. Buyer has all the power in the eBay/PayPal world. There just is no real good substitute to eBay (save for Amazon) and most people don't think about Amazon as an eBay alternative quite yet. It's all eBay does!

EDIT: I forgot to mention I have dealt with the 0 feedback winner about 50+ times. Sucks because you never know if they are going to really buy it or not.

Yeah, I've been remarking for months that eBay needs a cheaper, better competitor. I don't understand why one hasn't popped up yet. Anytime I deal with a buyer that has 0% feedback it is a scam. Such a drag, in the wake of a sale notification, to see the buyer has no positive feedback and then follows up with that requisite, overtly spurious "invoice-demanding" letter, in which the scammer asks that the item be shipped to his son or nephew who is studying in Nigeria.
 
don't be so quick to think payment = legitimate. I have an eBay business with electronics (cell phones, sometimes computers) and I couldn't tell you how many chargebacks we've had. stolen credit cards are all over the place, fraud is rampant. this week, for the first time, had somebody send me a package full of cardboard instead of the phone for a return. thank goodness paypal is actually great for seller protection, if you follow their policies (only ship to address specified in checkout, get signature if over $250.). also shipping insurance is always worth it.

What happens if it is a stolen CC and the seller plays by the Paypal rules?
 
An acquaintance whose business is repairing PCs, sold a brand new hard disk to a young guy in Turkey over ebay. Not sure of all the details, but the buyer told him he was a stupid jerk by email, refused to pay saying the item was damaged, refused to return the item, and ebay stood by the buyer. Eventually I think the hard disk was returned damaged. Mind you, my friend is a jerk and argues with people, but the ebay experience favoured the dodgy buyer.
 
That's because when you ship internationally the insurance and tracking information tends to have a handful of loopholes that Paypal and the shipper can get you screwed on. Some buyers know this and exploit it often.

I once sold something that cost a fortune to ship out to the Netherlands, and the dude was more than happy to take care of it. It actually went REALLY well, so i was happy about that. However, I do avoid shipping internationally XD
 
What happens if it is a stolen CC and the seller plays by the Paypal rules?

payment is frozen once the chargeback is initiated. input tracking number if it isn't already. stays on hold for up to a couple weeks. payment gets cleared back to seller. and then as long as like a month or two later, the payment gets frozen again (in the background paypal is 'disputing' the credit card company, which goes back and forth..) and up to a couple of weeks after that, the payment is finally really cleared to the seller.

it's annoying having the payment go on and off being on hold, but as long as you shipped to the correct address (not some random one the buyer requested in a note or message) and as long as you ship with delivery confirmation + with signature confirmation if $250+, you are guaranteed to end up with the money.

i always leave a balance in my paypal account, because chargebacks really happen often with high dollar electronics. i have one open chargeback at the moment, plus a bank inquiry/return (same thing as chargeback really), plus one payment that is on hold by paypal (they caught it before i shipped). all pretty normal, and paypal doesn't have any issues with me.
 
as far as a cheaper alternative to ebay as somebody mentioned, the most promising thing i've seen in awhile is bonanza.com. stumbled onto it recently and have bought a couple of phones there in the last few weeks. not a whole lot on there, but selling fees are ridiculously low - $5 for items under $1000 ($3 if under $100, and $10 if over $1000). it's paypal friendly, and you can even import your listings from ebay. haven't listed anything for sale on there yet, not sure how much interest there would be. and it's buy it now (or best offer) only, no auctions.
 
payment is frozen once the chargeback is initiated. input tracking number if it isn't already. stays on hold for up to a couple weeks. payment gets cleared back to seller. and then as long as like a month or two later, the payment gets frozen again (in the background paypal is 'disputing' the credit card company, which goes back and forth..) and up to a couple of weeks after that, the payment is finally really cleared to the seller.

it's annoying having the payment go on and off being on hold, but as long as you shipped to the correct address (not some random one the buyer requested in a note or message) and as long as you ship with delivery confirmation + with signature confirmation if $250+, you are guaranteed to end up with the money.

i always leave a balance in my paypal account, because chargebacks really happen often with high dollar electronics. i have one open chargeback at the moment, plus a bank inquiry/return (same thing as chargeback really), plus one payment that is on hold by paypal (they caught it before i shipped). all pretty normal, and paypal doesn't have any issues with me.

golden - thanks for the update to my question. i am fearful i may be in the same boat as the situation you described. this really is pita. but am glad things eventually work out. (at least, for you.)
 
That's awful. I had the same thing happen to me last week selling an iPad. 2011_BuySell was the eBay name. No payment ever came in.
 
That's awful. I had the same thing happen to me last week selling an iPad. 2011_BuySell was the eBay name. No payment ever came in.

Same story on mine, went three days without paying and finally did. There has been no comms from the user and there are a (0) feedback account. My fear is the buyer scammed a card and I am going to be out the dollars. The (0) feedback ebay accounts seem to be rampant on iPad sales.
 
Same story on mine, went three days without paying and finally did. There has been no comms from the user and there are a (0) feedback account. My fear is the buyer scammed a card and I am going to be out the dollars. The (0) feedback ebay accounts seem to be rampant on iPad sales.

Thats exactly what these scammers do. They set up paypal accounts and get fraudulent credit cards to buy items. Once you send it in the mail and they pick up the item (at a business or abandoned house) and your out of your money once Pay Pal finds out.

Its a pain in the ass trying to get your money back.
 
Ebay is usually my last resort; they screw sellers when a buyer complains about anything.
 
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