A Paypal Offer - Is This Secure?


Hi All,

I am selling a CAT amplifier and have a paypal offer from a buyer who has very little feedback (only one transaction) and does not speak english well and communicates only small bits of information at a time. I am nervous about this. I spoke with paypal and they told me that as long as:

1) I am selling something of substance
2) I ship to the paypal address, no other address
3) I can document the shipping of the product

I am protected as a seller. If this is true, I should be able to accept his offer and make sure that I am shipping to the address listed in paypal, and I should be fine shipping pilot air insured (with tracking and all, including photos of packing, etc). What do you guys think? Is this too much of a risk, or not really a risk at all?
peter_s

Showing 4 responses by jmcgrogan2

Jea48, good question, I've never thought of that. Paypal is not a credit card or banking institution, but they may have sway on a credit report, I don't know.
Only thing tat I would add to what has been already said is that make sure on step #2 that you ship to a Paypal VERIFIED address. That's an important step in the seller's protection, making sure that the buyer's address is verfied in the Paypal system.
Peter_s, bank wire transfers are the safest method for the seller. It is by far my favorite way to deal Internationally, beeter than Paypal. There are some fees involved, so check with your bank so that you are aware what the fees are.
I also keep a seperate account just for Paypal. I transfer funds from Paypal into that account, and then from that account to another account. I keep a zero balance in the Paypal account. Yes, as Muzikat shows, you can let Paypal bully you into using their services, but you don't have to.
Depending on how much $$$ and what I thought of the buyer, I could live with a negative balance on Paypal, and just stop using that Paypal account if I had to. Maybe set up another Paypal account with a different e-mail address and bank account if I was desperate. Leave that negative Paypal account rot into eternity. :)