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 3 responses by swampwalker

Best way to be 100% sure is to accept only bank transfer to your account. Just make sure you understand if/what your bank will charge you and account for that. if it's a big transaction, it will almost undoubtedly be cheaper than paypal and once the money posts to your account, it cannot be reclaimed. Second best is USPS M.O.
This really isn't that difficult. Bank wire is totally secure. Buyer cannot use your bank account # to get $ out of your account. Only the account holder can initiate an outgoing wire transfer. Once the $ hit your account, they cannot be pulled back (although I imagine that criminal fraud might allow the funds to be seized by the government). Why do you think that they always use this method in the Grisham and Ludlum novels to rip off the bad guys??

Not sure what USPS would do if a counter agent cashed a counterfeit M.O. but a bank would definitely try to pull the $ back if the issuing bank refused a cashiers check or m.o. for any reason.