Paypal versus mailing check/money order

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:06 pm

I prefer PayPal. I will accept a check or money order only if I allow adequate time for everything to clear. Beware of anyone wanting to give you a cashier's check or bank transfer in exchange for an immediate exchange for merchandise. Don't EVER respond to anyone wanting a Western Union transfer or direct band transfer... until you actually have your hands on the merchandise. Most of all... get to know your seller/buyer. If you can't reach them by phone... forget 'em. The bad guys are always one step ahead of the game!

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:57 pm

One of the favorite scams by the bad guys is to pass an altered money order for more than the purchase amount and request change.

Dan has good advice--go ahead and accept a money order, but wait until it clears before shipping.

You can get burned with Paypal too--someone sends you money using a credit card. You seem to get the funds, then they're withdrawn from your PP account when the credit charge is declined. It's happened to me--fortunately not much money was involved.

trseaman · Post by **trseaman** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:14 pm

Chuck(G) wrote:You can get burned with Paypal too--It's happened to me--fortunately not much money was involved.

Same here and only about $20 but that doesn't make it acceptable either. In my case I contacted the local police where the guy lived. They knew of him and he was in custody. To prosecute, I'd have to appear in court... Certainly not worth the $20. Just cover all the bases and be as careful as you can.

Tim

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:22 pm

As far as dealing with people on this forum, I look at how long they've been a member and if they post regularly enough that I can get some idea of what they are like. Not a 100% reliable technique, but so far, I've done OK.

However, for my last purchase of $3,800, I drove my buttocks 1,500 miles round trip to pick that up my own self -- more from doubts of FedEx and UPS than doubts about the seller. But still, that is a lot of cash to send based on blind trust ... unless you have a very good, reliable friend name Luigi who breaks arms for a living.

tofu · Post by **tofu** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:22 am

Dean · Post by **Dean** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:34 am

Paypal takes a cut--$100 out of the last transaction I made!

trseaman · Post by **trseaman** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:54 am

tofu wrote:but don't they have a policy that they will cover up to $200 in losses?

I'm not sure of a dollar amount but they do have a "Seller's Protection" policy but for it to be enforced the buyer has to meet certain requirements. So for my Ebay sales, I have a requirement that Paypal payments must come from a "confirmed" Paypal account. Basically, Paypal will do a verification of who you are and where you live. There's a lot of information that you should check out on their webpage. [url=html://https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?c ... rs-outside]Here's a link[/url] about protecting sellers...

Goodluck, Tim

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:07 am

Dean wrote:Paypal takes a cut--$100 out of the last transaction I made!

PayPal charges the seller about 3%. This is about the same as what most credit card companies charge. The seller pays no service charge.

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:30 pm

I keep a checking account just for Paypal. It has the bare minimum amount of money in it and no overdraft protection. My bank goes by total deposits rather than each account, so there is no charge to have a zero-activity, very low balance account sitting around doing nothing.

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:46 am

For those of us who are eBay fanatics, PayPal is great. I can pay for things here in Vietnam and never have to mess with a check or a credit card. And the money comes straight out of my bank account. Also, if I need money, I can send someone money from the account on PayPal. Then they send me a MoneyGram and I get it here in Vietnam. Wow.