EBAY

[steelroe]

Guys is there anyway to check if you are biddding from a dodgy seller on ebay. I there any way of protecting the transaction cash through PAYPAL.

[Damo]

Don't know how safe Paypal actually is but it's recommended at least not to buy form anyone who won't accept it. Apparently there has been a spate of cons where they have been hijacking seller’s accounts and advertising bogus products, buyers are being asked to wire money direct to the accounts in China via Western union - to be avoided at all costs. I use Paypal all the time and never have had any trouble.

[soc]

Guys is there anyway to check if you are biddding from a dodgy seller on ebay. I there any way of protecting the transaction cash through PAYPAL.

I think PAYPAL is insured for £500 or something like that.

[kevinod]

Feedback is your only real way of making an educated guess, but I've seen a lot of users lately with something like 10 feedbacks in a very short time, talking about very good quality or something like that, and all those users having feedback of 10 too. Item located in China.

Having said that I've had problems with guys with hundreds or thousands of positive feedbacks.

Paypal does protect to a certain degree, but one case I had the guy hadn't sent the item, so I opened a dispute case with Paypal. When they got onto him he finally sent the item, but to the wrong address. Someone there signed for it, he showed that to Paypal and they closed the case, without asking me had I actually got it. They wouldn't reopen it, no interest in persuing it after that, so I was out of pocket without the set of lights I paid for. Ebay weren't interested and only pointed me to paypal.

I reckon the only possible completely safe way you have would be for the item to be sent cash on delivery, but all of the people I've asked to do this refused.

Having said that, I've only been burned once out of about 37 transactions over a few years. I'll only bid with sellers with a fair amount of good feedback and a very high % of positives.

[steelroe]

We are talking about a lot of money here for 2 items located in the states. Namely 2 complete MUT-II units. I have used both PAYPAL and Ebay several times but given the amount of money I am a bit nervous.

Details of sellers as follows.

The first guy has a feedback score of 6501, wants western union transfer into account in states. He will do PAYPAL for a fee of 5% which I will probably have to pay to Western Union anyway for a transfer. Is it normal for such a prolific seller not to use PAYPAL as standard. Positive Feedback 99%
Second guy will accept paypal, but only has a feedback score of 54 and only 8 of these are from buyers i.e. (He has not sold a lot). He has no other items for sale on ebay at the moment. All of the buyer feedbacks are from members with low feedback score. Here will only ship to confirmed address. Positive Feedback 100%

Am I being totally paranoid here or not.

Anyone know a good way to avoid custom fees on this side of the atlantic.

[CJ]

The problem with a lot of US sellers is that they won 't accept payment from Intl Paypal users, personally, I would stay well away from Western Union, its a flawed sysyem IMO.

I think IP and Muad could provide some useful feedback in this instance...


CJ

[IrishPhoenix]

PayPal Buyer Protection will provide protection to eBay buyers for PayPal transactions up to £500 GBP with no processing fee on all purchases of tangible auction goods that display the PayPal Buyer Protection seal on one of the following eligible eBay sites:

ebay.at
ebay.ca
ebay.ch
ebay.com
ebay.com.au
ebay.co.uk
ebay.de
ebay.es
ebay.fr
ebay.ie
ebay.nl
ebay.it

PayPal Buyer Protection also covers non-delivery of items and items that are significantly not as described.

Transactions Covered by PayPal Buyer Protection

PayPal Buyer Protection is only available to registered PayPal members
eBay buyers can look for the PayPal Buyer Protection seal in the 'Seller Information' box on any eBay View Item page to see if the item is covered.
Pay for the item with PayPal and use the sellers email address associated with the listing
Use the grey Pay Now button when the listing closes on eBay
eBay Categories covered under PayPal Buyer Protection:

eBay Motors parts and accessories will be covered, however, motor vehicles (cars, boats, planes) and Live Auctions will not be covered. Sellers cannot indicate PayPal as a payment method during the Live Auctions listing process and therefore those listings will not be eligible

Sellers will be eligible to have PayPal Buyer Protection offered on their listings if all of these requirements are met:

Your seller eBay feedback rating is at least 50
Your positive feedback percentage is at least 98%
You are a Verified member of PayPal
You have a Business or Premier PayPal account
Your PayPal account is in good standing

You are a seller in:
Austria
Australia
Belgium
Canada
China
France
Germany
Hong Kong S.A.R. of China
India
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Netherlands
Singapore
Spain
Switzerland
Taiwan
United Kingdom
United States

A seller may determine whether he or she might be eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection from the 'Seller Eligibility for PayPal Buyer Protection' page. The 'Seller Eligibility for PayPal Buyer Protection' page is available from the Profile subtab of the My Account tab of the seller's PayPal account. Eligibility is determined at time of listing on eBay and eligibility requirements may vary based on eBay listing site.

In addition, the following rules apply:

PayPal must be selected as an accepted payment option on eBay's Sell Your Item form or when using bulk-listing tools such as Turbo Lister or Seller's Assistant. PayPal Buyer Protection only covers items paid for with PayPal

Item must be listed on an eBay site that is eligible

PayPal Buyer Protection is only offered for tangible items (physical goods that are posted). PayPal Buyer Protection is not offered for services or intangible items, such as emailed recipes and ebooks

PayPal Buyer Protection Claim Guidelines:

You may only file one claim per PayPal payment

Claims must be filed within 45 days of the initial PayPal payment

You may only receive three PayPal Buyer Protection claim awards per calendar year

Willing to provide information during the investigation process. If we cannot obtain the necessary information the case may be cancelled without a refund

To learn the specific terms and conditions of the PayPal Buyer Protection Process, simply click on 'User Agreement' located at the bottom of any PayPal webpage.

To learn more about

[kevinod]

I've seen a lot of users lately with something like 10 feedbacks in a very short time, talking about very good quality or something like that, and all those users having feedback of 10 too. Item located in China.

Just browsing on ebay (lunch break of course ) and came across a perfect example of the kind of user I mentioned above... click here

[Kace]

One other thing to do to satisy yourself that the guy is genuine is to mail him and ask for his phone number. I find that for high ticket items it is another good idea to phone him up and discuss all the details with him in person.

If he sounds shady then you might pick it up on the phone. I bought a camera for EUR1000 once from a guy with only 1 positive feedback. I discussed with him on the phone and satisfied myself that he was genuine. Did the transaction and everything worked out perfectly.

Just my experience

[Muad_dib77]

If in doubt always ask seller a question using the "ask seller" yoke..

Check the feedback .. If there's loads from "No longer reg..." then walk away...

Do not use western union/bid pay..ever! They suck..

I've seen to it that the example of a dodgy seller as mentioned above has been "dealt with"

[Muad_dib77]

Slight update... I kinda new this was going to happen...but there's been a policy update on the .co.uk site..

" Under the new policy, sellers will not be allowed to ask buyers to send cash in the post or ask buyers to send payment through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. "

Read more on the annoucement here: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200512181208022.html

If you come across dodgy stuff use this link below to report it:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/contact_inline/index.html

Cheerio,

[roykeane]

Through ebay I brought in a DeWalt seven piece tool set from the USA. Paypal was no prob and no 5% extra. On the whole I had absolutely no problem with the items and FEDEX delivered right to the building site where I was working. I saved including the VAT at least 1400 euros. I did pay £25 sterling through ebay for post and package and the only negative I offer is that FEDEX wanted to bill me for it as well. All in all - a positive time. Alas I am one of those suckers who paid the Chinese for a non-existent Pioneer system and have had no satisfaction through ebay but having said that I have purchased numerous items through ebay and would do so again with 99% confidence