Sigh... paypal shenanigans

[brian1227]

I think C is a viable option. Your credit card company is supposed to protect you against such frauds. The only negative with this option is that the credit card company may eat the charge, but the s$$wipe who ripped you off keeps your money. Good luck.

[LordRahl]

I got the same answer as Shield. The seller can basically send you anything and as long as he can prove that he sent something with a confirmation # the buyer is SOL. You can receive an empty package and Paypal will do nothing about it. It's a freaking scam, if there was anyway around Paypal I'd never use them again but unfortunately you kill yourself if you're selling books and don't take Paypal. Basically Paypal has you by the short and curlys and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

[BronzeBruce13]

...which is why its always good to use the CC. I'm not sure I see the downside of letting Paypal "try" to get the money back first. Since they realize if you file a chargeback (after they fail to recover $ and say you're SOL) they lose the cash... if you close your account and protect yourself. It may make a difference? There have been stories of them grabbing the available funds rather than supporting who should be covered.

 

I had a thought... To counter the "empty package" or "completely different item" scam... I'm going to call Paypal and see if the situation would take a different turn if one did NOT accept the package at their home BUT instead went to the post office to take possession and opened the box in front of the Post Master and/or a few Postal witnesses? How could Paypal support the Seller if a Federal Post Master confirms the box was empty or contained several old socks and note saying "gotcha" instead of the intended item? (or a notary?). Of course this is a hassle, but on an expensive item... might be worth it if this particular fraud is widespread.

 

[harveyfan323]

If you are a Paypal seller, and you ship to an unconfirmed address, then you are NOT protected by Paypal's Seller Protection Policy and the buyer has more rights in the matter. So just make a claim with Paypal and you "should" be OK. Even though you signed for something, I would think that if the seller shipped to an unconfirmed address, he is out of luck. I'm not sure this is true in every case, but it definitely is a positive for you in this matter.