JasonW Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Hi all. I'm relatively new here, but have been buying and selling on eBay for about five years, mostly 1/72 scale aircraft and 1/35 armor. I buy more than I sell, and I have had some of my deals go sour as a buyer as many of you had as well. There are a few things I've learned to cover myself from loss though. A couple of years ago, I purchased a AMT 1/72 YB-35 from some clown named getaway_fromme on eBay. I paid through PayPal with my bank account a total of $38.00 ($30 for the kit and $8 shipping). About six weeks later after no replies to various emails requesting status on my item, I opened and won a PayPal claim. PayPal refunded $5.50 of my money because that was all that was in his account. I never got the rest of my money, and to make matters worse, neither eBay OR PayPal shut this clown down. He's still a registered eBay member and everything. Well, needless to say I was a bit ticked off. I basically stopped paying through PayPal using my bank account. I now pay almost ALL of my eBay sellers with a credit card that is solely dedicated to use through PayPal. It has a low balance and limit so if it were to be compromised I wouldn't be financially in the hole. I pay it off monthly so as not to accrue any finance/interest charges. Best part of all is it has BUYER PROTECTION. I've used this feature on four or five dealings gone wrong on ebay and it works wonderfully. PayPal doesn't even have a say in it. If a seller stiffs me, I send the details to my credit card company. They review and investigate it and contact the buyer directly. If he doesn't respond and provide proof of mailing, the credit card company refunds ALL of the money charged for that transaction (including shipping and any interest charged) back to my account no questions asked. Best part, not only do I get my money back, but PayPal swallows the cost and basically usually shuts down the seller who defrauded me since they don't want to be liable for any more costs from people who go after a fraud. I still pay a couple of sellers through eBay (rebelalpha, dcasdan, and 1863gbjh mostly) who I purchase from regularly with my bank account. I rarely trust folks who only take money orders because there just is no recourse in the event a seller doesn't keep his end of the bargain. Simply put, when I'm trading with some who I have no history with, I always pay through my credit card with PayPal now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
modelmax Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Great advice. I've been trying to set something up like that. Can you tell me what type of CC you're using...is it a "secured" CC from your bank, or an "unsecured" CC Like Visa or MC? Thanks, Ernie A. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
j-fever Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 (edited) In my experience, None of the "protections" offered by Paypal, both buyer and seller are worth anything. Paypal is a business owned by eBay, so just like eBay they are only concerned with profit, nothing more and nothing less. eBay is a "giant garage", if a consumer is looking for a guarantee it would be better to shop at the LHS. Edited July 31, 2007 by j-fever Quote Link to post Share on other sites
devil505 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I always use a USPS money order. I've only had one deal go to crap and I had to wait 2 months to get my refund,but I got it ALL back. I didn't have to listen to the "he only has this much in his account" garbage. And if it is a big enough amount on the m.o. the USPS will press charges for mail fraud. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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