Buying used mountain bike from Russia ( security )

[Raikzz]

Hello!

Seller is selling his 4000usd worth mountain bike on ebay but he suggested to make the deal outside of ebay because of the ebay fees.

My question is, if we don't use ebay and if i'm buying bike directly from him with paypal are i'm protected with paypal protection ? ( meaning if i dont receive the item i get my money back, or if i get bike with different parts as they are in pictures ). Because thing is we are talking with eachother on e-mail and without ebay my only proof what i bought is these e-mails, then how i'm going to have proof that i ordered that exact bike that was on ebay, should i ask him to sent pictures to my email and complete list of parts ? Or isn't that necessary ?

Also, is Russia playing some role here ? Or is it same as every other country ?

Sorry if the text is somewhat confusing and difficult.

[DPCreations]

PayPal does not provide buyer protection for vehicles (bikes).

Beware, seller seems to very astute about the situation and all is set in the seller's favor, starting with taking it off eBay.

Knowlege is power.  Become the expert about all things PayPal and eBay if you want to protect your own interest.  

[Raikzz]

Are you sure about that ? Seems like they mean motorized vehicles, because when googeling everybody says that bicycles are under protection

/t5/Archive/Bicycle-class-as-a-vehicle-under-buyer-protection/td-p/700889?profile.language=en-gb

[DPCreations]

That would be a comment from a moderator, not necessarily official policy.  The official policy states vehicles not limited too...  and then provides a list of motorized and non-motorized.  "Not limited to.." means others can be included in the list.

So, take your risk.

Just realize that there are many risks with this transaction and they're all against the buyer.

[Whac-A-Mole]

even if it is protected,you pay return shipping to RUSSIA.

[DPCreations]

Do you think a prize mountain bike would even make to return to the seller in Russia?

[Whac-A-Mole]

if you are not happy with the bike,and file a dispute with PAypal,and win,you would be asked to return the bike with online viewable tracking to get your money back.

read paypal buyer protection.

[Raikzz]

 **bleep** you have now scared me off, i have previously bought 2 times with paypal, but from England and from well-known professional athletes, so that and paypal security have given me confidence that it's safe to buy it from other countries with paypal.

[DPCreations]

@Raikzz

Buying from 2 professional businesses in England had nothing to do with PayPal.  All went well because of 2 good companies and a country where commerce is good.  Even without PayPal the purchases would have been good--all you needed was a way to transfer funds.

I think you should change your focus to the seller not to PayPal.  If you can't trust the seller then don't buy.  Make the purchase with assuming that PayPal is not part of the process.  Would you buy then?  If not, then don't buy.

You are not buying from PayPal and you aren't really using PayPal to buy; you are using some web selling service.  PayPal is only the payment service and you not should rely on a payment service to protect you from mistakes or bad judgment.

Political powers have a lot of control over customs and financial processes in certain countries.  Some countries have better commerce systems than others.