Funds Available to Seller Though A Dispute is Open

[TTurtle]

A couple days ago I made a payment to someone who turned out to be scamming me. They got at least one other person and attempted to trick quite a few more. I opened up a dispute the other night once I saw that there were others he scammed.

As it stands, I can't escalate the dispute until the 4th, but there is a message under this transaction reading "Your recipient should have the money by December 3, 2016". Does Paypal hold or freeze the funds until the dispute has been resolved? I'm concerned that the "seller" will get the money and possibly transfer it before anything can be done about it.

How realistic is that concern?

[DPCreations]

What happens with funds between PayPal and seller is only of concern to the seller; it is not of your concern.

Your concern is about the product YOU purchased and YOUR responsibility to comply with PayPal requirements for such purchases.

If you comply with PayPal requirements for buyer protection, PayPal will take care of your finances if you win a displute opened by buyer.

Details matter:

What was the product?

How did you pay, goods/services or friends/family?

Where was the product listed for sale?

What are the shipping and destination countries?

[TTurtle]

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@DPCreations wrote:

If you comply with PayPal requirements for buyer protection, PayPal will take care of your finances if you win a displute opened by buyer.

Details matter:

What was the product?

How did you pay, goods/services or friends/family?

Where was the product listed for sale?

What are the shipping and destination countries?

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After rereading Paypal's buyer protection page, I can't imagine I wouldn't be covered. Thank you for that.

Sorry for not including these details, I didn't think that they were all that relevant in this case.

The product was a camera lens, a Sony 50mm F/1.4. It was listed (actually I put out an ad looking to buy one, as were the other people contacted by the "seller") on FredMiranda.com, a photography forum I've bought lenses from twice in the past. I was sent an invoice, which I paid, though it was marked as goods/service and had the 3% fee sellers pay. Shipping and destination countries would both be the U.S.

[Whac-A-Mole]

Can you contact the venue owner and ask them,does everyone haveto register to buy and sell?

It is my understanding once you open a dispute,the payment is withheld,usually Paypal sent the money out of its own coffer and then collect it from the cc issuer or the bank .

For new sellers or infrequent seller,he does not have use of the money until he ships and upload tracking.  

[TTurtle]

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@sumiko wrote:

Can you contact the venue owner and ask them,does everyone haveto register to buy and sell?

It is my understanding once you open a dispute,the payment is withheld,usually Paypal sent the money out of its own coffer and then collect it from the cc issuer or the bank .

For new sellers or infrequent seller,he does not have use of the money until he ships and upload tracking.  

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Yes, users of the site need to register in order to buy or sell.

Interesting, thank you for the information.

[DPCreations]

Details are relevant as they determine the outcome.

As for the product, it would be extremely suspect as a scam as electronics are discounted and buyers purchase items at prices too good to be true.

Why do you think it was a scam and why didn't  you think it was a scam when you made the payment?  More details are missing.

An invoice with details and pictures missing should be a warning.

If the dispute is for item not received and there was no tracking, then it should be a simple win with buyer protection.

If the dispute is for item not as described, then the outcome would be uncertain and no buyer protection.  Detals matter.

[TTurtle]

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@DPCreations wrote:

Details are relevant as they determine the outcome.

As for the product, it would be extremely suspect as a scam as electronics are discounted and buyers purchase items at prices too good to be true.

Why do you think it was a scam and why didn't  you think it was a scam when you made the payment?  More details are missing.

An invoice with details and pictures missing should be a warning.

If the dispute is for item not received and there was no tracking, then it should be a simple win with buyer protection.

If the dispute is for item not as described, then the outcome would be uncertain and no buyer protection.  Detals matter.

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"Too good to be true" is exactly the correct phrase. The price was very good, but not completely unreasonable; if it had been I would not have fallen for it.

I have a few reasons to call it a scam. First, communication from the seller stopped after I'd paid him, he'd been quite communicative until that point. Second, like I mentioned in the original post, a number of other people hadn't received purchases from this person.

The seller emailed me photos of the item when I requested them. I made sure to do a reverse image search to be safe and nothing turned up, which is why I didn't think it was a scam before payment.

The item hasn't been received and there isn't any tracking, hopefully it makes for as simple a win as you say.

[DPCreations]

As long as the seller doen't decide to send a toy camera with tracking, you should be OK.

As for images, my recommendation is that images must be part of the invoice.   Pictures sent separately don't have much relevance for a dispute as they may or may not be related to the item..  An inovice should include pictures, descriptions, and itemized shipping.  Lacking the professional invoice details would be a warning to not buy.

[TTurtle]

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@DPCreations wrote:

As long as the seller doen't decide to send a toy camera with tracking, you should be OK.

As for images, my recommendation is that images must be part of the invoice.   Pictures sent separately don't have much relevance for a dispute as they may or may not be related to the item..  An inovice should include pictures, descriptions, and itemized shipping.  Lacking the professional invoice details would be a warning to not buy.

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Ah, but then it would be an "Item not as described" case, wouldn't it?

I wasn't aware that invoices typically contained photos, this one just had a description of the item, thanks for letting me know that; I appreciate your help and reassurance.