England

[abb1e]

I started a dispute against a girl after I still hadn’t received my item and she had conveniently “lost the receipt” even after I paid for tracking. This has also happened to at least 2 other people for the same product and she refuses to give us a refund because she claims it’s been shipped when it clearly hasn’t. This happened on depop where she asked me to pay separately on paypal through family and friends to avoid fees so I did and I’m not sure if that’s my fault or not. My request was denied and I was just wondering if anyone knew of any other ways I can try and get my money back.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@abb1e 

A friends / family (or gift payment) is intended as a transfer of funds from family or friends to one another. For this reason, there is no processing fee when payment is made with bank or PayPal balance.
However as it is a “gift” payment, there is also no Buyer protection as no goods or services should have been exchanged.

If he was not a close mate or family member you should never use that option as you are helping the seller to evade paying his paypal fees and negating your buyer protection at the same time. You would also not be able to open a dispute apart from one citing an unauthorised transaction but that would be automatically closed as you did authorise the initial payment.

You also 'risk' having your account limited as using that option for purchasing goods is against Paypal rules.

If you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you but unfortunately they may decline as well as it was a gift payment.