paid for an item that I bought on Gumtree but - never received the item

[Sebastian1970]

Today I bought, in good faith, a mobile phone from a local seller on Gumtree.  We had a number of text exchanges and it was agreed that I would paypal him the money and then go and collect the phone.  O did this only to find that he did not live at the address given.  He will not respond to any further messaging and has rejected my countless requests to reimburse me.  Help....

[kernowlass]

@Sebastian1970 

How did you pay ie which paypal option?

How did you fund it ie which funding source?

[Sebastian1970]

I clicked on the 'pay individual, friend or family' - I'm realising that I should have clicked on the pay for a service or product.  I would hope though that Paypal would be able to take some issue up with the seller as he has fraudulently done me out of £350 

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Sebastian1970 

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 it enables the seller to evade his paypal fees and negates your buyer protection at the same time. That is also why you would be unable to open a dispute apart from an unauthorised transaction (if your account was hacked and used without your consent).

Your only hope is if you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you but unfortunately again as it was a 'gift' of money they may decline as well.