Seller Protection for a Personal Sale?

[MickG-man]

I have a mint condition, still under warranty, Apple MacBook Pro (my personal computer) that I want to sell to an acquaintance.  I've done this many times as an individual (for myself and my family) and as a professional in my Apple business. I sold the biz a few years ago and have always sold all of my Apple hardware over Craig's List, face to face, cash only, all sales final.  In 20 years, never a problem.

An acquaintance of mine noticed my note on FaceBook about wanting to sell my MacBook Pro and would like to pay me via PayPal ahead of time, and then drive down in a week and pick it up in person.  She's nice, we know her father well, and probably everything will work out okay, but I wanted to understand the risk if she got cold feet or changed her mind after paying me via PayPal.  I think she's doing that so she can use a CC and thus doesn't have the cash.

Basically, I just want to know if she can pull the money back or not, or file a dispute after she has the MacBook Pro.  I would NEVER do this with a stranger, but we do "sort of" know each other even though she lives 5-6 hours north.

Is there any way I can move the money out of my PayPal account once she has paid and feel protected as a seller?  Or can she or PayPal try to reclaim the money if (for example) she drops the laptop after leaving with it, spills liquid on it, or otherwise damages or loses it?  I'm really not the paranoid type.  I tend to be fairly trusting, but I just feel a little weird about her not paying in cash.

I did sell my wife's previous MBP and accepted an ApplePay Cash payment once.  I called Apple beforehand to ask the same thing.  Could the payment be reversed if the previous acquaintance who bought it tried to?  They said "no," and I used the payment instantly to pay the Apple CC I'd just charged her new one on. Supposedly there was seller protection there, but everything also went perfectly and the new owner was super happy, etc...  I just don't know what would have happened had they gotten buyer's remorse or any of the reasons listed above to want to cancel the sale.

Can a nonmerchant seller who sells a computer in person and receives the entire amount as a PayPal payment get scammed or caught up in some lengthy grievance/dispute claim?  Or is there a way to agree that the sale is final?  Or what?

Hive wisdom here deeply appreciated.

Mick

[sharpiemarker]

@MickG-man 

Hi,

If you're new to accepting payments on PayPal, the payment would be subject to a 21 day hold upon receipt. There are ways to get the funds sooner though. Such as providing a shipping tracking number showing proof of delivery or marking the transaction as processed, in your case, and asking the buyer to confirm receipt of goods on their end.

"Basically, I just want to know if she can pull the money back or not, or file a dispute after she has the MacBook Pro."

Yes, PayPal allows the buyer 180 days to report a problem with their transaction, then you and the other party try to come to a resolution or escalate the case for PayPal to decide. The funds will be put on hold in the meantime pending outcome. If you transferred all the money out, then your PayPal balance will be in the negative with PayPal asking you to zero it out and receive it back later if you win the case or you won't have to zero the balance out when you lose since you already done it. With PayPal, you are held liable for any payment received that is later reversed.

Please read seller protection terms which applies whether you're selling as a private individual or a business:

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#seller-protection

If the buyer themselves admit to being at fault within the case then PayPal won't consider it to be Significantly Not As Described and would generally rule against the buyer.

"Can a nonmerchant seller who sells a computer in person and receives the entire amount as a PayPal payment get scammed or caught up in some lengthy grievance/dispute claim? Or is there a way to agree that the sale is final? Or what?"

Yes but what I have seen people do is add terms of sale that are carefully and thoroughly spelled out in the PayPal invoice about what it means when buyer pays the invoice in lawyer speak-like fashion. But at the same time if you sold a defective item, this may not protect you necessarily because the person can do a chargeback if they lose a PayPal dispute. And the card issuer decides the case. Remember, PayPal has to call it for one party and it can be overturned on appeal against or for you or the buyer files a credit card chargeback which again the card issuer decides those, not PayPal.

Bottomline is, you can require cash payment and forgo PayPal if you prefer and those are your terms of sale. If the other person, whoever they may be, does not agree to it, then they do not have to buy it. You could even say you'll hold the item for her to pay in cash when she comes. No cash? No go.

[MickG-man]

Hi Sharpie,

Love the name.  

Quick clarifications.

My PayPal account is well over 10 years old. 

There is no "shipping" involved here as per my description above. This is a face to face transaction where she'll have a chance to see that everything is in working order.  I've sold used computers for 20+ years and there's no way I would "let" anyone buy one from me without seeing it running beautifully first.

The issue is that I can assume zero responsibility from the moment it leaves my possession because there are a half dozen things that can occur I would have no control over (also mentioned above in my initial query).

I need a legitimate all sales are final, no returns, no buyer remorse kind of exchange and just wondered if PayPal offered anything like that.  Even a check, once cleared, can offer that kind of seller protection. I think a bank transfer can too.  CCs do not, since there is a dispute process for buyer protection, but I was wondering if PayPal has any kind of short window of clearance, so to speak.  Like 5 working days or less?  ApplePay Cash seems to, but you have to have an iPhone or iPad for that, and I "think" you can only do that hooked up to a debit card, not a CC.

180 days is great for a buyer, but abysmal for a seller. 

Again, when I was a merchant, we had to deal with the threat of CC chargebacks all the time and that was just part of what you have to do.  In 10 years, I don't ever recall it happening except on our end when there was the shock of an extra 0 added to one of our charges and we worked quickly to clear that up! 

The problem with adding terms in a more formal PayPal invoice is that even a brand new computer can fail for no reason, no fault.  It's unlikely, but not impossible.  We've seen 'em fail about a week out of the box from Apple with no warning.  It's rare, happens less than 1% of the time, but not impossible.

I'm 100% certain that my personal MacBook Pro is as mint condition and well cared for as it can possibly be, but she doesn't know that.  She'll have to trust me and the remaining 6 mos. on the Apple Hardware warranty.

This is why cash is king.  Maybe I have my answer?...