Secured payment from buyer

[LindsayC]

Hello! I’m trying to sell something I had posted on Facebook. The buyer stated he would pay and got my PayPal info. I received 2 emails supposedly from PayPal. One is a notification of instant payment and the next is a secured payment. It has a transaction ID, but I can’t verify it anywhere. I don’t use this often and I’m just trying to make sure it is real. The email says the money will be released to me when I include shipping and tracking information, but when I actually log onto my PayPal account, there is nothing about a pending payment. He says it will show up when I ship it and include the shipping information. Is that correct? Thank you!

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @LindsayC,

Welcome to our Community Forums! This is a great question, we do not recommend shipping out an item you've sold before you receive the funds into your PayPal account. While PayPal may place holds on a transaction from time to time, you will still see the transaction in your PayPal account. What you've described does not sound like a legitimate sale. Here are a few Help Center articles you may find useful:

What are common scams and how do I spot them?

How do I receive money through PayPal?

Why is my payment on hold or unavailable?

I hope that helps!

 - Jon K