BEWARE Paypal Seller Chargeback scam – BBC Rip off Britain

[Harmoney]

The criminal fraudsters are on to this and it recently appeared on BBC TV 'Rip-off Britain'.

I have been a victim myself.

I sold a vehicle bumper on Ebay "Collection only - Cash on collection preferred".

The purchaser paid on Paypal, turned up inspected the item and said "perfect, very happy with it". Witnesses were present.

2 months later, I get a Chargeback for the item original cost plus an admin fee with reason - not despatched / received.

I challenged that, then given reason 'unauthorised activity on buyer's account'.

I provided all evidence to Paypal of the unauthorised debit to my account; collection;  Ebay communication from buyer confirming he has the item and is happy with it and that it is a mistake by his bank. The Police are apparently not interested if the cost of action is more than the loss.

My Paypal account is in debit because of the fraud I have suffered. I am reluctant to restore the balance when I do not accept the debit and see numerous reports of sellers losing their money despite providing evidence of a fraud.

I have protested to Paypal, who have threatened me with debt recovery. Paypal say it will take 80 days to consider my counter claim despite the purchaser's bank having had the evidence of fraud for over a month.

I have stopped using Paypal and Ebay for the time being which is damaging to us all.

It is difficult to get written responses from Paypal about any substantive action they are taking on my behalf.

It seems innocent sellers are being conned and it is time the banks and Ebay woke up to this with more effective action to prevent or resolve it. Otherwise, they will lose customers ... I for one.

Any advice from others who have trod this path would be welcome.

Other platforms are available.

SELLERS BEWARE!

[kernowlass]

@Harmoney

Paypal clearly state in seller protection that items 'personally delivered or collected' are not covered.

That is why Ebay allow you to list 'cash on collection only' on your auction.

I sell quite a few collect items and if a buyer pays by Paypal then I refund them and politely re-state 'cash only' on collection.

Never had a problem, then I have cash in hand / no risk of a chargeback / no Paypal fee.

You chose to sell a collect item and accept Paypal when you were not covered, that was your risk and you unfortunately lost out.

[Harmoney]

Thanks kernowlass

I must admit, I thought I had to accept Paypal as part of the Ebay seller terms and conditions.

Also, I was not aware that Paypal made no charge on money going into my account from customers ... I'll check that out.

Some folk are saying that Paypal generate these 'unauthorised account use' disputes themselves sometimes in which case you won't get your money even when the client wants to pay you.

Future listings if any will be collection only.

[Harmoney]

Although it doesn't help with my current problem, I have found the way forward for future listings from the following advice in the EBay community: "norseway53 wrote: Here's the policy:- http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html Yep and here is the important part.... Additional information Sellers who state in their listing that they accept certain payment methods must not selectively offer those payment methods to buyers or discourage buyers from using those payment methods. This means that sellers must always accept payment from buyers through the payment methods they have selected in their Payment Details section of their listing, including PayPal, and must not act in any way to discourage buyers from paying by these methods. For example, you may not insist that a buyer pay a surcharge, if paying through a certain payment method. Sellers aren't allowed to make statements like: 'Contact us for payment information.' 'Contact us for other payment methods.' 'Contact us for your preferred payment method.' 'I accept PayPal but do not accept credit card payments through PayPal' 'I only accept PayPal if the bid amount is greater than £15' 'I don't accept electronic cheques or e-cheques through PayPal' There's only one exception: Sellers who offer payment on collection may include the following statement in their listings: 'Contact me for payment methods for paying on collection.' Note that last section that I have put in blue font then have a look at the listing page, click on the Postage And Payments Tab and at the bottom of that section you will see that ebay has put: Collect in person You can contact your seller to arrange to pay for and collect your item. The upshot is that while ebay would prefer that you only accept paypal on all transactions they do allow an exception on items that are listed as Payment on collection. The 'Collect in person' section clearly says that the buyer may contact the seller to arrange to the method of payment and when and where to collect thier item. This would at the very least involve the exchange to telephone numbers using the ebay messaging system. Provided you follow these policys to the letter then there is no breach of any ebay rules".

[Harmoney]

I have advice from elsewhere that It is eBay policy that you can not refuse Paypal as a payment method, even if it is inherently unsafe for the seller, as in the case of the OP. There are many other issues with ebay (and regularly discussed on the ebay board) that make ebay unsafe at worst, or a good place to lose money at best for both buyers and sellers. Do you think you're complying with EBay rules?

[Harmoney]

Paypal still retain their original commission. PayPal "Will I get my transaction fee back? If you refund a payment, we’ll retain the fixed portion of the fee you were charged when you received the payment. We’re not charging a fee for the refund, but simply retaining the fee, which has already been collected from your PayPal account."