Alert!! eBay Paypal scam | FerrariChat

Alert!! eBay Paypal scam

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Artvonne, Nov 29, 2011.

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  1. Artvonne

    Artvonne F1 Veteran

    Oct 29, 2004
    5,379
    NWA
    Full Name:
    Paul
    You can read a lot of complaints about ebay and paypal these days. Issues with holding peoples money, taking money out of peoples bank accounts without permission, etc., but I'm sure like me, most everyone wants to believe its the guys doing something wrong. But that lil nagging voice is still there, wondering...

    So even though I've been a long time, albeit small, eBay seller/buyer with good feedback, I guess it wasn't a big surprise I got an email from Paypal yesterday saying they were placing a 21 day hold on my funds. Plus they want confirmation of parts delivery. Plus positive feedback. Before releasing funds. Not because I got bad feedback or any complaints from anyone, simply because they claim they see a "potential" risk.

    Right now I have sold almost $5K in Ferrari 308 and other used parts, have shipped out over $2K worth of parts, have another big batch ready to ship, and now this. I will not play games with them. I have already begun refunding payments, and will continue to refund more if money transfers that were initiated days ago are not deposited into my Bank. One thing is for sure, nothings leaving here until its paid for. If they wont release funds, I will issue refunds and negate the sale. I also stopped all my auctions that were running that had no bids, and have started contacting buyers that I may be issuing refunds.

    There isn't a business in the world that ships product before receiving funds, yet eBay, in cahoots with Paypal, expect everyone else to do so. Paypal is NOT a Bank, not held to any of the Federal Laws associated with Banking AFAIK, certainly not like Credit Card companies that have to operate under Federal Banking laws, and as a separate entity from ebay, does Paypal really have the right to hold funds without cause? They sure get to collect interest on all that money they take in every day though, don't they??

    I don't know which avenue I will take from here as far as moving this stuff, but I will no longer be using Paypal. And I may just terminate my account with ebay while I'm at it, they have already soaked me nearly $600 for my sales! Thats before Paypal took their cut. Between the two its almost 20% to sell anything.

    What I would like to see discussed, is if there are any laws they could be breaking that someone could bring a case against, or if there is anything that a state's attorney general might get involved in. I would not be surprised that for everyone who speaks up about these policies, many more keep quiet because they feel they look bad somehow. If it were a Bank, there would be a banking commissioner you could discuss issues with, but to my knowledge there is no one overseeing online auction houses like eBay at any level.
     
  2. iamthesimpleone

    iamthesimpleone Formula 3

    Aug 23, 2005
    1,597
    austin, tx
    Full Name:
    Ben
    Your account probably got flagged by an increase in activity.

    Had this happen a few years ago when I started an eBay sales dept for a computer recycling company. Long story short. they put a hold on our funds. Notified everyone that had won one of our auctions or was bidding on an auction to say that our account was being investigated for fraud...

    Haven't used eBay since 06 :)
     
  3. Artvonne

    Artvonne F1 Veteran

    Oct 29, 2004
    5,379
    NWA
    Full Name:
    Paul
    Where is the next best place to sell??
     
  4. fastback33

    fastback33 Formula 3

    Mar 8, 2004
    1,851
    Try Amazon.com, they have their own "money handling" side of the business, which upon initial creation of your account you have to wait something like 14 days for the money to hit your bank account. But it isn't too bad, because it gets placed into you're temporary amazon account until you want to disperse it (send it to your bank). I know they sell small scale auto parts, but you might want to check with them on what is allowable.
     
  5. tifosi308

    tifosi308 Karting

    Jul 1, 2005
    108
    Midwest
    Just enter the tracking number after the sale and it will release the funds three days after the item is confirmed delivered. Using this method you won't have to wait the 21 days or receive positive feedback.
     
  6. 4REphotographer

    4REphotographer F1 Veteran

    Oct 22, 2006
    6,197
    Arlington, VA
    Full Name:
    Chris
    It's still ridiculous, I just sold a lens on eBay and only then found out about the hold.

    This is not so PayPal can help protect the buyer its so that they cut down on their own risk, all the risk now lies with the seller and they still reap a nice healthy percentage of the $$$ with no risk on their end.
     
  7. Artvonne

    Artvonne F1 Veteran

    Oct 29, 2004
    5,379
    NWA
    Full Name:
    Paul
    I did a lot of looking and reading and watching over the last several weeks, and finally settled on OnlineAuction.com. I have watched the volume of items increase remarkably just over the last two weeks, and unlike a few others, you dont have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get registered. Its a flat $8 a month to be a seller with no listing fees, no after sales fees, no commissions, and no requirements as to how you receive payment. Listing items is incredibly simple and the pictures look awesome. If your looking for parts, check it out. I am putting some stuff up on there and will see how it works out.

    I really enjoyed eBay in the beginning, but their increasing greed and contemptuous attitude toward sellers will be their downfall, and sites like OLA will grow from the ashes. I suspect the end of eBay will be similar to what happened with AOL. They will wink out of existence like a supernova.
     
  8. synchro

    synchro F1 Veteran

    Feb 14, 2005
    9,294
    CHNDLR
    Full Name:
    Scott
    I just experienced an ebay - paypal ploy by a seller to back out with negative feedback washed.

    The scenario:
    - I win the Marcel Massini 250LM book at a great price on eBay
    - I promptly pay
    - Seller claims that 2 pages were torn during packing and fully refunds my payment
    - I politely acknowledge but ask to see a photo of the damage,
    - Seller says yes but never sends photo for 2 weeks
    - I leave negative feedback
    - Seller petitions eBay
    - eBay removes negative feedback

    BOTTOM LINE
    So, if a seller doesn't like the ending price, they can come up with any excuse to cancel the sale with no downside to them.
     

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