Stolen/Suspicious items on eBAY - how do you know? are you safe with Pay-Pal if item does not arrive?

Question

Seen a deal too good to be true - I obviously dont want ot buy stolen goods, but really dont want to pay for an item never to arrive - does PayPal insure against this, and so return your money?. Has anyone used Pay-Pal and experienced this, do they stand by their word?

Answer 1

Always check out the persons feedback thoroughly - ask questions and where possible try to collect. If the seller has lots of feedback check what the items were and if there were proper titles on the items and photos. Lots of scammers by positive feedback but the item appears as ~##### of similar. Paypal covers you but it takes agae to get money back.

Answer 2

I have had a couple of problems with buying stuff off E-bay. The first thing was some gift vouchers which never arrived. I actually paid by cheque on this occasion - £70 for £100 worth of vouchers which never arrived - he was just a rip-off merchant. I claimed through e-bay but after they took off the P&P and their £15 admin fee, I only got around £45 back and it took MONTHS.



On two other occasions, when I had paid via Paypal and the goods never arrived, for one item, which had actually gone missing in the post, the man then sent me a replacement after Paypal intervened and the other item, Paypal found in my favour but couldn't give me all the money back as there was not enough in the man's Paypal account.



If Paypal find in your favour, they will only give you the money back if the person has it in their account, they will not take legal action to recover your loss.



In the case of the gift vouchers, I was going to report it to the police but my friend, who is a Detective Sergeant, told me that, although the case would be investigated, the police would not get my money back. I would have to take him to a small claims court and I would then, obviously, only get my money back if I won the case. As the seller was at the other end of the country and I had some of my money back, I decided it wasn't worth the effort.



Just to follow on from what Sarah c said, a certificate of posting can be obtained which is free of charge and covers the item for loss or damage up to a value of 100 x standard class first post. i.e. when a first class stamp was 30p, a certificate covered for up to £30. It proves that the item was posted and offers some insurance too and, as I said, you don't have to pay for it !

Answer 3

Just make sure you pay with PayPal, if the item doesn't arrive you file a claim and they usually are able to recover the funds or get you the item. NEVER use Western Union or Bank Transfer, even cheque, or the buyer's own payment system. They have no protection. The protection system on PayPal is a bit of a hassle but is worth it.

Answer 4

I have not had any problems as you are asking but I have read paypal is secure for up to a certain amount of money coverage. I would trust them, just with anything you ever buy whether it is from the internet or a guy on the corner it would be very hard to tell if it was stolen unless you can get a serial number prior to purchase and actually check with a police department. I would not think you would have a problem with paypal though, it is prety secure and they have a way to get your money back so go for it.

Answer 5

I have had a recent problem with a con man, it was a low level transaction and he had done it to around 40 people I was buying a blue tooth dongle. It never turned up and he took his profile off e-bay. I started a dispute with Paypal which although decided in my favour did not return any money as there was none in the account. I reported the matter to the police and have left it in their hands. I think if it is a larger transaction i.e. over a certain amount there are more things which can be done. Just check the person is paypal verified.

Answer 6

Its not foolproof. Only deal with people who will send your goods recorded delivery or use a reputable escrow service. You'll pay extra but are covered.

Keep copies of all correspondance for a few months after the deal has gone through to cover yourself, arrange everything in writing so you can show you asked and paid for recorded delivery.

A common trick is for buyers to say the goods never arrived when the seller knows they were posted. If its all recorded you are both covered.

Answer 7

Because paypal gets taken from your credit card you will be protected, if an item don’t arrive you can report this to eBay who will look into it and as for goods being stolen you will probably never know if they are or not.

Answer 8

The fact is that with a lot of items such as phones bags etc they are either stolen or fake on eBay with the odd (VERY odd) exception. You either accept it or move on..

Answer 9

Papal offer a safe harbour, ie.e insurance to ensure the sale goes to plan. If it does not then you can complain and get you money back.

Answer 10

General. PayPal Buyer Protection is designed to help buyers

recover funds from eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay.co.uk, eBay.de,

eBay.fr, eBay.it, eBay.au, eBay.be, eBay.nl, eBay.at, eBay.ch,

eBay.es and eBay.ie sellers who do not send the promised goods, or who deliver goods which are 'significantly not-as-described' in the listing,



look here

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_pbp-outside

Answer 11

I hope it does, I ordered a phone last week and its still not arrived so guess I'll soon find out

Answer 12

i guess with paypal u are safe, but just to be sure check the sellers feedback and go to buyers, see if the buyers are complaining.



hope that was helpful!

Answer 13

i don't use eBay, i find that i can get things cheaper else where.