My brother recently won an auction on eBay for a DVD box set for £35. As soon as he won the auction he paid the seller through PayPal.
Is there a likelihood that the seller will just not send the item? He’ll obviously get very bad feedback but for £35 I would have thought it’s worth it.
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Category: Answers
11 Comments
18:05, 19.02.2010
nope, paypal (an Ebay company) has buyer protection, subject to how you funded the purchase. Plus Ebay is aware who owns the seller account. Failure to ship paid goods could have significant legal repercussions.
This does happen occasionally through account takeovers and identity theft.
13:52, 19.02.2010
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16:11, 19.02.2010
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00:51, 20.02.2010
Ask yourself this; if you were the seller, wouldn’t it be stupid to send out an item before you receive payment?
eBay insures purchases now, in case of fraud.
02:21, 20.02.2010
It is standard practice to pay for the item + shipping, up front; unless other arrangements have been made. If the item is expensive, like a car, something like escrow.com can be used to protect both parties. We’ve bought & sold on EBay for years & so far it has only been bidders who’ve given us the short stick.
06:47, 20.02.2010
The norm is that buyers first pay — before sellers ship the item. Majority, if not all sellers, will not send the item before the payment is received (and if check, after the check has cleared) — the savvy seller that is.
And yes, there are bad sellers who don’t send the items. Hence reading the feedback is important as it gives you the idea of how the seller has performed in the past
If there are warning signs — e.g. feedback is not good — be sure you are protected in terms of payment. Pay with credit card so if the seller never shipped you can request for a chargeback
09:48, 20.02.2010
Paypal keeps track. Very likely the seller will send the item within a few days. But if it doesn’t arrive after a reasonable time, have him contact Paypal. I have used it several times and never had a problem.
11:34, 20.02.2010
Look at that from the other point of view – is it stupid for the seller to send the item before receiving payment for it?
I understand the preferred, indeed the usual, sequence of actions is that you pay first and then receive the item. I suppose the logic behind that is if a criminal activity is taking place (ie. stealing money or stealing property) it would be easier to recover the money than it would be to recover the item. As I understand it, PayPal provide protection for this situation anyway.
But if you don’t trust the seller, don’t buy from them!
18:23, 20.02.2010
Let’s rephrase the question. Is it stupid to ship something to a buyer on ebay without receiving payment?
It is a chance you take.
20:50, 20.02.2010
he’s smart for paying him through Paypal….as opposed to sending him a money order or something like that, and if you know of any way to receive something before you pay for it let us all know
23:26, 20.02.2010
In most, if not all auctions, the buyer is expected to pay before the sender ships the item. Look at the seller’s rating. If they have alot of positive feedback, they will likely send the DVDs at described. If they have alot of negative feedback, then you might have problems. But if you never receive then, and the seller is no help, then file a complaint with PayPal.