hardbop200 Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Hey all, I was thinking about posting some old gear up for sale, and I've been considering different ways to accept payment that protects both buyer and seller. Is Paypal a safe way to go? Can a buyer defraud me using this method? What about they buyer - are they protected in the transaction? I'm hoping that those of you who have sold keyboard gear in the past can help me find the best way to sell my junk. Thanks, Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardbop200 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 I guess I should say that I was thinking of posting this gear in the appropriate places, i.e., not this forum eBay, HC, craigslist, etc. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Loving Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 PayPal is ok. Post the gear in the garage sale site on the board. Good luck selling it. "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnCap Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Paypal offers little to no protection for the buyer provided the seller wishes to defraud them. And if paypal decides to freeze your account, say if they think you defrauded someone, they can do so fairly arbitrarily and indefinitely. That said, it is the easiest way to accept money on the net, and it allows you to accept credit cards. I use it. The moral is, don't leave much money in your paypal account, and don't buy from people you don't trust using paypal. Also, pray that some company that is more customer oriented comes along to replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardbop200 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 daviel, Where is this garage sale site? Is it a thread, or a "room?" Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Loving Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 I bumped it up to the top for you. "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardbop200 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Thanks, I appreciate it. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDragonSoun Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 If your really concerned about selling gear and getting ripped off, you can use an internet escrow company. Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardbop200 Posted October 3, 2005 Author Share Posted October 3, 2005 Chris, Thanks for the tip. Can you recommend one or two companies that do this? Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Link Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 escrow.com saved me some trouble as a buyer when some merchandise got damaged in shipping. For a seller, it doesn't offer any advantage over waiting for the check to clear for certain, so I don't see any reason for the seller to pay the fee. It is either expensive (to use a credit card) or slow (using a check). Take your pick. aka âmisterdregsâ Nord Electro 5D 73 Yamaha P105 Kurzweil PC3LE7 Motion Sound KP200S Schimmel 6-10LE QSC CP-12 Westone AM Pro 30 IEMs Rolls PM55P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDragonSoun Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 escrow.com was company I was going to recommend as well. I had only had one issue with them. They don't work within Arizona. They are facist, racist pigs who obviously have something against Arizonans. As an edumacted indivual I find it proposterous that this type of behavior exist on the internet. I mean if you prick me do I not bleed? If I crap does it not smell? Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Coury Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 PayPal is wonderful in many ways -- I use it almost exclusively. But the seller can get screwed. This happens when someone steals the PayPal password of a legitimate user. They go in, and alter the shipping info. Then they buy your item. You can have money placed sent to you, only to have PayPal withdraw it again if they find out the deal was the result of fraud. Even if you withdraw this money from you PayPal account, PayPal willo give you a negative balance, and any money you collect in the future will go toward repaying that balance. Here is advice for avoiding this: check the eBay buyer information (address, phone number) and compare this with the info this person has listed for their PayPal account. If things look fishy, DONT SHIP item....call the buyer and explain the situation. If it still sounds fishy, refund the PayPal payment and re-sell your item "Oh yeah, I've got two hands here." (Viv Savage) "Mr. Blu... Mr. Blutarsky: Zero POINT zero." (Dean Vernon Wormer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pierce Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Originally posted by Silver Dragon Sound: If I crap does it not smell? I suspect that it probably does. However, if you tell me it doesn't, I believe that I'll just take you at your word. No proof required. --Dave Make my funk the P-funk. I wants to get funked up. My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDragonSoun Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Well I know you'll clearly understand when I say its a good thing you don't have a Dodger avatar. If you did that would have required a batch of my best crap sent directly to your home and work. As you can tell I grew up in the SF Bay Area and was brought up in a typical baseball home. Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive - Rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartolomeo Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 I don't use paypal after a bad experience. Where the dollar amounts are small I avoid paypal on principle. Where the dollar amounts are significant I avoid paypal because it's unsafe. As a seller, payment is never completely finalized. Their terms of service permit them to retract payment any time they want, by transfering money back out of your bank account. There is no time limit for them, there is no recourse to the courts for you. As a buyer, paypal will not help you with any problems. You have to work with your bank or credit card company, and their policies are variable and are often deliberately burdensome, requiring notarized statements in some cases. The one time I sold high-dollar gear on the internet, I had the buyer wire the money to my bank account. I'm in the U.S., buyer was in France, and everything went fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Coury Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 >> Their terms of service permit >> them to retract payment any >> time they want, ...true, but the same would apply when you accept credit cards -- they can do "charge backs" on fraudulent deals, meaning they take the money back. >> As a buyer, paypal will not help you with any >> problems. Not true in all cases -- if you follow the rules they have decent buyer protection. But you have to follow the rules -- just like the rules credit card companies have for disputing a charge. "Oh yeah, I've got two hands here." (Viv Savage) "Mr. Blu... Mr. Blutarsky: Zero POINT zero." (Dean Vernon Wormer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnCap Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 As far as I can tell they offer little more buyer protection than one would have if you sent cash. The one time I did get scammed on ebay, I reported the guy to paypal. It was determined by paypal that the guy stole from me. I got nothing back. If there was an easy way to avoid using paypal, I would never use it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K K Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Never experienced a problem with Paypal. It's not Paypal but the people you deal with that cause problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 I use PayPal to buy and sell, but I am very careful and do it only through Ebay. I always check ratings and make sure they have a long term history. I don't sell to people with no feedback, and I only ship to a verified address. And maybe most importantly, I don't sell anything worth over $500. Most scammers don't bother with little stuff. They look for a big score, thus my Karma and Yamaha A5000 still sits useless in my house. Selling here can be a be secure. There are many people here that I have not met, but I would feel safe selling to because they have been around for so long. Robert This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Peasley Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Like with many things, Paypal is not 100% safe, and there are horror stories. You can read all about the horror stories on Paypalsucks.com But credit cards aren't totally safe, any kind of mail order isn't totally safe, any kind of internet buying isn't totally safe, either. So what I do is this - I use Paypal for stuff I sell or buy on eBay in the $100 - $800 range. Once I sell something, and there is money in my Paypal account, I clear the money out either by buying stuff on eBay or requesting a check. That way, if the horror stories about "frozen" Paypal accounts are true, there's nothing for them to "freeze". I also check out my buyers as far as possible and communicate with them via email. I've gone so far as to call them on the phone, even talked to one guy's employer just to check him out. And I am fair and prompt and package things well, so my feedback on eBay is 100%. So far I've had no problems at all with either eBay or Paypal, but I know it's possible to get screwed, so I just try to be smart and even a bit paranoid. And I've bought and sold a fair amount of music gear this way. Can't beat the prices, I'll tell you that! M Peasley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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