What to do (ebay weary)

you load it up and drive it there and he ain't there. you loose again. then his buddy will tell you to wait and after 6 hours nobody is around. Then he'll tell you to just leave it and he'll send you the money.

Ask me how I know

and was a real nice guy, too.

Frank

 

I always buy cars on Ebay and pay through paypal. Then I send a transporter to pick them up. There are some honest people out there. I have also sold three cars on Ebay with paypal. I have gotten my money everytime and that was with transporters picking them up. Two of the guys said "god bless" after every sentence. No joke! If you dont mind the fees its no big deal and people usually bid a little higher since they can put it on the credit card. Just so everyone knows I do a ton of business with paypal. They are actually real convenient even though I know most people on here hate them. First off they cannot remove money from your account if you have already withdrawn the money. Simple solution dont let money sit in your account. There are no fees if a person pays with an echeck. Read all the fine print. Call the company and ask all the ins and outs. If you know all the rules and legalities you will have no problem with them. Just my 2cents.

 

First off they cannot remove money from your account if you have already withdrawn the money.

No they can't but as noted, they can and have turned accounts over to collection agencies.

Many people have used them successfully. From reading 53's posts from time to time I get the feeling he can't afford the loss. The potential is real and not some "what if".

If they want the car and they are coming after it, they can bring the cash. echecks also take days to clear.

 

Funny they don't seem to be bothered that the car has no title, as well. No paper work.

 

I buy cars all the time with no paperwork.

 

Paypal is a GREAT company,,, right up to the point you get screwed out of the money AND item. They struck 3 times with me. First two were under $100 each and I USED to do a LOT of business through them, so I wrote it off. Last one was $1500,,,, never again. Cash in hand or the buyer can wait till his check clears.

 

Hope it works out...God Bless

 

I'm with the "cash only" crowd.

And don't refund any cash, if you refund, do it through paypal. A buddy of mine lost that way. Guy complained when he got home and Paypal reversed the payment after my buddy had already given him cash. Double whammy!

 

Some of you guys are so full of shit.

Paypal can not take money out of your checking account or credit card. Doesn't happen.

Obviously the buyer here is a US resident and is fully willing to give out his address, that's where he wants the car delivered. This is not some Nigerian 419 deal.

Withdraw the money from your Paypal account as soon as you get it and have whoever comes to pick up the car sign something so you can prove it was delivered. Then you have some legal proof. Wouldn't hurt to record who the delivery guy's name was and a licence plate number if you're that paranoid.

I think a lot of you guys have old-guy internet paranoia. I know some of eBay's new rules are frickin' insanely stupid and always favor the buyer but if you're gonna sell on eBay you gotta play by their rules.

This doesn't scream "scam" to me, just sounds like a buyer wanting to pay with Paypal and have someone else pick up the car.

If you don't go through with it you could end up fucking yourself out of $125 in eBay fees and losing out on a good buyer.

 

I just got screwed out of $55 from Paypal. Sold a game to a dude in France and since the tracking showed it WAS delivered in France and NOT delivered at his ACTUAL ADDRESS, they refunded HIM the money, so I'm out the game AND $55. Please don't accept anything but cash. I was irate and that was only $55. I'd probably punch a midget to death if it was $700.

 

None of which means a darn thing to Paypal.

 

I agree 100 percent. I buy and sell a lot of cars.
I am a full blown Christian all the way, BUT if someone keeps talking about God in a transaction or job interview, they are most likely going to rip you off one way or the other by the time it is all over.
Wil
www.sakowskimotors.com

 

I started a thread on this very topic a month ago after I listed a car on eBay. Got the same odd email about the car from someone in Mid America about a 20 year old used car. Happened before with another daily driver. I think the use PayPal, grab the car, crush it for the scrap value them get PayPal to refund the money somehow. i hope it workes for you, what is the guys FEEDBACK rating? If it is five or less you may be in trouble.

 

Exactly. One of those uder $100 things Paypal took me for was,,,,, right before I went on a 2 week vacation, Paypal said the guy never got his part. I copy pasted the tracking number directly off of the Fed ex ground website proving in fact, he had recieved it. hen I got home after 2 weeks, they had ruled in the guys favor. I contacted Paypal, they told me "no such tracking number exsited". I typed it in,,, worked fine. Double checked ALL the numbers I sent PP. Worked fine. Then I noticed when I copy/pasted the numbers it had the dashes like this 0000-0000-0000-000 , if you took out the dashes like this 0000 0000 0000 000, it went through. They reversed their decision BUT until the guy returned the returned money MY ACCOUNT was held in a negative. I had to make up that negative to use them again. Guy was refunded the money from Paypal, even after a legit tracking number,,, plus he got the parts.

 

PayPal has the word Pal in it. This must mean that they are your bestest, trustworthy pal ever. Or what about .... run Forrest, run !

 

plus Paypal charges you a % of the amount. Just take cash. god bless you

 

The buyer here has 778 feedback, I really highly doubt this is some kind of scammer trying to rip you off.

I've been buying and selling on eBay since '02, and I have done over 4000 transactions. This one sounds pretty legit to me. Paypal is not that easily corruptable, contrary to what everyone here is saying.

Do what you want, take whatever advice you feel most comfortable with. I'm not going to comment here anymore. But I really think you're going to fuck yourself out of a lot of $ in listing fees and a good buyer if you flake out on this. I'm damned sure eBay won't refund your listing fees because you weren't willing to take Paypal from your buyer. You can bet on that. Hopefully the guy will agree to pay cash and this will all be a moot point.

I just don't see what everyone is getting so up in arms about.

 

it sounds more legit than some sketchy transactions ive had come through - but someone said it in thread before - Id have the dude forward the balance to the guy coming to pickup and then you have cash in hand - i do feel most confident on paypal transactions over others from Ebay, but if your sketchy about it, usually theres a reason

 

If the buyer has 778 feedbacks it sounds like a liget deal.

 

You'd think that. but I've had people screw me who had great feedback. Here's my favorite classic - guy used Buy it Now on a '55 DeSoto grille. I say, can you give me a few days to get some kind of a box together for this and get the shipping quoted? You don't find a box 60" long every day (at the time I didn't think to get a refrigerator box). I write back with the total, he tells me his wife is sick in another state and he doesn't have the funds right now, can I let him out of the deal...

Well, lo and behold the guy is still bidding left and right, and it turns out he bought parts to another grille for less money in the meantime. To top that off, he has a neg from another seller where he used the same excuse six months earlier. He was so full of shit you could have fertilized half of Texas with his ass. And he's the one who starts in with the Lord routine.

Now in his feedback, he had a total of four negatives after I was done with him - one from me, one from the guy he'd backed out on, and two from someone selling exhaust parts. This out of over 300 positives - he more than met the mythical "98.5% and above is good, everyone below is bad" standard that people threw around over there before they had the star rating thing. (I say mythical because it seemed to change by the day and the thread on their boards, anywhere from 95% to 99.5% was the minimum standard to be a "good" member).

I did luck out though, because someone else bought it a few weeks later and for more money.. and was more than happy with it after I made a box for it out of three others and packed it up good.



Now it could be this guy is completely legit, but why take a chance? Unless you can afford to lose the money. We know the buyer's feedback but we don't know if the account has been active all along or was idle and someone phished the password to it somehow. Does this buyer buy other cars and car related items? The worst part is say he has scammed someone - since May, you can't neg them for it, and eBay doesn't do much about it unless there are multiple complaints on the account. So there is no way to know.

What I would do, personally, is ask the guy if it would be a big hassle to send you cash, or send a USPS money order (they're good up to $1500 now). If he needs a reason why, just tell him you can't afford the fees Paypal is going to take out of that $700... a little over $20 if they're still getting just 2.9%. If the guy is a legit buyer, he should have no problem paying you another way - especially if you said Cash Only in the auction.

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Not calling you out Squablow, but I have read where people have claimed if they verify their checking account with Paypal, Paypal can and will take money out of your checking to satisfy a negative balance - even if it overdraws the checking account. To this day I never verified my account with them because of those stories. Maybe that's changed since then, but I figure why risk it? You can beat it by having an account specifically for recieving the money and transfering the funds out right away, but that's more hassle.

 

Money talks.....
You just have to make up your mind that it's cash or nothing, even if you do really
need the money right now. The sad thing these days is that they even forge
cashiers checks and other instruments once deemed safe. And PayPal probably
does what these guys say they do....although I've had no problems with my hundred
or so transactions.
It would seem the buyer could send cash with the pickup driver,
give you his phone number so you could call to confirm you got that cash, then you
can write the buyer a receipt/bill of sale.

I'm also leery of people who constantly say "God Bless" and similar
religious terms.....oft times those who profess to be the holiest...are
not.

 

PAYPAL = FREE CAR FOR BUYER.

You don't have a UPS or Fedex tracking number?

Money refunded to buyer without questions.

Protest all you want, he still gets a free car.

PayPal will send your account to Collections if you don't return the money.
It doesn't matter to them who has the car if you don't have a tracking number.
Even if you DO have a tracking number, a credit card chargeback from the fellows card company will still remove your money and PayPal can't stop it even if PayPal did agree with you.

All he has to do is say "wrong color" to the card company and he gets the money back.

If you thought it was risky before- just wait till the new eBay Animal House rules start showing their results.
Thousands of sellers have fled eBay, and the number is certain to get bigger.
The PayPal side of it isn't much better than eBay.

Good luck.

(Pssst- if you are WEARY, take a break. If you are WARY, take precautions)

I agree- many if not most who keep telling you how honest they are, over and over, (I'm very religious and honest, cant you tell that when I say God Bless?) are often crooks thinking that it is a great disguise to use. The honest ones do not try to convince people, they just practice honesty without needing fanfare.

 

just have him pay cash, that way you save on the paypal fees too.

 

It is unfortunate that Paypal and eBay can't be trusted, but neither can the people who like to you... Protect yourself and take cash.... just my $.02

 

Actions speak louder than words. These So called Godly people make it hard on REAL Christians. Definteley be on guard. You should be able to determine if someone is a Godly person without them saying it.

 

In George ($$$) I trust, In PayPal - NOT! - especially for any high-ticket items. COD, in good old American greenbacks. No problem cashin' 'em, no problem spendin' 'em and no interest or fees - their all yours. Too many scammers out there to assume this one isn't. Unfortunately the honsest ones get hung out too.

 

What he said.

 

theres a sucker born everyday

 

CIF is the only way to go. (Cash in Fist) Make sure that car stays with you until you have the actual $$$ in your hand and then get a notorized bill of sale and title if you have one. Make sure the VIN # is on the bill of sale.