Doing transaction with unknown.

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theultimatebrucelee
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Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by theultimatebrucelee »

Has anyone ever gotten ripped off in the past by striking a deal with a random offer through gallery? Recently had an offer on one of my prized item by a fellow chinese collector. Problem is that the person is in China. He/she give me a Pennsylvania shipping address in email and a different receiver name, but on the paypal payment(dollar converted through yuan), there isn't a verified shipping address therefore I can't be covered at all if something happens. I of course refunded payment right away but when something like this happens, would you guys still consider requesting an alternative payment method if the buyer is willing to cooperate? Perhaps a check or money order? Any online transaction savvy that could pitch in on this?
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Drac of the Sharp Smiles
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Re: Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by Drac of the Sharp Smiles »

You need to be VERY CAREFUL with Paypal. Like Ebay, if there is a problem, they will side with the buyer and you're out of luck if you can't convince them of your situation. The best rules to follow with Paypal (and these are the ones I require when accepting a payment) are:

1) There MUST MUST be a verified address.
2) Ship ONLY to the verified address given by Paypal.

End of story. Do NOT accept a Paypal payment except under those terms. If you do, you're opening yourself up to a lot of risk. Sounds like you did the right thing refunding the payment.

As for how to safely accept payment from this person, I'm not familiar what's available in China. Inside the US, the only alternate payment I would accept would be a US **Postal** Money Order, since once the person sends that and you cash it, it isn't possible for them to take back their money for any reason. Meaning, if there's a problem, they would have to work with ME and not simply screw me over by telling an online service "box didn't arrive, gimme my money back" as they open their package in front of their computer. (If it sounds like I don't trust people in general, you'd be right. ^_^) So I would research if there's some payment method that is equally reliable, but available overseas.
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cutiebunny
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Re: Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by cutiebunny »

I'm always hesitant to doing business with people living in certain countries anyways; China being one of them due to the amount of fraud that goes on, but also other countries, like Italy, who have a notoriously bad postal system. If it's not the possibility of being ripped off, it's post office corruption being the cause of the lost item. The fact that you can't specify certain terms when mailing to certain countries is one reason why I hate E-bay. Making all foreign buyers pay for insurance on a $10 item solely because countries like Mexico, Argentina and Italy can't weed out post office corruption infuriates me, as I'm sure it does with those living in those countries.

I agree with the suggestion of payment in the form of a post office MO. I remember using this often to pay Japanese sellers prior to Paypal (and even now, some Japanese don't want to do business with Paypal) about 15 years ago. Nothing like going to the post office with an envelope of $20s to pay for a postal MO and those standing in line are just glaring at you for being the person that has to have the 20 minute transaction. Good times. I remember that there used to be other services that would send you money orders for a small fee online that you could also use, but this was about 15 years ago and before Paypal. As a seller, I often reference my E-bay account to people and mention to them that, if they need to know if I'm trustworthy, contact me through E-bay to verify that I am the person with that feedback.

I have had transactions with people who have contacted me privately before, the most recent being this week. With this recent transaction, I offered to pay the seller with Paypal and he declined and requested a personal check instead. I thought this was odd as I even offered to cover the Paypal fees, but I was surprised when he sent the shikishi the same day as I sent the check to him. I can't recall ever meeting a seller who sent the item before the payment cleared. I've been lucky that, of the two transactions I've had in the past year where I've been contacted privately, both of them were problem free. Both transactions were to domestic locations. I don't know if I would consider a private transaction with someone living in a foreign country. It's a lot easier to track potential fraud buyers/sellers in the US than it is elsewhere.
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lunacels
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Re: Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by lunacels »

I have been burned by PayPal/eBay before, attempting a transaction with an unverified address. In that case however, I was the buyer, not the seller. The $480 item never arrived, and PayPal only refunded $250 (their maximum, at least at the time). Completely ridiculous! The seller had listed a military APO address. I don't know if that helps, but I would definitely insist on a verified address.

On a side note, I remember standing in line very frequently (like, once a week) for international money orders. The post office workers surely hated me! It was the downtown branch too, so they were always super busy. So glad we don't have to do that anymore!! :P
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theultimatebrucelee
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Re: Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by theultimatebrucelee »

So I told the person paypal verified address only and must be the shipping address for the payment. Now the shipping address is matching the location that he originally wanted the item sent. Its a PA college address. I'm confused though if the person making the payment is in China, but the receiver here is different person thats in PA, how do they verify the condition/stated item? Couldn't the receiver simply tell the payment sender that the item is wrong item or damaged or bad condition and the payment sender could just open case or get their money back through chargeback? There is protection on this transaction apparently but it won't protect item doesn't match transaction. I'm more suspicious that the person didn't even ask me about the condition of the item and does not mention the item in the paypal transaction, for a $650 transaction, he seem to be much more eager to sent me the payment than I am to receive it...I'm debating weather to call the deal off. The offer is good and I'd much rather have the money than item at this point but if some fraud is going on then I would be out of both. Its a pretty tough call and I'm debating, anybody any suggestion?
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cutiebunny
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Re: Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by cutiebunny »

I would ask for clarification. Tell them you're concerned because the person you're dealing with is not the same as the person who resides in PA. Maybe it's something as innocent as "My sibling goes to school there and they'll bring home the item during Winter Break". Although it's a lot harder to tell who is related to who with Chinese last names, if both the payer and the person residing in PA have the same last name, it might be a good sign that they're related.

I'd also ask if they have any feedback anywhere, like an auction site like E-bay, and then contact them through the auction site account. If you get a response and that ID is trustworthy, you might feel more confident to do business with them.
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theultimatebrucelee
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Re: Doing transaction with unknown.

Post by theultimatebrucelee »

The payment sender has a different last name than receiver, the transaction seemed too suspicious, so I decided to cancel it in the end.

Called paypal earlier and they suggested me that although this sender from Beijing seem to have very little issue with their account, the payment is linked through credit. And the sender also added 2 different U.S. address in past 2 months with them. Aside from that, since the sender of paypal has a different address than receiver, I won't be protected as a seller even though the sending address is paypal verified...funny on the transaction it still say seller protection eligible.
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