pay- thingy-pal

[klmno]

I really don't want to spell that out accurately but I'm assuming most here get the "word". Ok- now that I am starting to sell bigger items, people are wanting me to set up an account with p**pal. I'm talking about furniture- I post photos, I describe it and give the brand/manufacture, they look at it. Still, they say they will use this account instead of paying cash. Is that typical?

First of all, I'm thinking it's a "you get what you see" deal and what they see clearly backs up the photos and info I give them. If they can put money into pay pal, they can get cash to give me, right?

I don't want to connect my bank acct with any other type of account or these sales. But I don't want to be unreasonable either. I am wondering what you ladies think- keeping in mind, I need the cash and I need it quickly and not to use on the internet. And I have had the obvious scammers trying to get me to send them my bank acct number and SS# so they can wire me money then they will "send" someone to my house. No, I think they won't. LOL!

I should probably ad too, I'm not talking about thousands of dollars that a person would need to carry on them. They come and look at it, if they want it and they have clearly seen that I am for real and there is no threat in this neighborhood, they can come back and bring cash in a few hours or the next day, in my humble opinion. Is that unreasonable or does everyone use P**pal for things like this? (I do realize that I'm not the most up-to-date person. LOL!)

 

[Marcie Mac]

No, its not typical - and don't fall for it - smells to high heaven like a scam to me, especially if this is any kind of connection to advertising done at a certain site. All you have to do is Google both firms in one seach engine and see the word scam over and over

There is no reason why, if one does truely have money, they can't come up with the cash..

Marcie

 

[klmno]

Ok- thanks! I know I can be a PITA and behind the times sometimes so I just wanted to make sure I was still doing the socially accepted thing. The couple on Sunday- well, they just seemed naive. But this guy tonight- he was emailing saying this stuff and hadn't even seen the furniture in person so it did stink to me.

 

[runawaybunny]

I have used it for years. It's super convenient and I've never had any problems with it. I won't even buy anything on ebay from a seller that doesn't use it because I have had problems there with sellers that didn't use it.

It is very common from what I've seen so you will have a way bigger pool of buyers if you accept it.

Just make sure all of your buyers have verified accounts. If they aren't verified then I wouldn't trust them.

Also I've heard that money orders, western union and even bank checks are often fake. Verified accounts on pp are labeled verified for a reason.

That's just my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Mattsmom277]

I use that method of payment online for purchases and even to send money to a family member who isn't local and doesn't have a canadian account at a bank. It is a legitimate way to send funds and receiving it is risk free in terms of it isn't a cheque that can bounce etc.

However, it is VERY odd and really I can't think of a single valid reason, to need or want to use paypal to pay for something local that is being picked up. I mean, cash exchanged up on purchase and pick up makes sense, not much else does?!?!

The only thing I can think of is this person has funds in a PP account but does not have a local bank account to withdrawl the money out of PP and into in order to convert to cash. I have sold stuff from online games on FB for PP from anonymous players without a problem. However I do have my PP linked to my account so I can withdraw it to cash. The only reason I can see to want to pay with PP is as I said, they ahve money in paypal from something/someone but no account to ge tit out so figure they can use it to purchase from you. If that is the case, they should have told you this to help explain why the asked if they could pay this way.

There are so many scams going on, I wonder if there is something they are trying to pull over your eyes here. I would say no way at all, sorry. I can't see how it could be one but I'm not all knowing either lol. Better to be safe than sorry for sure

 

[klmno]

I can see using it for e bay or other long-distance purchases- but this is all local and advertsied locally. What could possibly be a benefit to anyone to not just get the cash and pay for it when you get it?

 

[klmno]

You snuck in on me,. MM. But I'm thinking like that, too.

 

[muttmeister]

I agree with the last few posts. I've used paypal to buy and sell on the internet for quite a few years and there has never been a problem; it is a fantastic service. That said, I can think of no reason to use it when you are buying and selling locally where you are going to see the person face to face. Actually, I've never even heard of anybody doing that. It sounds like some kind of scam, although I don't see at this point exactly how it would work, but there must be a gimmick someplace.

 

[DammitJanet]

I LOVE PP. I can actually think of reasons to use it for your situation. Say Mrs. M comes to look at your item and likes it but wants to talk it over with hubby. They decide to buy it. She can do a PP purchase with you that afternoon after confirming with you that it hasnt been sold so you know it is now sold to them.

When you set up the account, you do attach your debit card or credit card to the PP account but no one else can get your money out of it unless you are paying someone else. They simply pay you by entering your email address that is associated with that PP account. The money is put in your account most often the same day or next day depending. You get an email saying you have a PP payment. I have used this quite often both making payments and receiving money. Never one problem. I refuse to take checks or money orders. Actually these days I dont much like cash because so much is counterfeit. Also with PP, you have a resolution center that will step in if there are problems so you are protected up to a certain amount of money...something like 2K.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

k,

don't do it. PP is great for someone who is actively selling or buying online (I have both a buyer and a seller account for my bay stuff). However, you have to pay a percentage to PP for all your received transactions. CraigsL has been opened to the scammers emailing folks with offers way above asking prices and "creative" ways to pay the seller. Heck, I listed easy child's car on CL, sold it in less than 12 hours, and I'm still getting an occasional scammer offering me more money than I sold it for (even though I changed the ad to sold) four weeks later.

Someone local who wants to purchase a table or such for a couple hundred dollars or less doesn't need PP. Cash only is the absolute policy for what you are doing.

My opinion.

Sharon

 

[DaisyFace]

Here's my impression--

These folks might NOT have the cash - they MIGHT be looking to use a credit card to pay for this stuff....and because you are a regular person and not a retailer like Kmart - they know you don't take credit cards. BUT if you have a paypal account - they CAN use a credit card to pay for your garage sale items.

What exactly are you afraid of losing by accepting a paypal payment?

 

[Fran]

I'm a big pay pal fan too. Like runnaway bunny, I love the convenience and the security.
Having said that, if I only had a few items to sell and it was local I would probably not go through the hassle. You may lose some shoppers but you have to way the pro's and cons.

 

[CrazyinVA]

If you do choose to accept Ppal, I would suggest adding a few dollars to the price of your item to cover the fees that may be associated with accepting a payment. Whether there are fees incurred, depends .. if the buyer chooses "personal" as the transaction type when sending you the money, no fees will be incurred normally, but if they choose a purchase as the transaction type, there are extra fees. You can calculate them on the Ppal site. Just telling someone you'll increase the price if they want to use Ppal, may discourage them enough. I have also noticed that if I transfer money from Ppal to my checking account, it takes 2-3 business days, so, in your situation, it may not be the way to go since you want immediate access to the money you are paid. I agree, I see no reason to use Ppal for a local sale transaction.

All that being said, I use Ppal frequently when setting up events for my Meetup groups, and find it reliable and safe.

 

[Shari]

While I wouldn't use PP to buy something local, I can see some of the points here. Like being able to use a credit card, etc. Also, on bigger ticket items, PP offers a "protection" service, so if something about the transaction goes wrong, you can sometimes get your money back. I can see it being valid.

I use it frequently. I've paid bills using it, I always use it when shopping online, and I sold a couple of horses several years ago to folks who were far away, and I took the payments via PP. I had a couple of online transactions go bad (my son bought a go-cart motor that was bad, and something else that was never received) and we got our money back on those purchases.

So...I can see it being valid. I'd also use caution.

 

[DammitJanet]

I was going to say I never had fees for personal funds transfers but that was just covered. People have sent me money to cover a share of expenses from time to time and it sure easier than sending a stamp and a check.

I really doubt I would use it for a yard sale but...tons of folks have blackberry's now that they do all their purchases on that are connected to their accounts. We are in the techno world...lol. Why carry cash when a gadget will do?

 

[klmno]

Well, ok, after reading all this I have decided not to use it. The couple that came over the weekend did tell me the issue was that they wanted to draw the money from their credit card and put it in PP, but as I told them, they can draw on the CC and get cash then. My biggest concern was whether or not a person could somehow stop payment- similar to a person who writes a check, picks up an item, then stops payment on the check before the person has a chance to cash it. And I worried about someone hacking into it. But I have my prices so much lower than what stuff is really worth in order to sell it quickly, I honestly don't think it should be me that goes to additional trouble to get paid for it. And I'm sure not willing to wait a few days for it to go thru or pay fees for it.

 

[Lothlorien]

I've had a PP account for years. I've used it for ebay, but there are a lot of other places that take PP for payment too and it is super convenient, especially when my cc is in my car and I don't feel like searching for it. I love, love love PP.

 

[Marguerite]

With PP, if someone stops payment, they have to justify it. You can then dispute it and it gets investigated. And if they are in the habit of doing this, PP will know about it fast and will take action. They have a reputation of doing this so people tend to not try to scam using PP.

I got a PP account ten years ago, when I had books to sell overseas. Then there were problems with the market (nothing to do with PP and I stopped advertising. husband uses the account from time to time to buy stuff overseas. Our Aussie banks charge usorious rates for changes in currency - I got paid in $US a few times and found out the hard way when a bak charged me A$17 just to deposit the US cheque to my account. This doesn't happen with PP.

ALso if you are concerned, you can link PP to a dedicated debit card for a dedicated account that you keep only a few $$ in, and use just for PP.

We have dedicated credit cards. One we use only for medical expenses, it helps us keep track of them for budgeting and tax purposes.

Marg

 

[DammitJanet]

People who havent used PP seem to think it is harder than it is or that it will be easy for someone to scam them or hack their bank accounts. Its not gonna happen. PP is extremely secure. Its more secure to use PP than take a money order or even some twenty's or even a hundred dollar bill. You dont have one of those pens to check a bill for it being real. Nowadays, people can even get over on that. I refuse to take a money order for anything now because I know someone who got stuck with a phony one.

I guess I would do a yard sale with smaller items with cash but selling on ebay or craigslist, it would be PP only.