Yet Another 'PayPal is Evil' Thread

[MintGreenGoblin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill Yes, I love the 30 day thing. Especially from another point of view. Who owns PayPal? eBay. What does eBay do every time you complain to them about any transaction? They tell you you have to wait at least 28 days before registering any complaint, in order to give the seller time to ship the item. So eBay's own policies give you a window of two days.

Don't get me started on ebay. They dont protect sellers, they dont protect buyers...it may be an addictive way to buy things, but if you use it long enough, you are gonna get burned.

 

[AdamWill]

I've never been burned on eBay except by an honest mistake by an inexperienced seller. Of course, I only buy from people with a _lot_ of positive feedback. My only exception was my laptop, which I bought (and paid for in advance) for UKP600 from someone with zero feedback. Didn't have any problem at all, I've had that system four years and it's still going strong. Guess my intuition is good.

 

[Veniogenesis]

I have always avoided PayPal and Ebay at all costs. The number of problems that could theoretically occur is endless. PayPal, however, is perhaps one of the only security measures you can take on in case of a personal transaction between two individuals (as opposed to where one or more parties is an established business). Since I've avoided PayPal, I've also avoided buying stuff on a marketplace.

Head-Fi's For-Sale forum is the first time I've ever bought anything from another individual over the Internet. I liked the experience however. I like how I could check up on a person's integrity in a forum environment: I can look at both their feedback, their involvement in the community, and figure out what kind of people they are through the posts they make. The special thing with forums is that honest people (or you can say "popular" members) are especially wary of their reputation.

With all that said, I prefer to pay through money order. The seller can get a better sense of trust from me this way, and I like being trusted.

Cheers,
Venio

 

[ken36]

What bugs me is the 4 day float.

 

[grawk]

The trick is to not look at paypal as a way to prevent getting ripped off. It's just a convenient way to get paid or pay for an item quickly. Beyond that, it's up to you to make sure you're entering into a deal with a reliable person, or come up with some other way to protect yourself.

 

[Blitzula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk The trick is to not look at paypal as a way to prevent getting ripped off. It's just a convenient way to get paid or pay for an item quickly. Beyond that, it's up to you to make sure you're entering into a deal with a reliable person, or come up with some other way to protect yourself.

Paypal does offer seller or buyer protection per their policy on certain transactions, so I do look at it as a way to avoid getting ripped off.

 

[AdamWill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzula Paypal does offer seller or buyer protection per their policy on certain transactions, so I do look at it as a way to avoid getting ripped off.

I'm interested. Have you actually got a dollar out of either seller or buyer protection?

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzula Paypal does offer seller or buyer protection per their policy on certain transactions, so I do look at it as a way to avoid getting ripped off.

Don't believe everything you read (or at least, read the fine print carefully).

 

[periurban]

Say paypal didn't exist, and all transactions were done by cash through the mail. If an unscrupulous seller absconded without sending the item, would you blame the mail company?

I think it's up to everyone to make sure they are dealing with a reputable seller, and there are lots of clues to that one.

Do they have good feedback? Is it for selling? Is their feedback private? Do they have a genuine looking picture of the item? Is it selling at a reasonable price? Do they have a returns policy? Will they answer messages? Can they email further pictures?

Even after taking all such precautions it's still possible (inevitable?) that you're gonna get ripped off eventually.

That's life. But don't blame paypal.

 

[AdamWill]

I wouldn't blame Paypal if they didn't set themselves up for it by advertising their 'seller protection' and 'buyer protection' all over the damn place. If they were honest and said 'yeah, we're exactly as safe as mailing a cheque' I wouldn't have any problem with them.

 

[periurban]

I don't know what other mail services are like, but the UK service does exactly what paypal does, which is they promise protection but make it so hard to successfully claim that it isn't worth doing for the amounts they protect.

Paypal does a fine job of facilitating economic activity that wouldn't take place any other way. If they are guilty of overstating their case it's excusable in the modern climate of advertising and promotional hysteria and hyperbole.

 

[euclid]

ive done alot of buisness through paypal and i have yet to have a problem knock on wood.

as a seller, only ship to confirmed addresses, always use tracking confirmation.

as a buyer, always be cautious of feedback, get all the terms down before any money is sent, and likewise request a tracking number when the item ships.

what more could you do given any payment method? paypal cant eat the loss if one party is a thief, imagine the scams that would be going on. people would be creating paypal accounts sending items that get "lost in the mail" and then paypal is responsible for reimbersment.

the only solution i can see is more controled C.O.D type payment, shipping comapanies should set up a credit card payment handled by its drivers. ship an item, when it reaches the destination then a credit card for that address must be used for the payment amount you specify as the seller.

 

[periurban]

In actual fact the trust system that is created by the feedback mechanism works pretty well for most transactions, and despite the problems most people are happy to trade most of the time.

 

[Spiritboxer]

Don't do much business on ebay but I've been using paypal for six years with no problem (knock on wood). Closest thing was buying a watch from a guy who said he was in St. Louis and when the watch came it had been shipped all the way from Kuala Lumpur. Strange but the transaction worked out fine.

 

[Blitzula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill I'm interested. Have you actually got a dollar out of either seller or buyer protection?

Nope, I haven't needed it. And that's the value of Paypal...if I was dealing with checks/money orders I would have been at far greater risk over the number of transactions I've done.