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[Boar-Ral]

I fell for a scam five years ago where I paid for an item using PayPal and the company did not deliver. (The purchase was not initiated on eBay, but through a forum.) In their defence, I have spoken to others that bought from them in the past, but around the time that I made my purchase, the company went bankrupt.

The morale of the story -- this one, not mine -- is that if you see something on eBay, purchase through eBay. If someone asks you to submit payment outside of eBay, you are on your own if the deal goes bad.

[Humdingah]

Originally Posted by Boar-Ral

I fell for a scam five years ago where I paid for an item using PayPal and the company did not deliver. (The purchase was not initiated on eBay, but through a forum.) In their defence, I have spoken to others that bought from them in the past, but around the time that I made my purchase, the company went bankrupt.

The morale of the story -- this one, not mine -- is that if you see something on eBay, purchase through eBay. If someone asks you to submit payment outside of eBay, you are on your own if the deal goes bad.

Even eBay is none too helpful when purchasing things through them and PayPal (which is an eBay company)...they only refund a portion of the monies paid after taking their 'processing' fees and such. You're much better off using a credit card through PayPal and you can dispute directly with the credit card company. On any large purchase I would arrange to meet the person at a bank so they can have the appropriate paperwork signed and notarized and you can give them payment there.

[Boar-Ral]

Originally Posted by Humdingah

Even eBay is none too helpful when purchasing things through them and PayPal (which is an eBay company)...they only refund a portion of the monies paid after taking their 'processing' fees and such. You're much better off using a credit card through PayPal and you can dispute directly with the credit card company. On any large purchase I would arrange to meet the person at a bank so they can have the appropriate paperwork signed and notarized and you can give them payment there.

That is an idea. It might be more difficult when purchasing something like this, though. Though I guess it is cheaper to fly to wherever and find out the person is a scam than to sign your life away!