There are some paypal scams out there, I would recommend meeting this buyer in person. Personally I wouldn’t accept any sizeable payment thru paypal for the reason that some other person could be scammed in process. Think about it, it is possible that he might advertised something else and he may ask interested party to make a payment to YOUR paypal account. The scammed party would make the payment, he would arrange car pick up from you, and this 3rd person won’t recieve a thing in return.
So be carefull.
PS:** you want me to change thread title to PAYPAL?**
hmmm, what difference would it make lol
any ways thanks for the advice
For starters, in a genuine situation, Paypal gives the buyer peace of mind that if the merchandise being promised by the seller does not meet the specifications that were laid out in the original posting, then the buyer has a recourse in this case. So, if this buyer is genuinely interested, then they might consider Paypal to be the safer option to purchase online.
For you as the seller, there are also some assurances provided by Paypal. You should check whether the buyer’s account has been verified by Paypal and whether there have been problems in the past with commercial transactions with that account.
So all in all, Paypal tends to be a good bet for online commercial transactions if used effectively… “effectively” being the keyword!
Like Xeno said… be very very wary of scams and frauds. Usually, it’s sell-side scams that are more prevalent, but I’ve also heard of scams from “potential” buyers of merchandise. Xeno’s given one good example… another one which I’ve read about involves the buyer using an e-check to make a payment through Paypal but the check takes 7 business days to get cleared, while Paypal shows the payment being “processed” earlier than that. So some sellers had handed off the merchandise only to realize that the actual funds were not really in their accounts… and in most cases, Paypal was unwilling to cover the funds.
In the case of cars, many sellers erroneously assume that such frauds and scams might be covered by their insurance companies but they’re NOT… because an instance of fraud of funds is often considered culpable negligence. So don’t fall into that trap.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t engage in transactions through Paypal… but make sure you take the necessary precautions. 1: Ask for a verified paypal account linked to the buyer’s identity ; 2: make it very clear that you are only going to release the car once the funds appear in your account… not just based on payment processed status on Paypal ; 3: you should still follow normal due diligence practices that you would follow if you were selling the car person-to-person - e.g. making a purchase agreement.
Good luck with everything.
thanks for your time.
and as i predicted in my head lol he replies
“Thanks for accepting my offer,i am buying the car for dad and i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer and i really want the car to be a surprise for dad so i wont let him know anything abt the car until it gets delivered to him , i am sure he will be more than happy with the car.I insisted on paypal because i dont have access to my bank account online as i dont have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address so i can make the payments asap for the car and pls if you dont have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com.au and get it set up , after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so as to put the money through.I have a pick up agent that will come and pick the car up after i have made the payments.”
