Postal Money Order

Charlie wrote in post #17820267
this is false. Gift has worked well for plenty, but you can get screwed for it.

the scam is linking a credit card as a payment method for paypal gift. The buyer can claim stolen card and do a chargeback, seller is screwed since gift has no protections.

Interesting. I've never had that problem, but I suppose it is possible.

^ I would never gift money to someone I didn't know, because they have no 'requirement' to ship an item. Or is that its is not working, etc.

Bassat wrote in post #17820245
Color me confused. I've been selling on CL using Paypal for years. I've never had to give anyone my checking account number. We usually meet at Starbucks, or some such place. They check the merchandise. If they want it, they pay me with PayPal GIFT (now Friends & Family). I have my money, they have the merchandise, they have NO retraction ability. Please explain the checking account business?!?!?!?!

Done it at least 10 times. If they use gift, there is no changing their mind, as far as I know.

What I was referring to regarding the bank account was pay pal would need my bank account number in order to deposit the purchasers money. Probably safe, but I'm just a bit leery to give pay pal that number. Maybe in time I'll get used to the idea.

At present time, I dont see myself selling very much gear and am more in the acquisition phase. But, was hoping to find a good way to sell my gear without pay pal, thus the reason for the original post.

FWIW as a buyer I prefer the convenience of PayPal. I will pass on a listing that requires a money order or check. Point is that if you limit yourself to only accepting a money order you are likely limiting your buyer base.

For local sales it is craigslist, cash only, and Starbucks. Although here the local camera store and the sheriff's office encourage people to use their locations for CL transactions.

silvermesa1 wrote in post #17820398
What I was referring to regarding the bank account was pay pal would need my bank account number in order to deposit the purchasers money. Probably safe, but I'm just a bit leery to give pay pal that number. Maybe in time I'll get used to the idea.

At present time, I dont see myself selling very much gear and am more in the acquisition phase. But, was hoping to find a good way to sell my gear without pay pal, thus the reason for the original post.

That is between you and Paypal. The other party in your transaction has no access to any of that information. When I sell something, I just leave the money in the paypal account. I use paypal A LOT. So leaving a few bucks there for a few days is fine with me.

silvermesa1 wrote in post #17820002
I have used pay pal as a buyer on FM and it has worked great. I'm a bit apprehensive to use it as a seller since I have to give them my checking account number. Just looking for a reasonable alternative.

You only need to give PayPal a checking account number to initially verify your account. You can open a checking account expressly for that purpose and close it after the account is verified. The downside is that you can't cash-out your PayPal balance; but you can get a PayPal debit MasterCard to spend the balance. I had my PayPal setup that way for seven years without any trouble, only linked a valid checking account when I started selling things on-line.

If you do link your checking account to PayPal I suggest linking a separate account from a different bank than your regular bank account(s). Most banks have the right to offset overdrafts against any account you hold with the same bank. I had a PayPal merchant charge me twice for a $400+ transaction, which overdrew my PayPal-linked checking account. While I was going through the bank's dispute process they decided to offset the overdraft against my separate household checking account, which then caused my mortgage and other payments to bounce. Eventually it all got sorted out and the bank refunded the fees, but it took 2 or 3 months of almost daily effort to get any action.

carpenter wrote in post #17820086
If the buyer files a dispute he still has to show that he returned the item. You would have an electronic copy (text, email messages) showing that the intent was to meet in person to sell the item so the buyer can't claim it was never shipped. The buyer has to show the item was returned to get a refund.

Not so. The buyer doesn't have to return the item. . Rather, he/she can say that he/she never received the item. . They can say that the seller sent texts and emails to arrange the meeting, then never showed up.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17821123
Not so. The buyer doesn't have to return the item. . Rather, he/she can say that he/she never received the item. . They can say that the seller sent texts and emails to arrange the meeting, then never showed up.

Not per Paypal's terms of service for Buyer Protection.
13.3 Ineligible Items. Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection:
For INR claims, items which you collect in person or arrange to be collected on your behalf, including items bought through In-Store Checkout at the retail point of sale

You do realize that back in the days, without PayPal, that was how people trade and sell things on the message boards....There were no other ways back then.