Need advise: selling a lens on the site using paypal, but can I get scammed?

I'm curious, I am close to selling a lens to someone on the site who has been a member since 2007, but only has 7 posts. He offered to send me the money via paypal first and then I could send him the lens. He doesn't have any feedback on this site.

The address he said to use ended with:
APO, AP 96266

That raised a red flag with me, but I guess It's a military address for S. Korea, but setup in the US?

So, as long as I receive the paypal money first, I should be OK correct?


Thanks!

Christian

paypal is good, just make sure the funds are there before you ship the lens.

If my spidey-sense was warning me, I'd wait for another buyer.

Any APO address is US military but keep in mind shipping will take longer then normal. You will also want to be sure it's insured since there is more then one exchange of hands in the process.

http://www.apoaddress.​com/apoaddresscountry.​html

i dont see anything wrong with it if it's a legitimate address from his paypal account when he sent the payment. Just add signature confirmation and insurance.

just wondering did he pay you using paypal gift or did he use the paypal goods method?

Make sure you do not use the "gift" method where the seller pays no fees. There is no seller OR buyer protection that way. Use the standard "goods" method and send the buyer an invoice. Also make sure to ship via track-able method and get insurance - if the package doesn't arrive and there was no insurance the seller can be liable as far as paypal is concerned. Make sure to ship only to a Paypal verified address.

Ship insured, with signature required. That way if it's lost or damaged you're covered by insurance and the signature helps protect you from the "I never received it" argument.

Paypal will omly cover you if that is the refistered paypal address. If you send it through a trackable method to that address you should be fine.

Did you establish lines of communications outside of this forum?
Did you ask him about the APO address?

You shouldn't be alarmed just because of the APO address. Just like the previous suggestions, as long as the buyer has a verified PAYPAL address and insurance fees are factored into the deal, then you're covered. Some people will have minimal posts on a forum but if they have verifiable feedback from other sources like E-Bay or Fred Miranda then that should suffice IMHO.

I've sold 2 L lenses on the forums here, to people overseas via APO addresses. Both were fine transactions. Do your due diligence, but don't shy away just because of the APO address.

Like others mentioned above, no Paypal gift, ship with insurance and signature confirmation. Also, make sure you send an email to email address on the Paypal account to confirm that you are selling the lens to this specific Paypal account holder.

Then It will cover all bases.

i don't get it...please elaborate...
OP was asking as a seller, not a buyer...so what's wrong with paypal gift? if the buyer trust OP enough to send the fund as gift and avoid extra fee, that's actually the ideal scenario for OP as a seller. right?
i agree with insurance and signature confirmation.

g0bl0k wrote in post #13862335
i don't get it...please elaborate...
OP was asking as a seller, not a buyer...so what's wrong with paypal gift? if the buyer trust OP enough to send the fund as gift and avoid extra fee, that's actually the ideal scenario for OP as a seller. right?
i agree with insurance and signature confirmation.

it's just extra security and confirmation that the buyer paid in a recognized manner for an odd address

Out of curiosity, why is Paypal gift bad for the seller? I thought it was just a risk for the buyer.