Paypal gift.... Be verrryyyyy careful

This is not intended to scare anyone off. It is just a warning for all of you to be very careful and check everything.

Here is the deal.

I have gotten into photography a little. I wanted to buy an off camera flash. Found one . Worked out the deal with the seller. Sent the money as a gift through Paypal. Guess what. He did not get the money! Why you may ask? He gave me the wrong email. Well, the emails are the same except for the fact that there was supposed to be an extra 2 numbers in it. Honest mistake.

Contacted Paypal. They said since it was a gift and came directly out of funds I had in Paypal, the status for the payment was completed and it is out of their hands . Told me I had to contact the other person and see if they would refund the money!!

Seller is very sorry and going to go ahead and ship the flash so I will not be out. But, I don't want him to be out either. I am soo anxious about this. The other person lives out of the country and am scared he will not refund the money and the real seller will be out.

Anyhow moral of the story. Before sending anyone money contact them to be sure the email they gave you is the correct one.

Not bashing the seller at all. Just saying be careful

Lesson learned.

You got what you deserved for trying to job the system.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #14845772
You got what you deserved for trying to job the system.

Thank you

What makes you think someone was trying to job the system? Maybe that person only took it as gifts. Or a myriad of other reasons.

Never gift anything unless it's to a friend or a relative. The extra 4% is not worth loosing your money.

maverick75 wrote in post #14845800
Never gift anything unless it's to a friend or a relative. The extra 4% is not worth loosing your money.

I understand that. But I am currently unemployed and money is very, very tight. Besides the Paypal fee is not the issue as I have sold things before. People left positive feedback only to return the items damaged and demand a refund through Paypal. Then Paypal gives it to them , I get negative feedback and out of money and the useless item.

It really is a no win. By the way , the protection is not all you think it is.

Kicker is, if I would not have had the funds in Paypal and had to take them out of the bank accout I could have stopped it no problem as it takes 3-5 days to go through.

Sorry, but the seller wanted to defraud paypal out of their due fee, it's not only against their policy, it involves you making a false declaration to avoid paying for the service you are using, and that is fraud.

Sometimes Karma sucks.

sandpiper wrote in post #14845826
Sorry, but the seller wanted to defraud paypal out of their due fee, it's not only against their policy, it involves you making a false declaration to avoid paying for the service you are using, and that is fraud.

Sometimes Karma sucks.

Did not say the seller only wanted it as a gift. Just pointing out to those that do it what can happen from example.

PeteD wrote in post #14845838
Did not say the seller only wanted it as a gift. Just pointing out to those that do it what can happen from example.

And I was just pointing out that it is fraud, of course buyers shouldn't do it.

If the seller wasn't twisting your arm to send it gift, why on earth were you doing it? It's illegal, you are the one making a false declaration to avoid the payment owed, and you are the one who is out of pocket if the seller doesn't send you the product. Don't expect help from paypal if you don't get anything, you scammed them and they aren't going to go out of their way to solve your problems.

And you guys always pay full retail, never speed, always obey all laws, and if you find a dollar on the ground you give it back to the first person that says it was theirs.

I mean you are def. entitled to your opinion. But chastising before you know everything...........

Not offended by anyones' comments or anything. Just pointing out what can happen if you are not very careful. For whatever reason one chooses to do it.

PeteD wrote in post #14845881
And you guys always pay full retail, never speed, always obey all laws, and if you find a dollar on the ground you give it back to the first person that says it was theirs.

I mean you are def. entitled to your opinion. But chastising before you know everything...........

Not offended by anyones' comments or anything. Just pointing out what can happen if you are not very careful. For whatever reason one chooses to do it.

No, I don't always pay full retail, I am quite happy to haggle. But the seller is always agreeable to the price and I am not taking the product or service without paying for it. Yes, I speed, and I have been stopped for it several times and given a telling off, again though, not lying and not stealing and if I get a ticket I won't bleat about it. A coin on the ground I would keep, as there is no way of telling who owns it (although if I have reason to believe who the owner is, or that they could be traced, I will try and get it back to them). I have found lots of other things, including larger sums of money and always traced the owner or handed them in to the nearest police station.

I am no saint, but if I use a service for which a fee is payable, I pay it. I don't tell lies and claim that I am not using the service. I sell a lot of stuff on ebay and pay the paypal fees on every transaction. I also use legitimate copies of Photoshop and Lightroom etc. In short, if I want to use a product or service, I pay for it unless it is supposed to be free. In short, I don't steal.

I may not know everything about this deal, but you claimed a payment for goods (for which a fee is payable) wasn't for goods but was a gift (for which no fee is payable). To me that seems pretty clear cut fraud, making a false declaration to avoid paying for something you use.

Word it however you want. If you find something and pick it up, it is stealing. Does not matter if it is a penny or a thousand bucks. It did not belong to you. If you do not pay full retail whether the seller agrees or not is the same. You did not pay what it is worth.

So no one needs to come with the whole Holier then thou stuff.

As for Paypal , there is a whole section of things to which you do not have to pay a fee. Including Payment owed. Which means you owed money for something you bought or services rendered.

You tried to game the system and lost, that is there is to it.

Pete, you can try to make it sound like it was a payment owed, but if PayPal intended for that to be how it worked then they wouldn't have had an entirely different tab for purchases.

PeteD wrote in post #14845749
... I have gotten into photography a little. I wanted to buy an off camera flash. Found one . Worked out the deal with the seller...

PeteD wrote in post #14845810
I understand that. But I am currently unemployed and money is very, very tight. Besides the Paypal fee is not the issue as I have sold things before....

Why are you buying this in the first place?

PeteD wrote in post #14846054
Word it however you want. If you find something and pick it up, it is stealing. Does not matter if it is a penny or a thousand bucks. It did not belong to you. If you do not pay full retail whether the seller agrees or not is the same. You did not pay what it is worth.

Sorry, but that is a bizarre attempt at justification.


You're lucky the seller is a nice guy, albeit not too bright if he got his own email wrong. If the seller didn't ask for it to be sent as a gift, why in the world would you send it as a gift? The % comes out of the seller's side.

In any case, if the other party does refund you the money, consider yourself very fortunate. But seeing how you circumvented the system once, I think there may be a chance the seller will never see his money. Just sayin'.