Perhaps, but Paypal is giving me a chargeback on an item that was paid for with funds that came from my bank account. In this case, it's not the credit card company that's backing me up, it's Paypal.

I don't doubt that you and many, many other people have had success accepting Paypal. Maybe I'm being paranoid, I can see that.

I do not have any first hand experience being ripped off with Paypal.

But nevertheless, there are many ways to be ripped off by credit cards. Having worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years I had chargebacks all the time. It is the cost of doing business.

Paypal is yet another layer between you and the buyer, and Paypal has it's own additional sets of rules to protect buyers. I don't mean to highjack this thread, but being honest as you stated is not any sort of guarantee that you will not be ripped off.

Just google 'paypal rip off' and you will find plenty of bummed out people who had paypal take their money back without any real recourse.

Negative - at least in my last case. The complete bike was disassembled, wrapped in pipe insulation and all the components that were removed were put in separate boxes in the full-sized bike carton. Frame took a 3/4" dent in the top tube about 10" from the seatlug - interestingly enough, there was also a 1/2" long scratch right next to it.

This dent/scratch combo did not exist prior to packing/shipping. However, the buyer initiated a claim with Paypal using the stupid catchall 'item received not as described'. Paypal honored this, even though I talked to a rep explaining that the full purchase price had been insured and the buyer was not going to initiate the claims process on his end. Did Paypal care about that? No. They referred to their small type, also assuring me that their policy, again in small type, also covered me in that they would not refund the money completely until I notified them that I had the item sent back to me. Three days after that phone conversation, the transfer of funds back to the buyer was completed - and I had not yet received the bike back! It took the seller another week to send it back; I'm sure you can imagine he didn't make much of an effort to pack it well. I ended up with the dent and scratch, more scratches in other areas from his rush job and missing brake quick releases from both brakes. Do you think Paypal gave a damn about that? What if the buyer had simply blown off sending the bike back to me? I shudder to think about that one.

F*** Paypal. In future, if I can get over on them, so be it. Follow all the rules or be prepared to cover your six. I'm sure that the more the buyer is covered the more we will hear seller stories such as mine. After six years of dealing with Paypal, this is the kind of support leveled to me as a seller.

I guess the only good thing about it is that, were I so inclined, I could be an a****** buyer, buy some really cool, rare stuff with no intention of truly parting with my money, and then claim I never received it or it was damaged. I then get my refund, keep the really cool stuff and get over on Paypal and the seller in one fell swoop! And that, I am sure, is exactly what some scummy scammers will do, since the way the deck seems to be stacked would support that action. Sad.

I rest my case. This is why I stopped selling on eBay when I was forcd to accept paypal.

I got along fine with US money orders and personal checks. Again, I'd exchange a few emails (or telephone calls) and either I trusted the guy or I didn't. In any case, it was my own fault if I got ripped off - I trusted too much. No problem.

The real price you pay with Paypal is that you lose that right to choose and instead must live by Paypal rules. No biggie, but you have to factor that in. It's not a business for me - just a way to clean out the closet, so I take a pass.

Drillium Dude- that was the case you posted several weeks/month ago.The buyer wouldn't help with the claim on the shipper because" it was packed so well it couldn't have been damaged in shipping"?? Wow, Paypal just more or less stiffed you, and you have to make a claim on the shipper waaaaay after the fact, since the buyer didn't pick the item up for 2 weeks(he didn't live at the shipped to address)

I haven't sold on Ebay for maybe 2 years-fees too high, too much grief.

Oh well
WHO DAT
Charlie

Yes, there is something you're failing to understand. It's called the capitalist mentality. Everyone wants to buy for as low as they can. Then they want to sell it for as much as they can. Anyone here that says different isn't telling the truth or they just don't understand business.

I always ask if there's a BIN price on an item I want. When I sell people ask me. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just trying to get the best deal possible.

That's not true of everyone. I buy bikes to collect, not to flip. I couldn't care less about resale value or return on investment. When I see a bike I want, I offer the seller what I think it would cost me at auction, even if he has no idea the bike is worth that much. He feels better about the transaction and so do I.

[QUOTE=phoebeisis;10385463]Drillium Dude- that was the case you posted several weeks/month ago.The buyer wouldn't help with the claim on the shipper because" it was packed so well it couldn't have been damaged in shipping"?? Wow, Paypal just more or less stiffed you, and you have to make a claim on the shipper waaaaay after the fact, since the buyer didn't pick the item up for 2 weeks(he didn't live at the shipped to address)

I haven't sold on Ebay for maybe 2 years-fees too high, too much grief.[QUOTE=phoebeisis;10385463]

Yes, and I couldn't initiate a claim myself until the bike got back to me - and at that point it had been shipped twice by two different carriers. Goodbye claim...

I still sell on Ebay, however, I no longer deal in complete bikes or even frames. Too much risk. I do smaller items that have little or no chance of being broken and insure them so that, if lost, neither party is out money. I learned my lesson!