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PayPal Sucks.. Be careful, new Policies

Be aware PayPal has changed it's refund policy. In the past if one needed to issue a refund to a buyer for whatever reason PayPal would also refund their Fee.. No Longer. PayPal keeps the FEE, regardless of the reason for refund.

I ran into a situation recently where I decided after being paid that I simply didn't feel comfortable with the buyer and in consultation with Audiogon Support we decided it was best to refund the buyer. I had a zero balance in my PayPal account before the transaction ( I don't typically just leave money there) the Transaction for sake of discussion was $1000.00 the PayPal fee was $30.00 .. Well when I went to refund the buyer since PayPal keeps the fee I was short. So PayPal instead of say putting the $30. on my PayPal credit card reaches in to my Checking Account and takes the whole $1000.00 out! This threw all kinds of stuff out of wack. PayPal did refund me their fee, but at that point it was to last. I had to move money around so buyer will get his correct refund, but damn what a PITA. 

Just a heads up. 
axeis1
audition__audio
1,494 posts
 
Paypal provides a valuable service and they should make a profit. I wonder how many that complain about Paypal have even the most basic experience running a business. I have had nothing but great experiences, both as a seller and a buyer, with Paypal. Reminds me of when Pearl Jam was bitching about Ticketmaster.
axeis1 OP
293 posts
 
I’m the OP. There were numerous sketchy things with the Buyer and the circumstances. I worked with Audiogon Staff on the transaction, they agreed with me that it seemed flakey. Here’ a few of the red flags. I don’t ship internationally especially to Asia, (and Eastern Europe) the buyer was in Viet Nam, but he never told me that, I had to dig around to find it. His name that he used was the name of some lake in Viet Naim, and not a famous one ( probably one near his home) PayPal always sides with the buyer. So if the package went missing PayPal would have grabbed my money. The Buyer was using a sketchy freight forwarder. He never replied to any of my requests for more info, he never replied to any Emails, Text’s or Voice mails. He never complained or even asked why when the sale was cancelled and the $$ refunded. I’ve sold a LOT of stuff on Audiogon; my feedback is 100% it hasn’t always been easy to maintain that rating. But I have bent over backwards for some of the FruitCakes on Audiogon. I can tell when shit’s gonna go south. But I always get a second option from Audiogon staff, if things look dicey.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Paypal is total crap would never use it.
audition__audio
1,494 posts
 
Paypal doesnt always side with the buyer. They ruled in my favor as a seller serveral times. If you ship something, especially to a foreign country and dont use a method that can prove delivery you can have problems.
benarritt's avatar
benarritt
3 posts
 
Axeis1, Just a quick note to say thank you.  Rules around purchases and PayPal are changing all the time and it's great that you took the time to share your recent experience.  There was a period recently on Agon where we couldn't use PayPal to receive funds unless we authorized the transaction through a business EIN (looks like that is gone now?).  I don't know how many people will see your post, but I wish more people would share what they've been through on transactions to give others a heads up.  Sounds like it was a nightmare.  Sorry to hear you went through that!
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