PayPal Frustration/Issue Heads-Up


In just over a month I have tried to sell 3 relatively expensive pieces of equipment on Audiogon (B&W HTM-1, B&W N801 and an Oppo UDP-205) and on each occasion had the buyers PayPal transaction refunded/rejected as soon as the buyer paid. I now know why.

Audiogon Admin were very helpful trying to resolve the problem. Turns out the problem has nothing to do with Audiogon, it is purely a PayPal problem. I have just been on the phone to PayPal, a very protracted and frustrating process (not recommended!) and found out why the PayPal payments were rejected/refunded. Apparently my account was not verified for a large transaction, it is now. What really annoys me is; this is the third time in just over a month I have tried to sell equipment on Audiogon and this has happened, why did PayPal not alert me to the problem?

If you have a balance on your PayPal account, the verification process (apparently) is simple and can be done online. However, in my case I do not keep money in PayPal. So I had to spend another 30 minutes on the phone contacting another PayPal administrator to get my account verified, again not recommended.

So, my advise to anyone selling on Audiogon is to make sure your PayPal account is verified. The best way to do this is to have a balance on your PayPal account so the process can be done online. Alternatively, if you like anger, frustration, boredom and wasting time; do what I did (not recommended)!
mgattmch
@kennethyeung  It's a problem with PayPal, email me Attention: Tammy at support@audiogon.com and I can re-open the order so you can pay again. 
The same problem exists on U.S. AudioMart. Every single payment made to me via Paypal "through" the USAM system in the past month has immediately been cancelled. USAM and Paypal each blame the other.
I did actually have it happen here to myself as the buyer maybe 3 weeks ago.
I just sent the seller money direct to his PayPal addy referencing the Agon sale., after it had been screwed up to solve it.

No idea why it was kicked back right away, certainly nothing to do with funding, limits or verified in my case.

Tbh I never even thought about reporting it to Agon as we resolved it instantly to both our satisfaction.