Not Sure If This Is OK Here, But Here Goes


I'm selling a pair of Magnepans on Audiogon and as usual, have had no response. Yesterday, a guy from Argentina (allegedly) contacts me and says he'd like the speakers and gave me an address and phone number of a guy in Miami to ship them to and he'll forward them on to the end buyer.

At first glance, this doesn't pass the smell test. However, he did give me a phone number, which I may call later today. The other issue I have is that I have little to no experience with PayPal. How hard is it to defraud PayPal and leave me without my  money and the lose of my speakers?

jasonduke2

A buddy tried it once. It was a legit transaction, but the deal was dramatic and shaky. In the end, things worked out, but I don’t think he would do it again. 

In your situation I’d use ZELLE and have the buyer agree that you’ll accept no responsibility for non-delivery or damages. PayPal will hold your money hostage until the speakers are delivered. Great for the buyer but for the seller it’s a great way to get screwed and PayPal ABSOLUTELY will put the screws to you. I can’t stand them.

3rd party transactions are always suspect. And with something big like Maggies, I wouldn’t take the chance. The problem with Friends and Family mode, which seems fool proof as MC mentioned, is it really isn’t. If the buyer pays F&F with a credit card, they can’t dispute via PayPal but they can dispute on the credit card, which is even more of a nut roll. You could use an escrow service of some sort, but that is just another layer. Run, don’t walk. Just not worth the hassle.

Paypal will make you pay more for services to mediate the complaint if you have problems with the sale. They were sued for not protecting sellers before ebay bought them.