Buyer wants my personal info to pay via PayPal, says PayPal via eBay not recognising me

[scorecardc-66]

Hi, 

I have a buyer who has said they've been having problems paying via PayPal and have been in contact with them to sort it. Being Christmas/holidays I was happy to wait a bit longer.

They came back to me and said everything is fine with their PayPal and can they have my surname and email address to pay through PayPal. I'm not comfortable giving that info out and I've never needed that information before to pay for an eBay  item I've paid for by PayPal.

I responded saying I wasn't comfortable giving that information and that I'll only accept payment inside eBay. 

They've come back and said they've recently paid for other items through PayPal on eBay without issues and suggest the problem is with me. 

My question: is PayPal not be accepting payment via eBay for my item even a thing?

Or does this sound suspect?

Cheers,

David

[padi*0409 · Accepted solution]

It definitely sounds suspect, buyers can still use Paypal to buy from sellers that are on Managed Payments like yourself, it's just that the payments are processed by Ayden now via GPay.

[scorecardc-66 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your response Padi! Yeah I've made a few successful sales recently and had no issues with payments. Thank you 🙂

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

what is the item you are selling?

There are scammers who use this method to 'fake' a PayPal document that tells sellers that payment has been made and funds are being held in 'escrow' until the seller uploads proof of shipping.

These scammers target high priced items, which is why I have asked what the item is. 

[scorecardc-66]

Hi k1ooo, thank you for your response! The item is an autographed sports card for $500.

[sandypebbles]

Yes, I was going to say, that if it was one of your high priced cards, and as you are a new seller, it seems just a little bit too 'convenient' to me

[kopenhagen5]

Open an unpaid item case and let the buyer know that the case will automatically close if they pay within the next 7 days. Then if no payment, close the case, buyer gets a strike, you get a fee credit and neither party can leave feedback. 

Also put them on your BBL.

There is never a need to give personal details on eBay unless a buyer has paid and picking up an item.

It sounds like a hijacked account looking to hack other members.

[papermoon.lady]

Well, in the last few months there have been some cases of buyers who were unable to pay because there was indeed a problem with the seller's account and Managed Payments (for example their bank account had not been verified yet), so it is possible that the buyer is telling the truth, but paying outside eBay is not an option, and it is not clear if the buyer is a scammer or not at this stage. Maybe you should contact eBay via live chat to sort it out.

[padi*0409]

The OP's feedback left suggests that previous payments have gone through without a problem.

[scorecardc-66]

Hi Paper Moon lady, thank you for your response! I have recently sold several items without issue. I have received payouts from eBay for these sales and remember verifying my bank account successfully. Indeed I will never accept payment outside of eBay. But it sounds like if I have successfully made several sales there probably isn't a problem, it sounds like...

[papermoon.lady]

Did it all happen today? It is Friday and sometimes there are glitches on Fridays. What is the buyer's feedback?

[scorecardc-66]

I accepted their best offer a little over two weeks ago. The buyer's feedback is 100% postive from 141 transactions which is reassuring. I hope they're legit but I have had a weird feeling since the start...

[sandypebbles]

@scorecardc-66 Buyers can only be given positive feedback, so if the 100% is as a buyer only, it's meaningless

[papermoon.lady]

Well, just let the buyer know it is against the rules to complete transactions outside eBay and that if he/she cannot pay you will have to cancel. They could try to use another payment method if they are honest, just in case there is a glitch, but it seems to be a suspicious situation...

[scorecardc-66]

Hi Sandy and Paper Moon, that makes sense about the feedback, I didn't think of that! They've given excuses why they couldn't pay with their credit card and AfterPay, I've given them two weeks to sort out their alleged PayPal issues... Thank you all so much for your speedy and helpful responses, I truly appreciate it! I will respond as suggested. Thanks again and have a great day!

[papermoon.lady]

That's true, Sandy, although sometimes sellers give false positive FB, which is against the rules of course. What about the fb left for others?

[scorecardc-66]

Just looking at their feedback, the most recent were 3 purchases 6 months ago. Feedback left for others is the same phrase for all purchases

[papermoon.lady]

It is difficult to know with absolute certainty whether the buyer is a scammer or not (someone else just posted they suddenly have problems paying with PayPal), but you can't wait forever, so just give the buyer a kind, but firm final message specifying you accept other payment methods too and if they still have problems, you will have to cancel and relist. Be kind, but firm, and don't forget that after 30 days you cannot cancel any more, so don't miss the deadline.

Personally, I never had problems paying with PayPal. If there was a problem, it literally lasted a couple of minutes.