I have a question... has anyone paid an auction with PayPal and contested a charge on their credit card because an auction seller hasn't come through with the goods?

I have a relatively high-ticket item I'm watching that is ending soon (~$500) and the seller has 0 feedback.  I usually use my credit card through paypal to buy auction items (for 'protection'), but wondered what the definition of 'transaction' is to PayPal .  I am concerned that if I don't get the goods and contest the charge, that PayPal will say "We did our part, your only transaction with us was to take your money and give it to the seller, and we did our part in that respect."

If I can use my credit card and rely on a chargeback in case the seller doesn't deliver, I'll probably bid... if not, well, I'm not trusting a no-feedback seller...

You will get your money back with the chargeback but PayPal may go after you with other methods depending on the amount.  I did a chargeback on $29, and PayPal didn't do anything to punish me for it other than send a couple of threatening letters.  A friend did a chargeback for ~$75, and PayPal disabled his account.  A coworker did a chargeback for a little over $500 for an item he never received, and PayPal emptied his bank account, put the difference on his credit report, and sold the remaining debt to a collection agency.  He still gets around thirty calls a week here at work, and he says they call his house around fifty to sixty times a week.  Don't screw around with PayPal.  They are nasty when provoked.z

I did have this happen.  Paypal does not like it at all.  They prefer you use their prescribed method of settling disputes.  Their method does work eventually.  The credit card company will likely refund your money back pretty quickly.  The credit card company will then do their investigation.  If paypal agrees with their result, then no problem.  If they don't agree, they will lock your account down.  Either way, once paypal finds out you reversed charges on the credit card, they will lock your account down until they are done investigating.  

They prefer you use their prescribed method of settling disputes.

Good luck with that.  The last time I tried that they replied with this:

The request will not be addressed but the complaint will be noted in the record of the reported PayPal user. The seller will be notified of the reimbursement request and encouraged to work towards an amicable resolution. If we find the user has violated our policies, we will investigate and take appropriate action. If this occurs, you may be contacted in the future about the status of the filed request.

In other words, they were politely telling me they were going to ignore my request for a refund.z

I'm probably pretty lucky in my dealing with paypal.  They did not withdraw money from my account, but I was afraid they would.  You may want to make plans to deny them access to your accounts before they deny you the ability to change your paypal account profile.  (I have not used paypal since this dispute, even though I have access.)

Everytime I read a thread like this makes me so glad that I have never used Paypal and never will.

Vulcan94

I would'nt buy from someone here with 0 posts.
Read the stickied threads to see how that usually works out.


Ebay is far worse man.
You're begging for a fucking.


I don't buy from a seller unless they have 50+ feedbacks (not just from buying) and their feedback rating has to be 98% or better. I live by this and haven't gotten screwed at all.

Whatever it is for $500, it's either too good to be true, or you can find it elsewhere.

Quoted: I'm probably pretty lucky in my dealing with paypal.  They did not withdraw money from my account, but I was afraid they would.  You may want to make plans to deny them access to your accounts before they deny you the ability to change your paypal account profile.  (I have not used paypal since this dispute, even though I have access.)

Ya know, if you tell your bank that you need a seperate account for doing online stuff, they'll hook you up. Then... you can keep your life, seperate from your ebay/paypal activity... and this drastically minimizes your risk.

Quoted: Quoted: I'm probably pretty lucky in my dealing with paypal.  They did not withdraw money from my account, but I was afraid they would.  You may want to make plans to deny them access to your accounts before they deny you the ability to change your paypal account profile.  (I have not used paypal since this dispute, even though I have access.) Ya know, if you tell your bank that you need a seperate account for doing online stuff, they'll hook you up. Then... you can keep your life, seperate from your ebay/paypal activity... and this drastically minimizes your risk.

That is the way I have it now.  Actually, my bank account that they have on record is closed.

I bought a $600 item from ebay using paypal and got ripped off. Fake piece of jewelry. Got a lousy $200 back from payasspal and did a charge back through my bank for the full $600. Won that dispute and had over $800 so I made out $200. Paypal sent threatening letters and emails bit I was advised by my bank to ignore it. It's been over a year and I haven't heard boo from them in over 6mo.

I was a lucky one I think.