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Gazzalene

Paypal "family and friends" for sale Q

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I do not often sell so not up on best method. I have something on FB for the first time ever. On other listings the sellers say,  if paying by paypal you pay the 3.6% fee. This seems a good idea ,the buyer gets protection on a private sale for only a small charge.

The guy I am going to sell to said he wants to use family and friend option. So no fees for either of us.i presume he trusts me. I would just like to ask that will I the "seller" be at risk? does paypal presume that te person sending money to a family member or friend would not use a stolen card or dodgy account etc? Could they remove money from me at some point if a problem arises?

Am I best saying pay by PP as a proper sale and swallow the fee myself?  Its £250 so a lot to lose, also did not want to insist on this and lose sale.

Thanks for any tips

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The Friends and Family payment option is not for regular purchases. It offers no protection if the seller sends nothing, sends the wrong item, or sends you a rock in the box. Its only used for people who know the other individual. I understand the seller not wanting to get hit with fee's, but its not the right way to go about it. If I were you, I'd add the extra fee in with your payment to cover the cost of the "insurance" if anything goes wrong. Most seller's will understand if you feel uncomfortable sending payment for a friend, or family member, when they are indeed not. I'm not saying this guy is not a good seller, but I've read too many people getting screwed over by trying to save a few dollars/pounds in the end.

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It’s all about trust & if you know the person right? For example I’d be comfortable using F&F with a fellow TC member that has a history of trades and regular posts. I’m not on Facebook but if someone was on there in a similar group where they had a good reputation I personally would be ok with F&F. Ultimately there’s risk.

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As I understand it, the F&F option is risky for the buyer, but not for the seller. If you are the seller in this instance and the buyer wants to use F&F, I see no reason not to let them. Yes, there is the risk of them using a dodgy card, etc, but this is no different to if they used the non-F&F option for payment.

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I think the only risk to the seller is if the carrier lost your package and the buyer asks for a refund.  I would make sure to apply for insurance, or ask the buyer for their FedEx account number, etc to use for the shipping and you would be liable-free once you hand off the package to their carrier.  

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There is no seller protection for these payments.  Many sellers may think that because there is no buyer protection, they don't have worry about the risk of reversals on these payments.  Unfortunately if you are using them to sell a good or service, it is still possible for someone to use a stolen PayPal account, card or bank to make the payment.  If that happens, the payment would be reversed and there is no protection for the seller. Its effectively like you giving a mate a tenner in the pub.

I would not use it for someone I didnt know or could get feedback on from other sellers.

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8 minutes ago, acprc said:

There is no seller protection for these payments.  Many sellers may think that because there is no buyer protection, they don't have worry about the risk of reversals on these payments.  Unfortunately if you are using them to sell a good or service, it is still possible for someone to use a stolen PayPal account, card or bank to make the payment.  If that happens, the payment would be reversed and there is no protection for the seller. Its effectively like you giving a mate a tenner in the pub.

I would not use it for someone I didnt know or could get feedback on from other sellers.

I've been playing around with a response to this, but couldn't put it better than ^^^^^^^^^^^^

The only place I use F&F is here on TC, or with actual friends & family. Anywhere else, I factor the fees and p&p costs into the price, and that's the price. 

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There are lots of horror stories on other hobby forums because they paid F&F and the "seller" took the money and ran... one guy got a box full of packing material instead of what he bought, with no recourse because it wasn't officially recorded with PayPal as a "this for that" transaction. These were longtime members in some cases, too. I've only ever used "goods and services" when doing any business online (buying/selling individual items) and have never had any issues. I thought it was weird when I joined this forum that everyone asked for payment F&F.

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