Have a question for Paypal users

[MissKat]

Im new to paypal and dont use it all that much, they also dont have a 1800 support # to call so thought someone here could help me out. Say you bought something and want to do a chargeback onto your credit card because you never received anything. Now what if the funds have been already transfered from the sellers account and the balance is negative/or $0.00? Can paypal still get a hold of it even if its not in his account anymore? Two situations I see 1) The funds are in the process of being transfered to his bank acc...is PP able to cancel this? 2) Seller transfered funds to a friends PP acc. Can PP track it and recover it from his friends acc? Another question is, does PP deduct their 3.9% (or whatever it is in charges) every time you transfer money from PP account to PP account?

[MissKat]

up

[ken0042]

Well, the first step is to do a chargeback via Paypal. If and only if they refuse the chargeback should you do a chargeback on your credit card. (I think that is what you were planning; just wanted to clarify the wording.)

It really doesn't matter if the seller still has funds in the Paypal account- if they have their bank account or credit card still tied to the account Paypal will just deduct it from there.

However if the person has just dropped off the face of the earth, Paypal might just decline the chargeback. Keep all of your emails and communications, and if Paypal declines it then do a chargeback through your credit card.

Which is why I always tell people to use their credit cards; it gives you an extra layer of security.

[FFR]

So in the interests of not creating a new thread, I have dug this one up from the dungeons.

I have a paypal account however I've only ever used it for eBay transactions. Currently I am looking at buying some concert tickets from a person who is living in Windsor. It was posted on Kijiji. She is requesting we use paypal (which is good), however I'm looking for clarification on how secure paypal is for me. I only have a credit card hooked to my account so I would be paying with a credit card via paypal. If the tickets don't get sent what protection do I have? Any? I went through their website but the information it provides is limited - just that they will try to get your money back but they can't guarantee anything.

Is it fairly expected that I would get my money back if something went wrong? If I'm using a credit card do I have any protection with that as well? I've kept all the email conversations I have had with this person.

Hopefully someone has experience with paypal who can help me??

Edit: obviously Ken has provided an answer above but I'm looking for a little more detail. Like what is a chargeback and how often do I have to do that?

[mykalberta]

100$ standard insurance on Paypal transactions. Apart from that it is buyer beware.

[ken0042]

Well, the reason I always state to use a credit card is that Paypal is sometime hit and miss with their chargebacks. The only time I ever had to do one, the seller emailed me and appologized, and didn't fight the matter- told me once I received me item to re-submit with Paypal.

But when I sold on eBay I had to have a credit card tied to my account to accept payments; supposedly so Paypal has something to go against if somebody tries a chargeback.

At the end of the day both Visa and M/C have things in their terms that if you do not receive the item that you are trying to buy, you can chargeback with them. That's what I meant by adding that extra layer of security- just make sure you hang onto everything.

The only other thing I would add is to be sure you are getting physical tickets and not printouts, as there is nothing stopping somebody from selling the same tickets multiple times.

Have you checked out Stubhub? Yeah, they are expensive as hell, but for our recent trip to California we liked having the peace of mind knowing that our fees went into insurance; and we wouldn't just get a refund but still get into the game(s).

[FFR]

I have looked into Stubhub however the tickets on there are 4x as much as the ones I'm looking at and are not great tickets. I can't bring myself to pay 5x as much as the original ticket price.

I have confirmed with the seller that they are physical tickets. Of course, I can't know for sure though.

I appreciate the response. I'll have to debate this with myself for a little while longer. I'm rather apprehensive about sending money across the country for something I can't see.

[ken0042]

Of course just make sure everything passes the "smell test." You say the seller is in Windsor- where is the concert? For example if it's a concert in Detroit or Toronto it would make sense that they would have tickets. Or a premium concert here in Calgary (something that somebody might fly in for) it might make sense.

[Titan]

Ask them to take a pic of the actual tickets front and back then check with the venue to determine if they are valid? Just a suggestion.