paypal

[pearlescence]

I know some members advocate paypal and say that direct card handling is not necessary because card transactions can be done with plastic even if you don't have a paypal account.
However, the following just happened to us.
We received an order for three necklaces to a total of ?510. Nice. But they were to go to hong Kong, which is one of the world centres for the pearl trade. Therefore odd but possible.
I've just spoken to paypal and they have advised me to refund the transaction immediately. The seller does not have a paypal account although the transaction confirmation gives no indication of this, only saying unconfirmed address and in the details it says i would have partial protection. It turns out that the paypal don't need an account will allow someone use spend with a nicked or cloned or whatever card in some circumstances.
The partial protection only covers a seller in the event of a claim for non receipt, and in that case tracking and a signature would not defeat the refund claim
So we would have been out three necklaces, the insured shipping and ?510.

 

[dmj]

we never ship anything if any information is missing and if people don't want to give us the information to bad for them, i get custom jewelry orders from all over the world and each year some scammers will also try to place orders just be careful i think paypal is great when your buying but for selling its just as dangerous as the rest

 

[Katbran]

Good to know. I've had my paypal account for so long I don't remember the set up process or what was required ... but I thought I had to give my card billing address etc. Maybe not.. seems like they should be checking the link between the card number and the address provided when someone signs up , to save themselves and others a lot of bother and expense. You were lucky to have checked.

 

[pearlescence]

Kathleen, the point here is that the 'buyer' did not have a paypal account. You will often see people on forums say 'oh Paypal is so wonderful you can even pay for things without having an account using your plastic so I don't need a merchant account..blah blah blah' Yes, you can use your plastic via paypal with NO paypal account. It allows someone to 'buy' stuff and divert it to an unconfirmed shipping address.The HK police have a cyber crime reporting form on their website (good) so they have everything they need to nick the crim, including his IP.

 

[Ramona]

I remember I could initially pay for purchases with a card. But that was for the first couple of thousand dollars. Paypal is otherwise very strict in the US for setting up an account linked to a bank account and requires ID and address confirmation. Maybe it is easier in Asia. I have never heard of the case you are describing. You can/should exclude shipping to unconfirmed addresses. Certainly protection is a lot better for the buyer. Sellers don't have much.

 

[pearlescence]

Yes, setting up an account is hard,it is just like setting up a bank account but if you check then worldwide you can pay on websites which have only paypal to handle transactions without having a paypal account. In such a situation, as I have warned, sellers have NO protection..

 

[Amrita]

Thanks for letting us know Wendy! Never experienced this but so good to have the heads up on such shady stuff which could potentially be harmful.