Seller Would Not Sell Because I had Zero Feedback. Why?

If he didn’t want to sell to people with no feedback, he probably should have listed that in his ad.  Some people may not want to sell such a big ticket item to a buyer with no verified successful transactions. The tax thing mentioned by @sls883 is also a concern to some people.  My things are, no buyers:

1. out of the USA
2. who are using proxies, and 
3. with negative feedback

and I list those conditions in my ads.  

You tried to give him reasonable options and he didn’t want to proceed.  Just move on and look for another opportunity.  In the old days, we used to suggest that newer buyers buy a couple of cables, records, footers or some other small ticket items, just to get on record with positive feedback. Good luck.

There are scams that are pulled off with Paypal.  I don’t know exactly how they work, but someone posts about being scammed once in a while. I hear people saying they won’t sell on ebay anymore because ebay always sides with the buyer no matter what evidence is provided showing the seller is in the right.

Also, if you read these forums for a while you’ll find people stating that they don’t deal with people who have no feedback.  You read that enough and have a little feedback racked up, you start thinking maybe you shouldn’t sell to people with no feedback either.

Buying and selling on the internet has gotten riskier and people try to protect themselves in various ways, the no feedback exclusion is one of them.

You didn’t do anything wrong and I wouldn’t take it personally. The seller is just a little paranoid.  You may become a little paranoid after doing a number of purchases and sales and reading various forums too.

Does anyone know if there is a threshold on the IRS getting tax information from PayPal for G&S.

I am going to have about 8 sales in the next 2 months and some of them will be G&S. The first 2 were G&S.

@patrickalston the seller has a very high value product so his hesitancy to sell to someone with no history is not unusual. People tend to start with small buys and sells and then build up some feedback and you are off to the races after that.

Limit is $20k in sales or 200 transactions - here is a link to the paypal site with the detailed info. 

Paypal

1) no one wants to sell PP Goods and services support scamming buyers and lock up the payment.   We are not a business, this is a hobby.

2) no individual wants to deal with ANY tax form to file because of sold goods and services on PP.  

3) sadly, selling to or from Canada has always been problematic.   Customs can hold the package, and taxes due can come sometime well after purchase.  That was prior to new tariffs and scrutiny.  

4) a seller (me for example) will try to do it only if there is extensive positive feedback.  You have none, and sadly that is sometimes a red flag.

5) you want him to trust you with no feedback.  He offered to accept a wire transfer, yet you don’t trust him….does not add up.  Read his feedback.  Talk to him.  With a wire you know who he is for sure..  

6) of course hobbyists don’t take credit cards.  Even with friends and family you are likely paying with a credit card that offers you some protection…many do.

7) every time I have sold something to Canada, the recipient asked me to devalue the stated cost for customs / tax reasons.  Something off there.