These are all great points to which I was not aware. I assumed that using PayPal "Good and Services" was a way to protect both buyer and seller. Also, I was probably a little naive thinking that folks are honest. The item I was trying to buy is exactly what I was looking for and I'm tempted to fly up there to make the purchase (but it's damn cold in Canada this time of year).
Seller Would Not Sell Because I had Zero Feedback. Why?
I tried to purchase equipment on CAM priced at $17K. The Seller first wanted me to send a wire. I said no, that I'd pay using paypal. He said ok, but would only accept sent using the "Friends and Family" option. Again, I said no explaining that I needed PayPal's Buyer Protection and that I would not send such a large sum across an international border with no recourse. I explained to the Buyer Protection requires that payment be categorized as "Goods and Services" and that I would pay the 2.99% fee. The seller would not take a credit card. Ultimately, he said that he didn't want to move forward because I had zero feedback. Further, I believe that PayPal offers Seller Protection to shield against nefarious buyers. What am i missing that would make the Seller not want to do the deal based on my lack of feedback if the product wouldn't ship until the cash was in his account?
The Seller did have an excellent feedback rating, but I wasn't about to send such a large sum across the border to a stranger. Thoughts?
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well i can see and agree with both sides of this issue as i have had experiences as seller and as buyer....but i have to say, in our hobby, what has happened to the personal experience here?! ... does anyone care to pick up the phone and call and speak with the other person?!....if i have your phone number and speak with you and google you and can verify your address with an image of your house, and talk with you about your system and who you are and can verify it with an internet search and if your explanation of why you haven't sold and/or bought any gear on this site or another seems valid and believable, then why would i hesitate?!....ask for payment by whatever protected method available...or ask for a personal check or zelle and ship when it clears....every reason to be suspicious or skeptical...but i've successfully bought and sold many components over the years, and this method has always worked,...if we speak on the phone, and your description of your system and experiences sounds real, and your google results show your address and your job are real, then i figure it's a good bet that you are who you say you are and i'm willing to risk it,...and vice versa,...please do the same to me...i have nothing to hide....why does this have to be so difficult for those of us who are what we say we are and can be easily researched.....yes, i've been burned before, and have learned, but when i'm dealing with someone that seems exactly as they say and it is verifiable even without hiring a private detective why would i not sell to them, or buy from them, zero feedback or not?!....and if the prospective buyer can't be verified phone number wise, address wise, job wise, then by all means walk away....but we all started somewhere, right?!...is there any more personal contact even in this impersonal and risky "virtual" lifestyle we all live in today?!....i hope that our "hobby" has at least some ability to discern the difference between a scammer and a real person given the ease of finding out basic info on people...that is, find out, who they are, where they live, what they do for a living, etc... i worked for a federal law enforcement agency and rarely needed any restricted or confidential sources to obtain information on people i dealt with as i only needed readily available and public online sources of information,....but yes, it's always best to be skeptical first and if it seems too good to be true, by all means investigate, but if the opposite happens and the person's info is easily verifiable, and their house is google maps seems right, and their job and/or company is alos verifiable what is the problem?...they have yet to sell or buy anything so they have no feedback?!...but, yes, i get it, i have also declined to sell to more than one person without feedback, but that was only because i couldn't verity their info...and i felt they weren't forthcoming in our phone conversation.....can people please these days just pick up the phone and talk to someone?!...and yes, they can still be good at deception, but most times you can tell if they are genuine in the conversation....ask about their system, their room, what equipment they have, or have had....if you are any judge of character and have any knowledge of audio gear you will know if they are genuine or not....prejudging people with zero feedback is understandable, as maybe its better safe than sorry, but it also can be a missed opportunity for both parties and damned unfair for the honest person trying to purchase something with no feedback.....that happened to me on usam many years ago with a coveted pair of speakers that i still haven't found to this day! |
Risky both ways, but something’s got to give to move components. I made an offer on my dream amp, and greatly appreciated the seller’s counter was only small amount more. Based on the sellers stellar reviews and the amount I saved under the asking price, I decided to wire the amount rather than seller paying the PPFF fees. Shipment is in route. |
+1 @iovi66 - talking to them, especially about audio equipment, usually reveals character and motive. |
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