Caution When Buying Large / Heavy Items and paying with PayPal
Heads-up to fellow Audiogon members
If you’re buying large or heavy gear — speakers, amps, racks, turntables, etc. — and paying with PayPal, make sure you understand how Buyer Protection works in practice.
If an item arrives damaged or significantly not as described and you open a claim, PayPal will typically require you to physically return the item at your expense in order to receive a refund.
For small items, that’s manageable.
For large or heavy gear, return shipping — domestic or international — can be extremely expensive, sometimes approaching the value of the item itself.
PayPal generally does not reimburse repair costs.
If you don’t return the item within the required timeframe, the case may be closed without refund — even if there is documented damage.
Before committing to a large purchase, calculate your real downside risk, including potential return shipping costs.
Good to know. thanks They're probably assuming the seller has to file an insurance claim and the courier is responsible for returning it. It's best not to accept a damaged box unless the seller already declared it prior to shipping. |
I have a question. I have my Amex tied to my PayPal account. Would I have any recourse by contacting Amex? Amex guarantees products purchased with their card. Does anyone have any experience with this? Just wondering. Otherwise, I will not go through PayPal and pay directly with my Amex card in the future. Ironically I have two subwoofers on their way to me right now that I purchased using PayPal. |
This is not directly relevant, but I used PayPal when buying an upgrade kit from Europe. When it arrived, it was missing RCA posts, so I bought some expensive ones locally. PayPal sided with me and deducted the cost. The vendor was not at all happy. More recently I bought a turntable from Europe. The payment options were direct bank transfer, or paying 3.5% extra to use PayPal. In the end, it became too hard to set up the PayPal transaction, so I bore the risk. It all worked out very well, but it could have gone pear-shaped. Even more recently, I bought an Equalizer and cartridge from an Australian distributor who has no retail interfaces - neither credit card nor PayPal. Again, I had to take a risk and do bank transfers before the goods were shipped. All adds to the excitement ...
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@richardbrand that would not be the type of excitement I would be willing to have.. |
There is a risk / reward ratio at play here! When the reward is a discount close to 50%, the risk is worth it unless there is about a 50% chance of the seller going belly-up sometime before completing the transaction. To assess that, I look at how long they have been in business, and do a Google maps drive past of their bricks and mortar premises. So I am a cautious risk-taker ... but still get nervous! |
