I'm sure some (most) of y'all are much more informed about Pay Pal than I am so I have a question.

I've had put one of my bikes up for sale and I have more than one person who is offering to buy the bike at the asking price, without seeing the bike but they want to buy via Pay Pal, which I have no intention of doing as I'm not aware of how it works, but I'm sure there's a scam somehow involved.

I won't even take a cashiers check unless it is local and I can confirm that it is "legit".

I've recently sold a couple of things on Craigslist so I can usually spot the fake communications but the Pay Pal thing turns me off instantly.

 

I had someone, pretty convincing, trying to get an '81 fiat from me and never saw it. I thought it was weird. I tried to understand the how and why of it, but never put it all together. I ended up saying, show yourself or go away. then he tried to revive the deal and I made it clear that I had done all the explaining I was gonna do. show yourself, and I had already reported your sketchy *** to the feds. he erased himself from my sight.
dunno what it is they are up to, but they are up to something. that being said Paypal is a pretty trustworthy way of getting money around. I had a forum member who wanted to buy my seat, and we were both genuine guys, so we made the deal work. I got my money through Paypal, he got his goods. end of story.

 

I've always had good things come of paypal, if they have sent you the money call paypal and confirm the transaction, plus I would have them pick up the bike after the funds have cleared.

 

Never sell anything through Paypal, the buyer can accuse you of not completing the
deal to their satisfaction and Paypal will take the money out of your account and return it to them. You have little or no rights as the seller, Paypal only cares about
the buyer. Many stories like this, and I have been scammed myself with no help
at all from Paypal.

 

In cash, in person. Only way to deal with Craigslist.

 

From what I've read, you can be scammed. Fake Paypal email or the scammer says he never received the item and gets his money back from Paypal. It's very simple, if someone's buying a motorcycle they can pay cash when they pick it up. I've also taken a cashier's check when I can call the issuing bank to verify the check is legitimate. I've sold a lot of bikes and probably half the replies I got selling on Craigslist were some type of scam. Be very cautious of the ones who want the bike at the asking price site unseen. That's ridiculous.

 

Pay pal is set up to protect the buyer and gives very little leverage o the seller. Be careful. I've seen folks who have gotten payment through Paypal, sent the item, then had the payment revoked because the payee said "I didn't authorize this"

Scammers will try anything. Larger sales/purchases should be done through ebay where its documented.

 

I use paypal all the time with out issue for buying and selling. But not big ticket items. That's cash & carry only.

 

Exactly! They send out an e-mail that looks like it came from Pay Pal hoping to get someone who is not familiar with how it works. The gotcha is when you use the link in the e-mail, when you sign in they get your info then go drain your account. NEVER use the links in e-mails from Pay Pal or Ebay.

 

I agree.