Paypal seller protection

G

Golani

Guest
Jurisdiction
California
Hi, I hope i post that question in the correct category, here it is:
I sold my computer on ebay for $1600, the buyer used paypal to pay and the money came to my account. The buyer sent me a message "hey the address in Paypal is my work address, can you please send it to my home adress that is...." then i shipped the computer.
A couple of days after Paypal took the money back from me, because the buyer used somebody else's paypal/ebay account. I immediately went to UPS to for the package to be intercepted, which was appearing on the tracking.
For some reason UPS has delivered the package ignoring the interception, so the thief got my computer, and my money got back to the paypal actual holder because they were stolen their account.
Now Paypal refuses to cover me as a seller because i did not ship the item to the exact address showing on the buyer's paypal account.
Do i have any option to take action against Paypal and/or UPS to get my money back?
thanks!
 
Neither.

Seems you got scammed by the buyer. I've been reading about a lot of that happening.

I would never sell anything on ebay nor use paypal as a receptacle for my money. They are more protective to the buyer than to the seller.

When you posted an item for sale you agreed to their terms and methods.

You've got nothing to sue them for.

You sue the buyer.
 
It is always a red flag when a person requests to have an item shipped to a different address. You got scammed and it is not Paypal's fault.
 
Do i have an option to take action against UPS to get my money back?
thanks!

Contact UPS, see what UPS' position on the matter appears to be.
UPS does offer minimal insurance.
Start with UPS.
I doubt you'll be successful, but it can't hurt to ask at this point.
You can read UPS' policy on this online at their website.
 
I've bought and sold a good number of items on eBay and have used Paypal. That has dwindled because of pricing for the most part. There are some surprises eBay and Paypal users discover, such as how eBay and Paypal both extract fees for what seems to be a single transaction and how Paypal Seller Protection only covers physical goods.

That said, I can't understand why you think you'd be entitled to Buyer Protection for a specific address from Paypal when Paypal gave you the specific address to which you were covered to ship. This is likely because Paypal has determined that the address given is a physical address which Paypal has confirmed for the buyer via other independent means, e.g. buyer's credit card billing address, etc. What if the buyer told you to ship the goods to another state, telling you that he was traveling to his winter home? You have no recourse against Paypal in my opinion.

Regarding UPS, I am quite sure that they don't guarantee that packages shipped can have delivery withheld. It is probably contained within the terms of service when you tendered the package to them for shipping. Read those legal terms carefully. When you make a request for a package not to be delivered it is just that - a request. Did someone guarantee to you that the package wouldn't be delivered? Almost certainly not the case. Imagine their liability if it was the case.

So my advice is to read the legal terms of service. My experience tells me you almost certainly don't have a case. Sorry to hear about the misfortune. Having packages sent near the Paypal address is a clever scam. You also may want to look at an address in Google Maps or the equivalent before shipping. And in this case you may want to file a police report and declare a loss while hoping for the best. Good luck.
 
Hi, I hope i post that question in the correct category, here it is:
I sold my computer on ebay for $1600, the buyer used paypal to pay and the money came to my account. The buyer sent me a message "hey the address in Paypal is my work address, can you please send it to my home adress that is...." then i shipped the computer.
A couple of days after Paypal took the money back from me, because the buyer used somebody else's paypal/ebay account. I immediately went to UPS to for the package to be intercepted, which was appearing on the tracking.
For some reason UPS has delivered the package ignoring the interception, so the thief got my computer, and my money got back to the paypal actual holder because they were stolen their account.
Now Paypal refuses to cover me as a seller because i did not ship the item to the exact address showing on the buyer's paypal account.
Do i have any option to take action against Paypal and/or UPS to get my money back?
thanks!

No you don't. It's not up to PayPal to protect you against scammers. This is why I don't buy anything off e-bay and I learned my lesson about Craigslist. I got scammed and I knew it was too but I really needed the money at the time. I didn't tell anyone about it until this. It was quite blatantly a scam...smh.

Chalk it up and learn from this lesson.
 
Actually Paypal IS protecting the buyer against scammers. It specifically states that it confirms safe addresses for shipping. If someone is foolish enough not to follow the plain English instructions that refer to a Paypal confirmed address then they choose to take the risk that they are being scammed.

You can also report scams to eBay who may choose to cancel an account. But what often happens is that the eBay account is hacked (typically phishing emails which disclose the user's eBay account password) and thus the scammer can then take control of the eBay account and scam you the way it was accomplished.

Now it's possible that the actual account holder and purchaser are connected. You're free to file a police report. But the chances of an investigation to connect the two are unlikely unless it's a recurring problem. If you're going to avail yourself of online protection services like Paypal Seller Protection or Paypal Buyer Protection then follow the simplest of rules and don't be surprised if you have limited to no remedies if something happens when you don't.
 
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