Paypal eCheque 'bounced' but I'd sent item already!

Hi there,

You have completely MISUNDERSTOOD.

The buyers WANTS the items and has paid for it. Paypal say his bank has declined the payment even though he has funds available to cover the transaction. I am being left in the middle without payment while Paypal and his Bank decide who is right. I am totally innocent of any wrong doing. HE DOESNT WANT TO SEND IT BACK TO ME, HE WANTS TO KEEP IT AND IS TRYING TO PAY FOR IT FOR ONE WEEK NOW.

Paypal tell me I am not protected by seller protection.

MARK.

 

Well I'm just very angry with them. I've written to eBay about 3 or 4 times and they can't even understand the simple fact that the Paypal transaction has failed and now have asked me to get him to return the item. I'm sure you would be equally angry at a potential loss of $125 through no fault of your own, even if the bank was just doing it's job. If it sucks it sucks....

 

Man, I feel sorry for you. That is super frustrating. At this point since he has the items, could he wire you the money some other way?

 

Thanks. Maybe that might be the solution if it doesn't come good next week. Maybe Westen Union or Moneygram would be a solution, but I'm guessing the fees are a bit higher than normal. I'm in UK soon, so if he's game he can post me some dollars to London and I can exchange them cheaply there!

 

I'd advise folks NOT to accept any other Paypal payment other than the usual instant payment linked to a credit card. As you can see from my experience they will not look after you. eBay don't seem to have a clue either. Immediately cancel any eCheques you receive and tell the buyer you want an instant payment. Its not worth all the waiting and hassle if things go wrong - which are more likely to with no buyer back-up payment option. You are at the mercy of his overdrawn bank account by accepting his eCheque, and despite what Paypal will tell you about seller protection, you can see that it's not at all guaranteed. Basically you're stuffed!

 

Or, you could just (as I always have) do exactly what they specifically tell you to do and not ship the item until payment clears. You will lose nothing.

 

Well as I said in my first post, sure I'm an idiot, but im not stupid and dont need 'the voice of reason' to spell out the bloody obvious thank you very much. And you are actually wrong in one respect. If you accept an eCheque you do not qualify for Paypals Seller Protection, it says that on the initial notification from them. So, you could infact do exactly what they tell you and still lose out. eBay and Paypal always favour the buyers above sellers.

 

I've never heard that echecks through PayPal do not provide seller protection. Can you quote this line from the original notice please?

Me, I hate them because sometimes I am in need of the money, and it's a longer wait that I did not sign up with paypal to have to deal with. But on the plus side, it is a sale and a sale is a sale.

I had a regular buyer here on the forums but a small stack of LPs from me. I packed them up and was leaving town for Christmas holidays. I decided to send the package before he sent funds. I got a nasty email saying that he never agreed to purchase the LPs and does not want them. That we were only in early talks about a potential sale, but never confirmed.

Now wait, he claimed them in my classifieds listing (same as previous purchases) yet now says there never was an agreed deal? Wow. This is a heavy email PM to get while on vacation with family.

Anyway, I act like it is absolutely no problem, just refuse the package and write return to sender in black marker and all is fine, tender and mild. I got the records back, and was able to resale them.

He did end his email with something about medical issue which was going to be out of pocket expenses. Three days later he was back buying other folks LPs in the classifieds. Lol!

Ok, here is my revenge. I threw up another list of records. A couple of years ago I was doing these large lists of LP in mostly NM condition, and nice low prices $4 to $11 an LP, with a few higher priced ones. He came along and PM'd on two LPs while still going over the list. Before he was able to select another I PM'd him and stated I was not going to sell him any items from this list, and I stated why. It was cool to state in the listing, both Stones and S&G are still available, and then see them is out within 10 more minutes to another buyer.

But I learned that even regular buyer here on the forums can turn into double-talking jerks.

I would still send our before payment arrives maybe, but I think about it more now.

 

Yes they are all a PITA.! I'm still waiting for my eCheque to clear. Two long conflicting conversations with Paypal and still no cash. They did say that I had no seller protection. It was also in the body of the original notification. I thought I posted that? Anyway this is how it appears...bit hard to show the whole email.

Note to seller
The buyer hasn't sent a note

Postage/Despatch Details
No Details

Seller Protection
Seller Protection - Not Eligible

 

I send out plenty of internation packages with out tracking, and have no protection, but that is my choice, I manage the risk. But to be told no protection upfront, I would reject the payment outright.

I've never noticed it on my echecks received. I wonder how I missed it.

 

Maybe it depends on the banks rules or the amounts in different countries? It would make sense that they don't protect you coz the eCheque is as bouncy as a paper one! It's a risk for them I guess?

 

No, the echeck is no risk to them at all. A credit card can get a charge back from the bank. A check is final and can't be refunded to buyer unless it was cashed fraudulently (like it was stolen and cashed). So PayPal loves echecks. The other reason paypal loves a check is because they pay no fee when they send that cash to you. If buyer funds the transaction with their credit card, I believe paypal must pay a fee. PayPal always prefers a buyer pays with bank account or by check over funding with a credit card.

 

That sux, Mark. When I was an active seller I'd get lots of 'eChecks', primarily from US buyers. As soon as I saw payment was via 'eCheck' I'd hold off until the confirmation came through, usually a week later. Frustrating, but it is what it is. Fortunately, I never had an issue despite receiving about 30 of the things, not that that is any consolation to you, of course.

 

Thanks Jae. It would help if the buyer was a little more helpful. He hasn't acknlowleged receipt of his items even though I have tracking data. I'm now being told 7th August as possible clearance date. It still annoys me that ebay won't let sellers leave feedback ( now called reviews) for buyers. This guy is slack. I like communicators.

 

Why did you shop this out? Did you figure it would clear? Or did you forget that it needed to clear?

Btw, I think you are going to get the money. Buyer might even send you a money order.

You have emailed buyer so that they have your email address right? Buyers do not get to see eBay sellers email addresses unless sellers share it. But it might be viewable from paypal pages.

I think it's important to keep communication open and friendly with this buyer. But I do not believe that PayPal got the money first try and then sat on it. Perhaps on second try they did, but do not state as much until they get past their holding period. And release it to you.

 

Well I'm giving the buyer the benefit of the doubt. It's just that most of the communication is one way. He isn't very responsive. I'm hoping that it does come good via the clearing process. But I did already suggest to him that if the eCheck didn't work to try a different money transfer. I'm always friendly and open unless they are obviously trying on on. So far I've been messaging him via eBay, but I do have his personal email. However, I think it's best if I go via eBay as then I have a record of our communication they can access. But I hope it all comes good, otherwise I'll have to go through the eBay disputes procedure which might be tricky as it's not straightforward because of me sending the item. I only shipped it as I assumed it would clear that day, and didn't want to delay as it was international. I won't do that again!

 

You will mot be going through the eBay dispute process. I don't even think that there is a way to check off what your issue is in the process.

There is not a case for this history.

1. PayPal echeck was sent by buyer but did not clear
1. I sent item and disregarded paypal stating not to send item.
You will be lucky tot even get a reply. If you get an answer it will not be what you want to hear.

 

Well I would, if only to get my final value fee refunded. Whatever way you look at it, if he ends up not paying for an item he buys on eBay then I should not be charged the 9.9% commission at the very least. It shouldn't matter if I sent it or not. So that's about $12.50 refund. I doubt if I'd see more than that though.

 

Well.........it's cleared my account at last! Almost two weeks of uncertainty. But hey I learnt my lesson. A BIG THANKS to everyone who offered some help in understanding this. PHEW!

 

Glad you got that resolved. I learned some ebay lessons the hard way as well. Now i only accept instant paymejt, so no stupid echecks. I also got in the habit of looking for that $ to see if it lights up and i get the payment notification before sending anything. I have my own policy where if people dont pay in 3 days I relist, and its happened quite a few times. People suck and you have to approach selling this way to avoid disappointment.

 

I am glad it worked out, imarc. It is ok to be trusting...don't change in that respect. It is still better to trust than not to - I have a lot of faith with the folks on this forum. Ebay, not so much

I guess I don't understand how to know whether or not someone has sent you an echeque until it is too late? We can all take a chapter from your book kind sir and make clear in our For Sale threads that we won't accept echeques. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

 

Glad it worked out mate!

 

Thanks. Yes I agree. I did try to put on some eBay listings that I would not accept an eCheque but eBay pulled the listing to say you have to accept ALL forms of payment offered by Paypal. But you can cancel them if you do it quick enough, although that's the dilemma really. In all likelihood it's at least a weeks wait if you do go ahead. I guess not everybody's payment will encounter a problem. Still it's not as convenient as the instant payments which most buyers use.

 

Me too! I transferred the money to my UK Paypal account and then immediately withdrew it into my UK bank account lol! What's interesting is this, and it's a general point. When you transfer money in Australia from Paypal to your bank account it normally takes 2 or 3 days before the money is there. Doing the exact same thing in UK the money shows up instantly and is available in my UK BANK ACCOUNT instantly. They must have a much quicker clearance process in UK than down here in the **** of the world!

 

Thanks. How do you stop people paying by eCheck? As I said I wrote in a listing the other day NO ECHECKS PLEASE! and eBay then removed my listing, sent me an email warning me that this isn't allowed. I blasted them back, explaining why I didn't want them, but of course it's a painful process contacting or explaining anything to eBay.