Don't you have to have 25 completed sales before they stop holding your money ? And that I believe is eBay, not Paypal. But no matter what, people do not work for free. Thus the only logical conclusion is that there is something about the banking laws in Peru that allows this guy to profit somehow.
Similarly, in the US if you take a fake money order for example, the bank is bound by federal law to make the funds available in a certain amount of time. What has happened is that people send a supposedly good cashier's check, money order or whatever, buy something and then weeks later it is found to be fraudulent. Then the bank disgorges your account which may cause a negative balance and thus exorbitant overdraft fees. I am sure the banks have NO problem with that "regulation" "imposed" upon them. Now if congress tried to limit the fees you would see so much lobby money in there that even AIPAC would drool. But this is just fine.
It depends on the government of Peru. As far as I know, in most civilised countries you need proof of ID to open a bank account. So sooner or later they will shut this guy down. If they don't or can't because of the law maybe Paypal will. They could just say "Hmm, how much money we make on transactions to and from Peru last year ? Four dollars ? Well we just ain't dealing with Peru anymore". Nobody in Peru can force anyone to do business with them. That includes Paypal. Or they might put up a warning when you sign in stating that refunds are not possible with payments made to locations in Peru. The government would eventually react and fix this shit. If people cannot send money INTO the country, that is not good for the country.
I don't know. You need a government issued ID to open a bank account in the US. It might not be like that in Peru. If it is not, look for a change because they are not going to put up with being isolated like that. Paypal is big, worldwide.
Another thing, buy something from Peru ? Why ? Look at Enaldo, poor guy cannot get a frikken transistor shipped. How can it be cost effective to ship something that actually weighs from there ? I have checked into DHL's rates and they are ridiculous. Who else is there ? They got a better post office than Germany ? (I heard it sucks)
I don't see how the guy can even do this, like I said the laws must be quite different there. Maybe like the Cayman Islands or something, which is where the government contractors hide their money these days.
Last time I took checks it was for a repair, I had the guy's unit hostage. For a simple sale I would insist on a postal money order because you can call an 800 number and find out if it is real. People got LASER printers these days and can print just about anything. Even money if you know how to crack the software to allow it. (but you can't get the right paper anymore) You can reproduce almost anything, and even those funky looking numbers at the bottom printed in magnetic ink ? Well that is what LASER printers use. Works just fine.
And actually is legal to print checks with YOUR account and routing numbers on them. Someone else's on the other hand, not so much if you try to use them.
You know, they touted this cashless society shit as being good for us as we cannot get robbed. Bullshit, it did nothing of the sort. I think they just wanted all the money.
I also would like to know how those Nigerian scammers get paid. They must have some funny banking laws there as well. If they are still doing it they are still getting paid.
All in all I am leery of international transactions for many reasons.
