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Newbie to eBay and PayPal. Need advice

BilboBaggins

BilboBaggins

Addicted Member
This thread is about two items. The first one is about eBay international, and the second is about PayPal.

1) Up until this past summer, I had never used eBay. Then I needed certain items I could not find anywhere else, so I took a chance. No issues with those transactions, which only crossed into the US.

However, at the beginning of October, in an almost impulse buy, I purchased an item from Japan, against all advice from others experienced with dealing with Japan. They all advised going to HiFiDo. Which I was going to do, except I couldn’t complete my transaction, so in a fit of frustration, I bought it on EBay. This is the most I have spent on any Audio item, so I am very nervous! It was charged over onto my credit card. I assume it has PayPal protection as the last item I bought did, but I have seen no evidence anywhere. When I look for the item I bought on past sales, both in eBay and hifishark, I see nothing at all about it.

So I contacted the seller through eBay, asking for an update on the sale, and when it would be shipped. I didn’t hear back, so I tried againafter a couple of days, this time explaining that their silence was making me nervous. I sent it in English and in google translated Japanese. I heard back quickly that they had 10 business days before having to ship. Please wait patiently until then.

The time period passed, and I still hadn’t seen anything happen, so I sent another message in the same format. I quickly got a reply that they had a backlog in their shipping and to please be patient with them. I looked at their feedback, and over all it has been good, except most recently, when they have cancelled transactions over non shipment and poor communication. The company is Japanmegamall. Still nothing.

How can I verify that I do or do not have PayPal protection? The purchase was done just by going into eBay and logging in with my password. If I don’t have PayPal protection, how long can I wait before contacting VISA to cancel the transaction? I’m worried that they might be playing a waiting game until the VISA waiting period is over, and then I’m out all that money.

2) This is PayPal related. While waiting for my eBay purchase, I decided I had better be able to pay off the VISA balance by selling some gear. One item is quite expensive, and I found a buyer in LA. I realized that for what I was charging, it was likely going to interest someone south of our border to take advantage of our low dollar. So I figured I would need to do a PayPal transaction. I opened up my account, and then asked the buyer to transfer the money, friends and family, to my account. This has always been the condition to my accepting the sale. I’ve received the money, but I see no indication that it was transferred friends and family. How can I tell? I’m assuming I got because there is no indication, that it isn’t, but before I contact the buyer, I want to be certain.


Your advice on both of these issues would be very much appreciated. I am suffering from major anxiety over both of them, because it would really hurt to lose that much money, and even worse to lose on both transactions at once. I am totally new at this.
 
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First, if it is through a credit card, you are protected. The last step is to file a claim through your credit card. Then the seller needs to give a tracking number. No tracking number? You are refunded. It will just take months.

Now go back to ebay. If it is not in your ebay purchase history, ebay wont do anything about it.

Same as paypal, if it is not in your activity list. They wont do anything.

If it is in your eBay purchase history, file a non-reception claim. You will get your money back in 7 days.

If it is in your Paypal activity list, file a claim through paypal and you will also get your money back in 14 days.

East like that. no worry. (these all assume that the seller cannot provide a tracking number)

In terms of selling, different story. A simple answer is, eBay / Paypal provide almost non-existing protection for sellers. If the buyer file a "not as description" and return your a brick. You are done. They took your money while you also lose your gear.

Most buyer would not use the "friends and family" for paypal to send money to you. Because that method do not have any protection for either buyer or seller. If you dont ship the item after receive the money, the buyer cannot do anything about it.


BilboBaggins said:
This thread is about two items. The first one is about eBay international, and the second is about PayPal.

1) Up until this past summer, I had never used eBay. Then I needed certain items I could not find anywhere else, so I took a chance. No issues with those transactions, which only crossed into the US.

However, at the beginning of October, in an almost impulse buy, I purchased an item from Japan, against all advice from others experienced with dealing with Japan. They all advised going to HiFiDo. Which I was going to do, except I couldn’t complete my transaction, so in a fit of frustration, I bought it on EBay. This is the most I have spent on any Audio item, so I am very nervous! It was charged over onto my credit card. I assume it has PayPal protection as the last item I bought did, but I have seen no evidence anywhere. When I look for the item I bought on past sales, both in eBay and hifishark, I see nothing at all about it.

So I contacted the seller through eBay, asking for an update on the sale, and when it would be shipped. I didn’t hear back, so I tried againafter a couple of days, this time explaining that their silence was making me nervous. I sent it in English and in google translated Japanese. I heard back quickly that they had 10 business days before having to ship. Please wait patiently until then.

The time period passed, and I still hadn’t seen anything happen, so I sent another message in the same format. I quickly got a reply that they had a backlog in their shipping and to please be patient with them. I looked at their feedback, and over all it has been good, except most recently, when they have cancelled transactions over non shipment and poor communication. The company is Japanmegamall. Still nothing.

How can I verify that I do or do not have PayPal protection? The purchase was done just by going into eBay and logging in with my password. If I don’t have PayPal protection, how long can I wait before contacting VISA to cancel the transaction? I’m worried that they might be playing a waiting game until the VISA waiting period is over, and then I’m out all that money.

2) This is PayPal related. While waiting for my eBay purchase, I decided I had better be able to pay off the VISA balance by selling some gear. One item is quite expensive, and I found a buyer in LA. I realized that for what I was charging, it was likely going to interest someone south of our border to take advantage of our low dollar. So I figured I would need to do a PayPal transaction. I opened up my account, and then asked the buyer to transfer the money, friends and family, to my account. This has always been the condition to my accepting the sale. I’ve received the money, but I see no indication that it was transferred friends and family. How can I tell? I’m assuming I got because there is no indication, that it isn’t, but before I contact the buyer, I want to be certain.


Your advice on both of these issues would be very much appreciated. I am suffering from major anxiety over both of them, because it would really hurt to lose that much money, and even worse to lose on both transactions at once. I am totally new at this.
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My take on this?
If the lack of shipping is more than 7-10 days, it's an issue, but, it also doesn't sound like you used Paypal? If you bought or won something, and then wanted to pay for it with a credit card THRU PayPal, you would have been directed to PayPal, at which time the choices will be to use the money already in your account, or you can chose to use your credit card.
A simple check within your online PayPal account will show a transaction using either way to pay. No transaction listed? Advise your cc to put a hold on ALL transactions until you straighten it out.
Second issue. If your account shows the money in full, it was f&f, if there is a fee or if the buyer paid you the price plus 3-3.5% it's a regular transaction.
Regular trans are subject to 'not as described' which immediately puts the funds on hold. That is a problem
 
How long is the window for filing an ebay claim?
These delays are running up the days since the initial transaction took place.
Agreed about should be protected if he used a credit card. Should have paypal protection as well (for how long?) if he used Paypal UNLESS he got conned into using "friends and family".
 
Ebay/Paypal is 30 days.

Credit card usually 180 days but I think Amex is 1 year ! Scare to the sellers, isnt it?

goodolpg said:
How long is the window for filing an ebay claim?
These delays are running up the days since the initial transaction took place.
Agreed about should be protected if he used a credit card. Should have paypal protection as well (for how long?) if he used Paypal UNLESS he got conned into using "friends and family".
Click to expand...
 
CT Jim said:
My take on this?
If the lack of shipping is more than 7-10 days, it's an issue, but, it also doesn't sound like you used Paypal? If you bought or won something, and then wanted to pay for it with a credit card THRU PayPal, you would have been directed to PayPal, at which time the choices will be to use the money already in your account, or you can chose to use your credit card.
A simple check within your online PayPal account will show a transaction using either way to pay. No transaction listed? Advise your cc to put a hold on ALL transactions until you straighten it out.
Second issue. If your account shows the money in full, it was f&f, if there is a fee or if the buyer paid you the price plus 3-3.5% it's a regular transaction.
Regular trans are subject to 'not as described' which immediately puts the funds on hold. That is a problem
Click to expand...

Thanks, part of me is relieved as it does show as no charges and no hold.

eBay has me concerned. In answer to other comments, I’ve been considering calling eBay and explaining the issue. I wanted to reach out to the collective knowledge here first.
 
One thing I should point out is the item is coming from Japan, and the date provided for shipping is between Nov 10 and Nov 17 th.
 
Why? Who knows!
However, how you paid for it, not how you think you paid for it, will define your protection
Good luck
 
BilboBaggins said:
One thing I should point out is the item is coming from Japan, and the date provided for shipping is between Nov 10 and Nov 17 th.
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This is not a normal issue. Expected delivery date is way past your 30 day window from purchase. If you are nervous about the transaction, ask the seller to cancel. If that doesn’t work file a dispute.
 
After reading the feedback of the seller, I think this id is just another dummy of the infamous id "Japanesesailor". They dont actually own the item they are selling. Instead, they took picture from one of their nearby local store which has nothing to do with them. Once you make the purchase, they will just go buy it and flip it to you. Thus, whether you get it or not is by the luck. If item has been sold out in their nearby store, then you wont get it.
 
sixthday said:
After reading the feedback of the seller, I think this id is just another dummy of the infamous id "Japanesesailor". They dont actually own the item they are selling. Instead, they took picture from one of their nearby local store which has nothing to do with them. Once you make the purchase, they will just go buy it and flip it to you. Thus, whether you get it or not is by the luck. If item has been sold out in their nearby store, then you wont get it.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I have followed a lot of threads here on eBay and PayPal transactions, and you may have hit it on the nail. I have been worrying about this and the 30 day limit.
 
Doing a quick search, it looks like you have 30 days from delivery (eBay protection) or 180 days from purchase (Paypal, if you used Paypal).

If you feel like you overpaid (which I think is typical for japanesesailor, then ask them to cancel the order. Since they're within their instructed shipping period, I don't know for sure if you can, but it's worth a try if you overpaid.

If it was a good deal, then maybe you wait. You have buyer protection, so if it arrives not as described or with some other problem, I think the seller had to pay return shipping, so you don't have much risk.

I would double check the eBay and Paypal (or whatever you used for payment) policies in detail to make sure you're covered.
 
Assuming this was an Ebay purchase, keep a close eye on the timelines. Some less than forthright sellers will keep coming up with excuses to keep you on the hook until it is to late to make a claim. If you wait past the deadline you are out of luck. I

I am not sure what the setup is on HiFiDo, but if you went through their website the actual legal transaction may be that you bought from HiFiDo and they bought it from Ebay. There are a lot of Japanese sights that buy on Ebay.com from the US and Canada and the seller ships to them, who then ships to the final buyer. In this case the sellers transaction is with the facilitator company. If I read correctly, the sale is not showing up on your Ebay account, so that may be the situation.

I would get on the phone with Ebay ASAP and layout the transaction trail and find out the status of the transaction. The transaction not showing up in your Ebay purchases is a major flag IMHO and think you need to track it down. f you don't get a good vibe and particularly if they have not shipped, you may just want to file a return and contact your credit card company and file for a refund.

Perhaps I am being paranoid, but I am very good at that when someone has my money and things do not appear to be lining up as they should!
 
captouch said:
Doing a quick search, it looks like you have 30 days from delivery (eBay protection) or 180 days from purchase (Paypal, if you used Paypal).

If you feel like you overpaid (which I think is typical for japanesesailor, then ask them to cancel the order. Since they're within their instructed shipping period, I don't know for sure if you can, but it's worth a try if you overpaid.

If it was a good deal, then maybe you wait. You have buyer protection, so if it arrives not as described or with some other problem, I think the seller had to pay return shipping, so you don't have much risk.

I would double check the eBay and Paypal (or whatever you used for payment) policies in detail to make sure you're covered.
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VERY TYPICAL for the Japanese sailor.
Usually has his prices MUCH higher than what an item normally sells for.
I've seen some of his listings for twice or even three times the normal selling price. Even if it has free shipping it is still overpriced.
 
That doesn’t sound like this seller. They sell mostly small light designer articles like purses, scarves, and such. It seems like they run into issues with larger items. I am buying a large turntable, and the price was a little under going rate. About what I would expect for a seller who is outside of his comfort zone in order to get a quick sale. I am pretty paranoid, especially like LuckyOrleans, when someone has my money.

Interestingly, after I did the purchase, I started questioning the fact it didn’t show on eBay sold or completed listings. That’s what first got me worried.
 
BilboBaggins said:
That doesn’t sound like this seller. They sell mostly small light designer articles like purses, scarves, and such. It seems like they run into issues with larger items. I am buying a large turntable, and the price was a little under going rate. About what I would expect for a seller who is outside of his comfort zone in order to get a quick sale. I am pretty paranoid, especially like LuckyOrleans, when someone has my money.

Interestingly, after I did the purchase, I started questioning the fact it didn’t show on eBay sold or completed listings. That’s what first got me worried.
Click to expand...
eBay has been having issues for at least a week in regards to items showing up in completed sales. I wouldn’t worry about that. There is no way for a seller to take your money and then erase the item.
 
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