Baning use of paypal on the sales board ?

Kristok

Could it be possible to change the charter to exclude paypal as an asked for payment option for new posters on the sales board ?

Its such a well known scam, paypal only payment and seller only willing to send via post. I know it wont stop it but at least it might stop the people coming in with week old accounts and making these dodgy posts cause someone is going to fall for it one of these days if not already. Something like a 6 or more month limit or something just as a for sale rule.

Laguna

I've sold loads of gear in the FS section of the site and have taken PayPal for payment, I don't think it's reasonable to assume that everyone doing this is doing so to scam (even new users - we're all n00bs here in the beginning) - look at it from the sellers perspective, what if someone was 'sending' a postal order for a graphics card you're selling, you send the card, the postal order never arrives... ho hum

Has it occurred to you that the reason that people sell their stuff by post only is because they don't live in the mecca (which to the majority of boards users is home) that is Dublin?.

Does that then in turn mean someone wishing to sell something in the FS section who isn't from Dublin should drive up there (or the buyer driving to you) on the off chance they aren't being fooled around by someone who has no real intention of buying your goods or even turning up to the specified meeting place at all?

I know you're saying that you'd like the PayPal banning to only be applied to new users, but once a ruling like that gets passed, I wouldn't be surprised if our favourite 'Generic over-zealous moderator' ensures that it's a general FS policy..

seamus

Treat it much like you would ebay. If they're new, i.e. no track record, and they want only PayPal, you have the choice to not buy. There's nobody forcing you to buy stuff off of anyone.

Hobbes

Buyer beware as always.

This is no different then someone looking for the cash up front. If its a lot you could try looking for an escrow service. Personally I'd go with Yellow pages as there are a number of fake ones online.

Kristok

The risk isnt the same with pay pal as posting money or making a bank transfer. If you post the money you have their address, if you make a bank transfer you have their bank details all of which you can go to the guards with or a solicitor and try to sort it out. Pay pal is run by ebay and they wont deal with any situation that takes place off ebay and from what ive heard barly even help with cons that go on on the site.

I never said anything about not using post I think its fine and people from outside dublin are entitled to expect to use postage instead of meeting up thats not my point and I dont understand where your coming from with that im only talking about paypal and made no mention of making it a dublin only board as you seem to be suggesting I am. If someone is here a while then its less likly that they are just using the get the paypal cash and run scam.

With more and more people using paypal Buyer beware isnt good enough its becoming something people are trusting and ive seen at least two dodgy looking posters doing this on the fs board recently. If their accounts had to be something on the lines of 6 months old they wouldnt have been able to get away with it. Its also one thing if the buyer suggests it and a whole other thing if the seller is new and demanding it.

If no one thinks its a good idea then ok I just thought it might get rid of some of the scam artists from baords.

seamus

Kristok wrote:

Buyer beware isnt good enough

Of course it is. Boards.ie is not the protector and educator of the masses. If you're going to dive into something headfirst without thinking about the consequences, it's your own fault when you get burnt. This applies across life, not just on boards.ie. I don't see why boards.ie should take steps in protecting people from themselves.

Boards.ie will attempt to help people if they've been scammed out of cash, but it's not going to do their legwork. Even ebay doesn't do that.

The bottom line is: Selling stuff is not boards.ie's purpose. It doesn't exist to allow people to sell stuff. Online auction sites exist for people to sell stuff. The site makes a profit from the sales, and so has a duty to both parties, and to itself to make the transaction as secure and as transparent as possible. It's in the site's interest since better transactions = more visitors = more money. This doesn't hold for boards.

There's no dear doubt that the For Sale sections will need to be overhauled or removed at some point in the future. They're extremely busy, and forum software simply isn't conducive to massive personal classifieds. The workload at the moment is huge for the moderators, and I don't think it's necessary to add another rule to enforce when all you have to say is "Buyer beware".

CuLT

I don't think it's necessary to disallow Paypal; if people aren't comfortable using it, then they won't use it.

I would, personally, insisit on a different method and if none were forthcoming, would retract my offer. Simple as that.

Kristok

I thought that was the whole point of having rules to stop people argueing and stop people getting ripped off. I guess im the only one who thinks this is a good idea so never mind let people get scammed and eventually someone can shut down the sales forum when it all gets out of hand.

Stark

Maybe it would be best to just sticky a thread, basically outlining what you said in your post above, stating the scam risks and the legal situation vs cash/postal order? I think paypal is too useful for legitimate users for it to be banned.

flogen

No, there are rules there to stop people overselling etc., but you can only warn people about dodgy sellers, and perhaps inform them of how best to avoid being ripped off.
eBay take no responsibility for a bad seller, neither does boards

Besides, it's not really a boards.ie issue, the FS forums are there as buy and sell type adverts for people, how they make the actual transaction (via post, registered, in person, cash, bank acc., paypal, CC, whatever) is their issue alone

parsi

I think Paypal should be accepted. At the end of the days it's as traceable as a bank transfer.

the usual pointers apply - if its too good to be true then its false, if it's being sold by someone who joined boards 2 days ago then exercise caution.

Remember - nobody is forced to buy items on boards....

Dont be at yourself

Buyer Beware.

If the buyer feels uncomfortable using paypal, they should raise the issue with the seller. If they won't accept any other way, pay via paypal, or don't buy it from them.

Therefore, people who don't want to use paypal don't have to, and people who don't mind using it, can. Why limit people's options?

masteroftherealm

Kristok wrote:

I thought that was the whole point of having rules to stop people argueing and stop people getting ripped off. I guess im the only one who thinks this is a good idea so never mind let people get scammed and eventually someone can shut down the sales forum when it all gets out of hand.

Preemptive strike dont ya think?
AFAIK there has been little to no scaming on FS involving paypal etc?
Very little scamming in general!
If it happend and someone got stung yeah by all means but for the moment its a worldwide secure method of payment trusted by millions!!!

Kristok

parsi wrote:

I think Paypal should be accepted. At the end of the days it's as traceable as a bank transfer.

In theory yes but there was a bbc doc about this a while back and the police in the uk tried to get details from ebay about a case and they simply didnt answer them.