Protect yourself when using Player Auctions

[duexe]

Player Auctions, the cornucopia of ebayable items/services available to everyone (to include scammers). I know plenty of peeps that buy plat, power lvling services and what not. Sometimes you get screwed. This is how you protect yourself.

First of all, make sure you are a verified paypal member. This has benefits which can help you if you get scammed.

Before you buy...
1) Look at the date of the feedback posts. Ive seen scammers use old posts to boost there positive post history.

2) Be wary of sellers with low feed back from foreign countries (US fraud law doesnt apply).

3) Always check the fraud forums. Sometimes scammers change their names to start over again. You can usually get good information about sellers this way.

If you get scammed...
4) You have 45 days to get a 'CHARGE BACK' from pay pal. This is the one good reason to be verified. Ensure you state that its for auction goods and not virtual (If you state virtual items, ur outta luck). Say that item was not delivered. You will recover your lost money this way.

As a seller....
5) Peeps have tried to use the 'CHARGE BACK' to recover money for items/services they legitimately got. Beware 0 feed back buyers who buy high dollar items. Ten positive feed backs for buyers are usually the rule. If you feel frisky and do allow an individual to buy a high dollar item (but the buyer has 0 feedback), goto Paypal IMMEDIATELY after you make the deal and declare the item purchased was virtual. This will put a stop to them getting a 'CHARGE BACK'.

Hope this helps. I see peeps getting scammed all the time, this info should protect you.

 

[Alatyami]

Good information. I was actually thinking about getting some extra plat, but Real life money is more important to me.

 

[adaubenmire]

How do you go about declaring that an item purchased was virtual, i dont see that option anywhere

 

[duexe]

Heh, glad u asked. This is missed by a lot of peeps. In paypal, u have a shipping address option. ALWAYS mark 'SHIPPING IS REQUIRED' and list a delivery address. Paypal doesnt just come out with a 'is this a virtual purchase?' because its against their EULA agreement. They use the shipping option to determine if its a virtual purchase...

 

[Tone]

I was wondering.. What if you request money from them, and in the 'Note's' box, add "This is a virtual item, and by sending money you agree that you recieved the item you paid for" ? Would that protect you against chargebacks?

 

[photek]

Good tip i've found to sort the good from the shit is to pull the IP address from emails from sellers/buyers and use tracert to look it up. If their sending from a hotmail account and you turn round and say you isp is comtech so send me an email from that email address, most of the time the genuine sellers/buyers are surprised you know their isp and are willing to comply, and the shit ones dissapear like a fart in the wind.

 

[duexe]

I was wondering.. What if you request money from them, and in the 'Note's' box, add "This is a virtual item, and by sending money you agree that you recieved the item you paid for" ? Would that protect you against chargebacks?

YES

 

[h2h4]

Well, with the above, now the scammers know how to keep you from getting your money back with a chargeback.

 

[eqlover]

Looks like I got burnt by this. Was selling a million plat on Player Auctions. Some one sent an email offering a buy out of $400. I said sure, he was verified paypal as I am. He sent the cash, I handed over the plat this weekend, get this email from Paypal this morning:

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 11:06 AM
To: XXXXXXXXXX
Subject: PayPal Notification: Temporary Hold Pending Investigation (Routing Code: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)

Dear XXXXXXX,

It has come to our attention that you may have recieved potentially
unauthorized funds in your PayPal account. We have initiated an
investigation into this event. In the meantime, we have placed a temporary
hold on the funds in question until the investigation is complete. This
temporary hold will show as a deduction in your available balance. In the
meantime, you are free to continue transacting using your PayPal account.

Transaction Date: May 29, 2005 17:52:40 PDT
Transaction Amount: $400.00 USD
Payor's Email: [email protected]

Please reply to this email with any questions you may have concerning this
reversal.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department

Security Advisory: When you log in to your PayPal account, be sure to open
up a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the
PayPal URL to make sure you are on the real PayPal website.
For more information on protecting yourself from fraud, please review the
Security Tips in our Security Center.

Guess I will petition the char I passed the plat too, I know it won't matter. Oh well, live and learn. Guess I will just sell it all to My Super Sales from now on.

 

[Tone]

Always make them say Virtual goods and get confirmation emails etc to protect yourself. I use playerauctions quite often and I'm very satsified with it. I generally deal with accounts on PA, and then just sell my plat else where, but I have sold plat on PA a few times, and I've never had a reverse payment yet.

 

[duexe]

Western Union protects the seller, Paypal protects the buyer. If your selling to a relatively unknown, make them pay Western Union.

 

[presto102]

Guess I will petition the char I passed the plat too, I know it won't matter. Oh well, live and learn. Guess I will just sell it all to My Super Sales from now on.

Fu$k Supersales and everyone that is affited with them I got burnt by gamepal witch is part of IGE and My supersales heres the email...

Hello Larry, we apologize for the delay. We have decided to keep your account without pay. Please do not reply back, and please do not do business with our company or any IGE companies ever again, thank you.

Best Regards,

Eric Smith
GamePal Inc.
www.gamepal.com

Got no clue why but i did just take the acount back

sell to http://www.irnewb.com they pay better and with in 5 mins of hading over the plat to them. I sold them around 6 mill plat over that past year or so . Never and any problems with them. They send the money paypal while still loged in the game talking to you

 

[eqlover]

I am still a little fuzzy on how you get them to say it is virtual, or requires shipping.

Edit: Trying to find where Paypal does not support the sale of virtual goods. Not having much luck, their policy page is pretty long. Still reading.

Edit2:
Found this, guess this covers it:

Ship tangible goods

Intangible goods, such as services or items delivered electronically (i.e. software, music, ebooks, etc.) are not covered by the Seller Protection Policy. This is because proof of delivery is not available for intangible goods and services.

 

[cronic]

Looks like I got burnt by this. Was selling a million plat on Player Auctions. Some one sent an email offering a buy out of $400. I said sure, he was verified paypal as I am. He sent the cash, I handed over the plat this weekend, get this email from Paypal this morning:



Guess I will petition the char I passed the plat too, I know it won't matter. Oh well, live and learn. Guess I will just sell it all to My Super Sales from now on.

This has happened to me before, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the buyer. I spoke to the man on the phone and he was just as confused as I was. It was for $1000, and I believe the high influx of cash into my account over a short time period, and then such a large purchase, set off flags. A few days later, Paypal called me, we chatted a bit and I answered some questions, and then they removed the hold and I delivered the goods. All went well, aside from the 3-4 day delay.

cronic

 

[eqlover]

Here is the email he used to contact me for the purchase:

[email protected]

Though I am sure it is a garbage account set up just for ripping people off.

Seller beware.

 

[eqlover]

Do you think having PapPal investigate the payment before I give over the plat would make a difference? Or maybe have the buyer give me a phone number to talk to them before I hand over the plat?

Talked with Paypal on my case, they are saying the account or credit card was stolen on the account used to purchase my item. I can't seem to get them to admit if the user reported this or if this account has been known for bad transactions other than mine.

 

[eqlover]

Well, I put in a /petition on the guy last night, we will see what happens. The GM left me a message that he saw the plat transfer in the logs, and asked for more detail. I gave him more detail, waiting to see what happens. I don't expect to get the plat back, but I told the GM he should at leaste delete it from the thiefs account.

 

[danten]

Google for reverse phone directory (or lookup) and within a few minutes, you'll find a website that lets you turn a phone number into an address.

Always ask for a phone number. Reverse lookup and see if their name matches their landline in the phone directory.

Then call that number and say, "mr X, did you just buy Y?"

It's pretty decent verification and scammers don't like giving out their legit personal information.

use Hotmail.com for your receiving email address, it has spoof detection that's kinda like the ipcert thing mentioned earlier except it's automatic.

Fool around with your paypal settings and you'll find a way to give buyers a field to type in their phone number whenever making a payment to you. It's worth it.

And if you're looking for a reputable person that buys and sells, look up trader fasterfind on playerauctions. I'm at 130+ feedback now and steadily rising. I also run auctions for other players.