I'm selling something expensive and someone offered to pay through PayPal. What do I do?

OrangesBestest

Estimable
Jan 24, 2015
3
0
4,510
Let me cut straight to the chase and explain as best as I can.

I'm selling my drumkit online, on a site that's in my native language.
Right off the bat, I got a message from someone saying if we could talk about the offer through our e-mails rather than through the site itself and then he deleted his account, which I found weird.

Anyway, I ring him up via e-mail but now he is speaking in english.
No problem, he seems to be interested in my offer and also states that he is a relocation consultant and therefore he cannot use his phone. Also weird.

And here comes my problem. He accepted my offer and said he will pay through PayPal and send a shipping company to pick the drumkit up. He didn't even inspect the kit and he is ready to buy it, wtf?

Can I get tricked with paypal? Can he pay on paypal but actually cancel the transaction at his bank or something? I have absolutely no experience with paypal.
What else do I have to look out for?
 

ccampy

Honorable
Jan 4, 2014
61
0
10,610
The fact that he wants to talk off the site should be a big one lots if sales sight's have rules against this more worrying us that he deleted his account after contacting you
Run now my advice
 

Pinhedd

Distinguished
Moderator


Yes, he's most likely trying to scam you.

Note that he's trying to get rid of any paper trail that you could use to prove delivery.

He deleted his account on the exchange site -> no intermediary

He won't use a phone -> no way to lookup his identity

He's sending a "shipping company" which means that you'll have no documentation showing that you shipped it and you won't have his address. Large products such as drum kits usually need to be shipped by a freight company which requires loads of paperwork by both the shipper and receiver.

Whenever a dispute is filed with PayPal, PayPal will almost always side with the buyer unless the seller can provide overwhelming documentation to support their case.

Do not go through with this transaction.
 

Skylyne

Estimable
Sep 7, 2014
405
0
5,010
The likelihood of this being legit? ~.1% chance. Likelihood of this being a scam? 99.9%

Personally, I'd try to bait him, see what kind of info you can get from him, and see what's going on. If he looks too fishy, I'd try to force enough information to turn it over to authorities; or, just run, if it gets too likely I'll be scammed.

If you don't want to take a chance, just ditch him.