Raul, PayPal is not that secure. They depend on the Credit Card Companies ability to identify stolen numbers and the like. The Process outside the US is really not as good as in the US. In the US the crooks got an early start so the sytems are better. The seller has a right to protect themselves as much as you have the right to buy. I was a very active ebay trader and we were given fake Bank issued Checks, which is why we call the bank to verify it is real. If I were to sell you a part I have no doubt that the money would show up. Mike Reick sent me some carb boots prior to my sending him a check. Here we are a community. On ebay any person can bid on your item, and a lot of dishonest people take advantage of it. 8 years ago, I had no ebay problems, now I rarely sell anymore. I would have no problem forwarding products from here in NY to my friends overseas.
I can't agree with you on this subject. The check fraud is so old now, the trick is that you shouldn't ship the goods until the funds are cleared. Even then, a fake check will cost you bank fees, so it's easier to sell worldwide and accept only Paypal, bank transfer or cash in an envelope.
When I opened my Paypal account, Paypal verifies with the credit card company if my adress matches the one in their database. As my credit card was issued in Spain, there was no way to verify so I was rejected. Then I tried with a check card, that is a VISA card but instead of using credit it uses the actual balance in your bank account. As using it will just get YOUR money, no credit money, I was authorized and have been using it since then. Actually, I renew my credit and debit cards yearly to get new numbers just in case.
If somebody fools Paypal, that shouldn't be a seller's issue, but a Paypal issue. If I get a Paypal payment and the credit card was fake, Paypal shouldn't withdraw the money with me; they should be more careful to whom they authorize. After all, they are getting a good money in fees from the users.
I can't understand either why people won't accept credit card Paypal payments. When you are a seller you must make things easy to buyers. You have to pay fees? So what? Charge one buck more on shipping and you are done, I generally ran away from sellers that specify a long, strict list of selling conditions, because I know they will make things difficult and will sell me like doing me a favor, and when I do business I don't need favours, I exchange goods for money and both parties should end up satisfied.
As a side note, I must say that I don't bid on items that clearly specify "Will ship to US only, no exceptions". If there is no specific mention of not shipping Worldwide I bid on it, even when the seller has marked just the box on "shipping US only".
I once won a book from a german seller. I was the second and winning bidder, with a winning bid of about 7 euro. The seller gave me a shipping quote that made the deal not worthy, as I could buy it cheaper -and new- in the bookstore in Spain. I told him so and asked to offer it to the second bidder -and offering to pay the fees anyway-. The seller replied that I was lucky because the second bidder accepted, but suggested me next time I should ask beforehand. I told him to think outside the box. What would have happened if I didn't bid? The same bidder would have won the book for 1 euro, so indeed he owed me a favour... Even for 7 euro, that was a bargain for the second bidder -also german-. I guess the seller would have been very pissed off to have to sell that book for 1 euro. Actually, you may know it, it was "The art of the Motorcycle", the Guggenheim exhibit book in hardcover and german language. Just check which is the selling price and imagine how would you feel buying it for one euro plus shipping...
Raul
