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... paying through ebay, and then Paypal, or just through Paypal?
I bought an item, where the seller sent me an invoice. When I paid the invoice (through ebay), it went through to Paypal and then the email address he had on record. Turns out he says that's the wrong email address, and wants me to pay him directly from Paypal to the correct address. Is there any downside to this, or reason I shouldn't do it? (If it matters: seller is 100% feedback positive with 20 transactions, the email he wants me to use seems consistent with his ebay user ID, and the item in question is about $50.)
TiA
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Yes, there is a difference. By paying to his other email address, that does not associate the payment with the ebay listing and therefore means you no longer qualify for PayPal's Buyer Protection program. Instead you get the much-worse Buyer Complaint coverage, which basically means "we'll try to recover find if something goes wrong, but no guarantees". That isn't a huge deal if you fund the payment with a CC, but still, it closes off one avenue of recourse.
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It may be fishy it may not.
I had a problem with folks paying and the money not showing up when I first started selling on eBay. It took me a while to to figure out that the problem was caused by ME!
I had made a typo on my PayPal account name in my sellers profile on eBay.
If I sent an invoice and the buyer paid from that it would go through to my account without a problem but if the buyer paid using the automatically generated "Pay Now" button from the eBay auction page the funds would go to an account that didn't exist and that I couldn't access! I had mistyped 1 letter and did not even notice it!
Withdraw/cancel the transaction that you have already paid and request that he send you a new eBay invoice. This is the only way to make sure that you are covered by the eBay/PayPal buyer protection policy.
You could also advise the seller to double check his paypal address, as listed in his seller account, to make sure that it is correct before he sends the new invoice.
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This is VERY common for people that don't often sell. The email address is automatically populated in the form. If you haven't sold anything for a couple of years odds are good that your email address has changed.
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Having the seller re-invoice from the correct email account WILL NOT ensure buyer protection is maintained. See
section 13.3a of the PayPal user agreement.
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The two key points are
"The eBay "Pay Now" button or the eBay invoice, or
The "Send Money" tab on your PayPal account overview page by selecting "Pay for eBay Items" and entering your eBay User ID and the eBay item number."
If the seller sends an invoice from the correct email account, that means it is not the email address associated with the listing, which means PayPal has no link between the seller's account and the listing. Which means no PayPal Buyer Protection.
If PeterB uses a CC the point is pretty much moot as he should have the option of a chargeback if necessary. But he (and other ebayers) need to be aware of this issue to make the best decision regarding the sale.
One option for the seller is to acquire that wrong email address if it is available and then add that to his email list in PayPal. Then PeterB could pay the seller in a manner consistent with the BPP and all would be well.
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I wan't suggesting that he pay from an email with the correct account info but that the seller send a new invoice with the correct account information..... sheesh that's all from me on this...
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The seller issuing a new invoice is fine. But, the invoice has to be associated with the sale for BPP coverage. That cannot happen unless the seller gains control of the email address he specified in the listing. Otherwise, any new invoice issued that is attached to the listing still refers to the wrong address. You can't change the address post-sale and maintain BPP coverage.
Payments are tied to addresses, so an error in an address has repercussions for the seller in gaining payment and the buyer in making payment. Not the most convenient system, but if the seller gets it right first time around these issues are moot.
