Buying with PayPal on Gumtree

[rosedani]

Hi all, I've just seen a laptop on Gumtree that I want to buy but the seller will only accept PayPal as a payment option. What I need to know is, will my money be safe if I pay him this way and it turns out to be a scam?

On some forums it says it is safe because i can just open a dispute and claim the money back if I don't receive the item/item is not as described. But on other sites it says it's not safe and that I can't open disputes for items bought outside of ebay?

Any advice/experience would be helpful because I don't want to part with £600 without knowing the transaction is 100% safe.

Cheers

[red-bay]

Assuming you're a uk registered account holder, and you pay an invoice for goods, or you use send money from within your paypal account, then select "goods" as the reason for the payment, then you'll have the same protection you would have if you'd bought on ebay, including protection against the laptop not being as described

If you use send money, but select any of the personal payment options, or you pay a money request for payment owed, you'll have no protection. Its a question of looking at the invoice supplied, or selecting the right reason for the payment when you make it

[PayPal_david · Accepted solution]

Great answer red-bay, 100% correct

As long as you ensure that you select 'Goods' as your payment type when sending the funds to the seller, you should be fully protected in the event of the item not being received or being not as described.

David

[rosedani]

So my money will be 100% safe if I use PayPal through Gumtree and it turns out to be a scam? I'm just a bit worried because  the offer sounds a bit too good to be true. The seller is selling the laptop for £600 but he could easily get £1000 on ebay for it!

Do I just need his email address to transfer the money? Is there no new scams that are out at the moment where I can still get caught out paying this way?

Thanks

Dan

[jonin60seconds]

Hi Dan

I work at Gumtree and as a rule, we always reccommend face to face trading. If someone is insisting on remote payment before seeing the goods, my reccommendation would be to walk away and look for something else, especially if it sounds too good to be true.

There are plenty other good deals on Gumtree.

[classy-diva]

All PP payments are covered providing you as the account holder have a UK registered PayPal account, and you are making a payment for goods!

Ask your seller send you an invoice from within PayPal stating the payment is for goods, you should only ever pay one whole lump sum and not a deposit or installments as those are not covered by PP.

[PayPal_lucy]

Hey rosegani,

Yep all you need is the email address.  You can then send the payment through the send money tab. Again make sure it is marked as a purchase payment for goods as personal payments, deposits and virtual items are not covered under buyer and seller protection.

You will be able to open a buyer dispute should the item not arrive or if the item arrives and it is not as described. Please note that you have to open the dispute within 45 days of the transaction in order for PayPal to investigate.

If you want to read more on the buyer protection available through PayPal you can do so here in the user agreement, 13. PayPal Buyer Protection.

Also thank you for your input jonin60seconds. Good to have your opinion on here as well