Craigslist purchase through paypal...

[russell075]

Hello

I am trying to buy etickets from someone on craigslist but I cannot travel to their house to pick it up. I offered to pay them through paypal and they could just email me the etickets, but what happens if I pay them through paypal and then they never email me the tickets? Is there something i can do about it? I need the advice before I hand over the $80!

Thank you!! 🙂

[surplusdealdude · Accepted solution]

No, that is a very bad idea.

You will have no buyer protection since the tickets are virtual items.

With Craigslist and any of the classified sites, it's personal pickup and cash only.

[Reyes]

Beware of Craigslist people, is a CROOK's magnet, is infected with Scammers, Cash transaction or C.O.D. only

[SteveHogan]

I have not had a problem with paying people with PayPal on Craigslist, BUT I have in all cases been able to actually verify the legitimicy of the seller first.  Listen to the others.  Unless you trust the seller, do not pay them up front.  You have no recourse other than a lawsuit if you do not receive the tickets.

[Jules__]

I have a similiar situation. The merchant is an ebay seller who is custom making an item for me.  Should I have him list the item on ebay before paying w/ paypal?  Thanks!  

[surplusdealdude]

You could ask him to, or you could pay with a credit card.  The card fills in the blanks where Paypal does not.

[Jules__]

Very helpful, thank you!  We are retired and there's a LOT of stuff we don't know online.  Some scams are so well thought out, why, they could bring world peace with all that brain power...  Thanks again, YOU ROCK!

[knikgtoparts]

I am going to use craigslist only now no fees and I can insist on cash.  Ebay double billed me theu my abnk account tand then caasued it to overdraft. No responses back from ebay they just ahndg up on me whan I catch their lies.

[scammedandmad]

I think this may have just happened to me.  I found concert tickets on craigslist and paid $200 for all 4 of them via paypal 5 days ago. I have since had no more response from the person other than them claiming they'd be sending the tickets via FedEx the very next day.  Needless to say I don't have them, and can't seem to reach them.  I have filed a dispute & claim thru paypal as of yesterday.  Would the seller have been able to have already gotten the full $200 out of their paypal account that fast, & could now be "gone?"  Do I have any recourse at all? I paid w/ my visa debit-- can I call for a chargeback on there if I don't get it elsewhere and the tickets don't show up?  Thanks for your help!

[surplusdealdude]

VISA debit can be tricky - phone the customer service tomorrow morning and see if they'll do a chargeback.

If they won't, then go to your bank and see if you can place a stop payment on the debit - it might have gone through as an echeck and you might be able to stop it (confidence isn't high on this, btw)

If that doesn't work, file a dispute with paypal in their security center and escalate it as soon as you can.