Would taking note of serial number/including it in invoice protect me from gumtree paypal scam?

[omslemming]

Hi there basically im selling my graphics card on gumtree, the buyer or potential buyer doesnt live locally so wants to buy it using paypal and I then ship to them.

Now I know theres a scam where the buyer recieves an item then requests a refund and sends the item back to obtain it but it turns out to be a matching item in worse condition.....say a graphics card of the same type but a non working one, the buyer then has dumped a trash card on the seller, keeps the working one sent to them and has the refund also.

Now my question is, paypal allow refunds in this case as the seller has no way of proving the item wasnt the one sent to the buyer if they match....but I think I may have found a way to prevent this.

So I know the serial number of my graphics card being sent, you can obtain it via the box or via device manager on your pc....now if I include that number in the invoice sent to the buyer if they then send back an item that has a different serial number to the one on the invoice, that is surly proof they are not sending back the same item yes?

Would paypal side with me the seller if this was the case? Say if the buyer tried to pull this scam but it turned out the item I received had a different serial number to the one they were invoiced for?

I don`t suspect the buyer of being a scammer, all seems legit but I want to protect myself. Just wondering if including the serial number of the sent item on the invoice to the buyer would be enough to protect me from this particular scam.

Is there any other method people would recommend I use to protect myself here, perhaps timestamped photos/videos of the item in the condition it was sent in? 

One other method I was thinking of using is using a uv  security marker to make a small mark on the card (no damage to card, mark only shows up under uv light) then if they try this scam and the card sent back doesn't have this mark in the same place then bingo-proof its not the item.....or would paypal see it this way?

[PayPal_Martina]

HI there omslemming,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the community!

In general, if a buyer opens a claim for an Item Significantly Not As Described, PayPal would refer to the description of the item to make a decision. If you insert a certain serial number in the auction or the description of the item but then you receive a different item back, you will have the option to appeal the case. 

This option is available every time a seller receives back an item that is different from the one that was originally sent. As a suggestion, you should keep a copy of the description of the item where you can clearly see the serial number. Also, the relevant department may request additional information once you declare that the buyer shipped a different item to you. 

You can find more information on our Seller Protection here. 

I hope this helps!

Martina