Paypal question

[zedds]

Hi all

I wonder if i could pick your brains.

I am in the process of buying an eyepiece from an ad off astrobuysell. I`m quite new to this, especially(sp?) using paypal. The seller is from Greece and we`ve agreed a price and he asked for the funds to be paid into his friends paypal account. Does this sound normal, ive emailed him to ask if he has his own paypal account but no response yet. That was only a couple of hours ago though. He has asked for the money as a gift which is ok, but what protection do i get if he doesnt send the item?

Any thoughts welcomed

Thanks

Edit. I`m not suggesting that this guy is dodgy, just wondering if this is normal.

[skye at night]

As the buyer... if you know your payment is paypal covered you should be OK....

if selling you need to ...beware the dreaded "paypal Chargeback..."

you can always risk it... but if either buyer decides item is not as described or the payment is iffy then you could find yourself out-of-pocket further down the line....

Many such payments would be fine, but there is always the risk...

Astro-buy-sell has a lot of users from all over, but no feedback system, so difficult to get a feel for the risk.

I have given up on paypal myself in all forms due to their practices and ethics.

steve

[Doc]

Have a read here about my thoughts on paypal.

http://stargazerslounge.com/lounge/89864-me-paypal-finished.html

This could be a honest transaction, he might not have a bank account for example and is using a friends, nothing illegal about it.

At the end of the day the choice is yours....

[acey]

I've done it in the past (also with someone from Greece funnily enough, though not for astro stuff) and it all worked out fine.

But like you I wondered if I was going to be fleeced. The amount was small enough that I was prepared to take a risk.

It would be worth checking the paypal site to see what protection you have, but legally it sounds pretty much like sending a cheque or postal order. A case of buyer beware.

[themos]

It's not Anthony Ayiomamitis, is it?

If so, he's probably the best imager in Greece and one of the top guys anywhere. Just make sure it's not somebody impersonating him.

[Abernus]

As a buyer you are more protected through PayPal than as a seller. So I would say go for it. As per Skye at Night's comment. I have never used Astro buysell so I can't comment on that, but have used PayPal a lot. I have been ripped off as a seller, but had good experience of protection as a buyer.

Hope this helps.

[zedds]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

I`ll try it and let you know how i get on.

[brympton]

I don't think you have any comeback with Paypal when sending money as a gift. If you are concerned I would suggest an offer to pay the sellers Paypal fees yourself. This may cost you a bit extra but at least you will be protected. If the seller does not agree to this then I would not proceed.

[Steve922]

Why does he want the payment to be sent as a gift? Probably because it will be - and you can't complain to PayPal that he never sent the goods if the payment wasn't for goods!

Basically, whenever you deal through PayPal you are taking a risk. They are ungoverned and not answerable to anyone - they can do anything they like. Only transact for small amounts through Paypal because you WILL be stunbg sooner or later.

If you think Paypal is trustworthy, do an Internet search and read some of the thousands and thousands of complaints against them.

Steve

[oceanheadted]

I worked for a major oil company a few years back and they had to write a special module on their sales system to allow the invoice to be produced immediately (so it could be paid in cash) on wholesale fuel sales. That was done for Greece, where there's a lot more cash transactions and bank accounts are used a lot less.

[zedds]

Quick Update

The eyepiece arrived this morning, so all went well:). Thanks for all your thoughts.