Buyer wants to pay by balance transfer

[AngryCrispLady]

Says she’s having probs with her PayPal. It’s for a low value item plus postage. Here’s a screen grab of her latest message. What do yoya think? Never not gone via PayPal before....

Tell her not to bother. Cancel the sale and repost.

I can't be bothered with all these excuses from buyers. Either buy the item and PayPal as requested, or don't buy it.

I wouldnt not use PayPal personally.
Doesn't sound very legit message or reasoning...

Personally I wouldn't trust her. Too long winded an excuse for me!

Don’t touch with a barge pole. This is how money laundering is frequently carried out and that’s not something you want to deal with.

Don't give out your bank details to this person - find another buyer - over your limit on a phone bill by £20 that doesn't ring true

Ok thanks

Nope. Always use paypal

Deafening alarm bells there. Why does it cost 20 quid to ring PayPal? Presumably they have an email address...

Hmmm. Have you asked your bank for advice or eBay?
I seem to recall hearing about problems concerning monies being transferred by bank transfer and then recalled/taken out of your account again several days later....
One reason for this might be insufficient funds, and/or the transfer being cancelled by either the bank or the account holder. It can look as if the funds are in your account but they aren't.
A friend was scammed in a similar way (not an eBay transaction butit was via a bank xfer for an item sold) but it was unfortunately NOT a small amount.

Going against the majority here, but I would let her. First off, there's nothing - bar depositing money into it - that anyone can do with the account details needed for the transfer transaction. Secondly, when she's paid via bank transfer the money is yours and safe. When you accept your payment via PayPal, if the buyer decides that your item isn't what they want, even if it's in perfect condition and exactly as described, PayPal always side with the buyer.

Thanks everyone! Will tell her to GTF

Oh @Mountainpeakgeek - that’s a good point...

First off, there's nothing - bar depositing money into it - that anyone can do with the account details needed for the transfer transaction. Secondly, when she's paid via bank transfer the money is yours and safe.

To be fair, this is true. I just wouldn't tolerate the ignoring of 'PayPal please' as a payment request. And that nightly long crap she sent about phones and PayPal would wind me up enough to tell her to bolt!

I totally disagree with MountainPeakGeek here (sorry!). She could report the transaction as fraudulent after you've sent the item. Or the other one where she ends up transferring in excess of whatever figure she's bought it for (usually lots of small amounts that will go unnoticed) so maybe £50 for a £20 item and then ask you to return the balance. It's a form of money laundering.

I disagree too. PayPal don’t always side with the buyer
It’s it worth the hassle

She could report the transaction as fraudulent after you've sent the item.

She could, but if it's not fraudulent (and the emails will prove that) then she'd get nowhere. Once the money is in the other person's account, the recipient account holder will be contacted if the sender attempts a reversal and they would have to either agree or disagree with requests to return the funds. No bank will just take the money back out of your account and give it back to the sender.

She could report the transaction as fraudulent after you've sent the item.

That's would get her absolutely nowhere, since OP will be able to prove it wasn't fraudulent.

Or the other one where she ends up transferring in excess of whatever figure she's bought it for (usually lots of small amounts that will go unnoticed) so maybe £50 for a £20 item and then ask you to return the balance. It's a form of money laundering.

I think you are getting this confused with the scam where money is sent by western union, more than the amount, and the receiver pays back the difference.

katiemarie but if she transfers £50 to your account and then asks for £30 back surely you could ignore her and you are £50 up? She can’t make you give her money back (maybe I’m missing something?)

First off, there's nothing - bar depositing money into it - that anyone can do with the account details needed for the transfer transaction.

Er, no. Actually, there are several companies now who let you set up direct debits online just by entering your sort code and account number. So potentially, a fraudster who had your sort code and a/c number could use your details in this way instead of their own. It might be several months before you spotted the unauthorised payments leaving your account.

Don't give your bank details out to someone unless it's a known business or someone you trust. And I write this as a former banker.

From the direct debit uk website...

AngryCrispLady What's her eBay feedback rating?

@mountainpeakgeek All positive but only 19 reviews....

Dont do it

Just say no.
If she wants it she’ll sort her PayPal out.

I haven't lived in the UK for years, but is there nothing like the eTransfer system we have in Canada? I can send money from my bank account to anyone with an email address or mobile phone number, and the recipient deposits the money into whatever bank account they like, with me never needing any bank details from them. It's just done with a password that you give the intended recipient. Less secure, but it means that people don't have to exchange bank account details.