[ale] [OT] PayPal

[mike at trausch.us]

On 10/14/2012 11:45 AM, Brian Mathis wrote:
> As others have said, there is nothing wrong with Paypal as long as you
> use a shipping method that you can track, but even then someone can
> stick it to you by claiming the item was not as described, etc...
> Paypal, like all payment processing companies, heavily favor the
> buyer.
> 
> However, you're asking about Paypal but you're really talking about a
> Craigslist transaction.  I have done a lot of selling on Criagslist,
> and the only acceptable method for buying on Craigslist is cash in
> person.  That's it.  As the banners say in every email, do not deal
> with people who are not local.  They always have some story about how
> they are busy or overseas, but really want your item and will arrange
> for someone to come pick it up for them, etc...  These are always
> scams.  If the person cannot pay in person and in cash, do not deal
> with them, period.

I would accept PayPal or a credit card for a transaction on Craigslist,
but only after meeting with the person and getting a signature from
them, so that in the event of something that has gone wrong I can prove
my case.  Obviously, though, I prefer cash in such situations.

As to anything else---particularly "wholly Internet" transactions, I
prefer PayPal over checks, and debit/credit cards over PayPal.  Taking
payments with credit cards these days is stupid simple, and doesn't have
much of the problems that come with checks; a payment doesn't "bounce"
when credit cards, and in the unlikely event of a chargeback, I attempt
to ensure that I can always provide proof that the chargeback was
unwarranted.  (And if a client ever charged-back without a legitimate
cause, they'd be fired---I don't play when it comes to money.)

	--- Mike

-- 
A man who reasons deliberately, manages it better after studying Logic
than he could before, if he is sincere about it and has common sense.
                                   --- Carveth Read, “Logic”

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