----eBay Warning, or Shakedown?-----

[thatsright]

Hi Everyone. I just sent an invoice to a buyer of mine, and on the Invoice page I noticed this eBay warning:

"Never pay for your item with an instant cash transfer service such as MoneyGram or Western Union. These services are like sending cash to a stranger - they are an extremely unsafe way to pay. "

I have never heard of Western Union payments being unsafe, as long as you know who your sending $$ too, just the same as with PayPal. I dunno, but this seems like a shakedown of eBay users to ONLY use PayPal to send instant payment.

Yeah, it's Saturday morning and I DO have too much free time now ;-)

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Its true...avoid them.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I think part of their concern is that Western Union payment is a very common request by scam artists.

 

[Bekker]

I cannot remember the details, but seems like there were many horror stories re scams involving Western Union pymts. Maybe a Google search would find some.

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: thatsright
I have never heard of Western Union payments being unsafe, as long as you know who your sending $$ too, just the same as with PayPal. I dunno, but this seems like a shakedown of eBay users to ONLY use PayPal to send instant payment.

They are probably fine if you know the person you are sending it to personally, like a friend or relative. However, if you are sending it to a stranger that might screw you out of the deal, you have no recourse. I guess Ebay is implying there is some protection on paypal if the other person backs out on their deal?

 

[bentwookie]

go to craigslist, they warn against WU transactions also.

 

[bentwookie]

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html