If you pay someone through paypal, if they dont deliver, can you dispute the charge?

[ZowieHowie]

Okay, many of you responded to my post yesterday asking if ebay feedback is reliable if someone does not have heat yet.

The seller I am dealing with has an item that I have not found anywhere else, and he wants the money up front. He has an e-bay feedback rating of 300+ with 99+% positives. He wants the money up front, I was hesitant to send the money first since he did not have heat, and for fear that I had no recorse on a money order

The guy is verified with paypal, so I thought I would go that route. Someone said that with Paypal, if the person does not deliver on their end of the deal, the charges can be disputed. Is this true?>

I really need this item, but am still a little hesitant :-/ . Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[minendo]

Yes, but there is a certain amount of time (30 days, I think) that must pass.

 

[dman]

Paypal is good, but, if the seller sends a package and has delivery confirmation and you sign for it, you are not likely to get your money back. So, if it's a high priced item, in theory, the seller could send you an empty box or a box with a brick in it and you'd still be screwed.

I think having 300+ feedback on ebay is probably a good sign. If you are paranoid, go to ebay and check the feedback. Email a few of the people he/she recently sold stuff to and see if they have had any problems after the fact or if they can confirm the address they used (so you know it's not someone imitating that person).

 

[tk149]

Also, there was an ebay thread on here a few days ago about a seller who pumped up his positive ratings by selling feedback, then offered LOTS of laptops for sale quite suddenly. I wonder how many people fell for it and got screwed.

I suggest taking a look at how long the seller has been around and checking out a bunch of the items he sold.