I mostly buy things and pay in advance via bank transfer or paypal "send money to friends and family" to minimize fees. And then i hope to receive the item in return and so far it has been ok.
I have also sold 2 items and there were no problems.
if you get ripped off it's really just bad luck. People are honest in general, I think.
I have also sold 2 items and there were no problems.
if you get ripped off it's really just bad luck. People are honest in general, I think.
In all semi-seriousness; that's correct, of course.
Buyer can send you back an empty box or if it's something of heft, elephant poop, instead of your item and get all their money back
So . . . when you go to return something at store in America, some one usually looks at it and sometimes more than one person and you have to go to more than one place in the store for people to check it out. Good example: smart phones.
Paypal, has none of that. You simple buy a phone and send an empty box back if you want, with some paper for weight. Then seller can go to the authorities, but that will not get you anywhere, obviously.
People who know the system well and are business people in America (crooks mostly) will do this often. TV repair people are a great example.
I won't go into the general political/cultural/moral differences between Germany and America, because I think I'm not allowed to actually on this forum, but if you've ever been to America you know they are vast.
This situation reminds me of the movie Full Metal Jacket where the drill Sargent tells the new recruit who didn't put a lock on his chest/container: "if their weren't idiots like you there would be no thievery"
People DIY audio will almost never rip you off, especially on this forum
(car audio, they will).Another funny thing, people have returns only if the item is defect/broken.
Hmmm . . . what does a buyer have to do to return your item? Let me think
oh yes 
throw it on the ground and give it a good stomp and put it back in the box 
So everyone using Paypal takes returns, just for some users you have to break their item before you can return it
Amazing how people just don't think things through, including me
People always think some policy/law/institution/system will protect them (that's what I don't have in common with most people)
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While "Friends and Family" has lower fees, the merchandise option allows automated completion of the Customs Declaration for goods sent outside the states.
Within the States, Paypal's merchandise option allows for use of their automated shipping form -- priority mail shipped this way is about $1 less expensive than going through the US Postal Service website.
I think you've stumbled upon the better-than-average effect (aka superiority bias)
You can always find a way to break a system if you try. In my experience, however, most people are honest and for honest people the various systems and policies work quite well.
I have had hundreds of successful transactions through Paypal and shipped hundreds of orders all across the world, which all arrived at their destinations. To date, I have had exactly one (1) shipment get lost. According to the recipient, he regularly had issues with mail delivery. A second shipment (tracked this time) went through just fine.
Similarly, I've had a few hundred transactions through eBay and only 2-3 bad experiences. Only one of these experiences resulted in a loss - and only a small loss at that.
Bank transfers are great ... for the seller. They offer no protection for the buyer.
Tom
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Just came across this thread, it would have been better if I was tagged in OP so that i could have presented my viewpoint also. But I strongly disagree to insinuation that I in someway ripped off Rudi.
I bought DCB1 buffer that he had put for sale and paid him without negotiation on the same day itself. He supposedly shipped it on same day, but didn’t use tracked shipping. I didn’t explicitly asked for that as maybe i was naive to assume that seller will be using trackable shipping for international shipment to avoid any risk. I see that on diyaudio there is no such recommendation but on other forums such as headfi, its strongly recommended to use tracked shipping, and only ship to address associated with Paypal ID.
I even specifically asked for tracking no. once Rudi confirmed that he has shipped the buffer. I never doubted that the buffer wasn’t shipped, but having tracking information is helpful in case shipment is held at customs. It normally takes 2-3 weeks for delivery but I waited for 8 weeks and when it didn’t happen contacted Rudi again in Oct, to know if there is someway we can track the shipment. But as per him, it wasn’t possible. In Nov, Rudi contacted me to check if I have received the parcel, but I had not.
In Dec I decided to contact Paypal for refund and we both presented our explanations, and Paypal decided in my favour to issue a refund.
The whole experience has not been a good one for me too, and this is first time a shipment has been lost for me out of numerous transactions I have done here or on other audio forums. As a learning from this experience I have explicitly started asking seller to use trackable shipping if its not mentioned in the ad.
I bought DCB1 buffer that he had put for sale and paid him without negotiation on the same day itself. He supposedly shipped it on same day, but didn’t use tracked shipping. I didn’t explicitly asked for that as maybe i was naive to assume that seller will be using trackable shipping for international shipment to avoid any risk. I see that on diyaudio there is no such recommendation but on other forums such as headfi, its strongly recommended to use tracked shipping, and only ship to address associated with Paypal ID.
I even specifically asked for tracking no. once Rudi confirmed that he has shipped the buffer. I never doubted that the buffer wasn’t shipped, but having tracking information is helpful in case shipment is held at customs. It normally takes 2-3 weeks for delivery but I waited for 8 weeks and when it didn’t happen contacted Rudi again in Oct, to know if there is someway we can track the shipment. But as per him, it wasn’t possible. In Nov, Rudi contacted me to check if I have received the parcel, but I had not.
In Dec I decided to contact Paypal for refund and we both presented our explanations, and Paypal decided in my favour to issue a refund.
The whole experience has not been a good one for me too, and this is first time a shipment has been lost for me out of numerous transactions I have done here or on other audio forums. As a learning from this experience I have explicitly started asking seller to use trackable shipping if its not mentioned in the ad.
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