Paypal f&f, Bank transfers & a seller unknown to you.

I've been stung a couple of times (not on here though) £50 is my limit for for an unknown seller without payment protection. I have spent more on this forum as F&F, but in those cases I have always looked into the seller their history and taken a calculated risk.
 
Having recently bought from any known seller on a different forum, thinking it was a scam, I paid via normal PayPal to cover myself. My instincts were right, but I was covered so had I been wrong, I'd have been happy, but as I was right, aside from a bit of admin, I'm not out of pocket and my Spidey sense is still intact.

In short, stranger danger
 
Stranger danger is also true for buyers.
As a seller I'm usually not accepting any longer to me unknown or here in the forum rather unknown buyers sending money with PayPal and spending extra money for the taxes even if I've asked for F+F.
Especially as twice buyer i have dealt in different forums, exactly those insisted on protection, used this to turn once they have received the goods into trouble maker if not cheater and PayPal blocked the money for weeks.
And don't think that PayPal does a good job in clarifying those cases carefully. I have the feeling they are using meanwhile AI or any other cheap crab to decide who's right.
 
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Nope, leave it, any insistence on a type of payment that doesn't give you protection is a red flag.

After a recent experience (on here) I wouldn't buy from someone I hadn't dealt with before without protection, I haven't got the patience or money to risk losing £100+ more than once.
 
Many say f&f. I tell them I’ll cover fees they say they’ve been done by PayPal and lost out money due to a claim.

No thanks keep it. Unless they’re a trusted seller and you know people have bought from them
 
As a seller I’ve no issue whether it’s F&F or goods /services as long as the fees covered.

I do have an issue when buyers pay with goods /services to gain protection for themselves but then ask you to post to a different address. That always sets alarm bells ringing and usually ends with me refunding them.
 
So it's about what risk you're happy to take.

If you pay f&f to a stranger for goods then you're already involved in a fraud, so if you then get ripped off maybe you should just have laugh about it!

The risks ramp up with rare items at a bargain price. Ask yourself why hasn't someone else already bought it?

It's like cheap bikes on FB - stolen or broken. Actual bargains are pretty rare, so if you set out to grab a bargain, a fraudster might grab you.
 
I must have been living in a pink cloud all this time cause I never bought anything (here, on the german forum on FB groups and on the german classified ads) with PayPal buyers protection and always got the item just fine.

I did however do my due dilligence beforehands on all buyers to make sure they were legit.

I think that saved me but still I must have been lucky more than a few times.
 
In many ways though, the fraudsters are easy to spot.

Why bother with xtr, cooks bros or whatever when you could be a Russian princess with cheap blood diamonds, or a recently bereaved but very wealthy estate agent looking for love?
 
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