Safety questions for selling on KSL

[Fether]

So I am selling my current computer on KSL right now and I got an offer from someone who wants to send me a check and have me ship my laptop to him... well duh this is a scam.

But later today I got another offer for my laptop from another person out of the state that wants me to ship it to him, but he said he will pay me via PayPal... We agreed that I would not send him the laptop till I got paid.

 As far as I know, PayPal is a foolproof way of making sure you don't get scammed (assuming you don't do anything weird in the transaction.

Can a PayPal payment to you "bounce" like a check can? Could this be another (or the same) scammer but using PayPal?

Any advice?

[JohnsonJones]

I don't really use paypal, but I believe you can tell paypal you were mischarged or never received something...aka...dispute the charge and they might dispute the payment.

[unixknight]

8 hours ago, Fether said:

So I am selling my current computer on KSL right now and I got an offer from someone who wants to send me a check and have me ship my laptop to him... well duh this is a scam.

But later today I got another offer for my laptop from another person out of the state that wants me to ship it to him, but he said he will pay me via PayPal... We agreed that I would not send him the laptop till I got paid.

 As far as I know, PayPal is a foolproof way of making sure you don't get scammed (assuming you don't do anything weird in the transaction.

Can a PayPal payment to you "bounce" like a check can? Could this be another (or the same) scammer but using PayPal?

Any advice?

PayPal is the weapon of choice for sellers on eBay, because it's specifically geared toward protecting buyers and sellers.  If I were you, I'd go ahead and do it, with these caveats:

• The seller (you) will pay a small fee to PayPal.
• Make sure to ship it to the address given by PayPal
• Get delivery confirmation (with signature) when you ship the laptop.

[pam]

I have sold many things on ksl.  I've also gotten the scammers numerous times that ask me for my address so they can send a check to me.  They also have people standing by to pick up the item when I have cashed the check.  I am not stupid.

I will only deal locally unless I personally know the person.  And I only accept cash or venmo.

[Just_A_Guy]

On 4/8/2019 at 7:16 AM, unixknight said:

PayPal is the weapon of choice for sellers on eBay, because it's specifically geared toward protecting buyers and sellers.  If I were you, I'd go ahead and do it, with these caveats:

• The seller (you) will pay a small fee to PayPal.
• Make sure to ship it to the address given by PayPal
• Get delivery confirmation (with signature) when you ship the laptop.

Having worked the phones for the USPS—Delivery conformation is worthless; it just means they scan it before leaving it on your porch.  Signature confirmation isn’t really much better because they often don’t verify who’s actually signing.  If you’re sending something valuable via USPS, send it registered.  It’s slower and more expensive, but much more secure—if no one signs for it, they don’t leave it; you get real-time tracking; and I’m pretty sure it has insurance built into the service.  

By the way, the postal clerks who died on the Titanic were last seen trying to haul the registered mail to a higher deck as the ship’s mail room flooded.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Just_A_Guy

[NeuroTypical]

On 4/7/2019 at 11:09 PM, Fether said:

But later today I got another offer for my laptop from another person out of the state that wants me to ship it to him, but he said he will pay me via PayPal... We agreed that I would not send him the laptop till I got paid.

For KSL.com and Craigslist, I've always made it a personal rule, when selling stuff online to strangers, that we meet and exchange stuff in a public place.  I will not ship anything ever. 

Now, that said, I think Unixknight's advice is sound.  If you follow it, please let us know how it went.  

[Vort]

27 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

By the way, the postal clerks who died on the Titanic were last seen trying to haul the registered mail to a higher deck as the ship’s mail room flooded.

That is gruesome, but strangely inspiring.