How many of you using our marketplace are being asked to pay with unprotected forms of payment (i.e. Zelle, CashApp, PayPal Friends and Family, etc.)?

[merkmerk73]

Yep, just happened to me which is why I reported. Thanks for stepping in. Buyer asked me to ship first after he received he would pay.

Please tell me that nobody ever falls for this lol

 

[Birdman Broham]

Please tell me that nobody ever falls for this lol

I def didn’t acknowledge

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

I sometimes get told to send Paypal friends and family. I tell them no, but willing to add a few bucks extra to cover their cost.

Exactly what I've done. I'm good with paying an extra 3% for the protection if necessary.

 

[shakacuz]

paypal/venmo/zelle are my methods. paypal if buying online, venmo/zelle if buying/selling in person. i've sold things on the FB marketplace and what i've begun seeing is people attempting to use venmo to scam folks out of money. something about a business account and sending them money back.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Unfortunately this is happening all over and I'm afraid that credit cards may be the first to put their foot down on protection. Some cards have experienced up to a 20% increase in fraud over the last year to 2 years. At some point they may have to start taking drastic measures like Target is with closing stores with very high theft rates.

target... theft in my area has shut down grocery stores and has eliminated them all together in some areas.

as far as the topic of this post I am not familiar with all these forms of payments and the scams associated with them so I just stay away from things I don't know, you kids and your fancy record players these days!

I do use PayPal though, I'm not a dinosaur!

 

[Opus]

target... theft in my area has shut down grocery stores and has eliminated them all together in some areas.

as far as the topic of this post I am not familiar with all these forms of payments and the scams associated with them so I just stay away from things I don't know, you kids and your fancy record players these days!

I do use PayPal though, I'm not a dinosaur!

Unfortunately Paypal always sides with the buyer, which is why if I'm selling anything reef related that has any value I'm doing it local and cash only. I followed one poor guy on YouTube that sold 4 packs of sports cards that were worth close to $1000 each. The buyer filed a dispute with paypal before they even received the packages and then returned the packages supposed unopened but actually put enough junk back in the packages after taking out the cards that the weight was the same. The guy spent several months fighting the chargeback and had to ultimately go to the credit card the buyer used because paypal refused to take his side even with all the evidence he had. Last I heard the credit card company was going to refund the seller back the money.

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

It would be awsome if reef2reef could setup a middle man for a small fee. Goods would go to this person as well as cash and item verified. Then item sent to person. If not happy send item back to middle and item reverified same as it went out. Then cash can be refunded. if item is accepted, payment can be put through. Live goods would be more difficult and i dont think possible at this time.
it maybe even costlier or to much though As paying 2 different shipping times. Maybe able to offset with setting as business for middle person.
But with a middle person that is trusted or area this is done managed and logged(why I said small fee). This can make tgings safer all around and an option. Could even ask a trusted business to do this at first.

More complicated than probably worth it. But I think idea is good but plan and setup maybe more difficult or costly than its worth.

 

[DIYreefer]

I've bought and sold a fair amount on here and have never had any seller request any form of unsecured payment. Conversely, I have had buyers that have requested to send payment via cashapp or venmo, and plenty that send PayPal payments via the "friends and family" option. Which I have never requested. I appreciate the gesture, but would actually prefer payment be sent for "goods or services."

I would never ask anyone to send any sort of payment in an unsecured manner, even if it were not a rule here. I would personally rather pay the 3% paypal fee and have the buyer know that they are 100% covered should something go wrong.

It's unfortunate, but the reality is that there are a lot of shady people selling corals/livestock online and that definitely makes people hesitant to buy online. In fact, I'm personally waiting for a refund from a well respected seller that owes me for a frag that they didn't ship. It's not much money, but the fact that it has yet to be taken care of makes the likelihood of me ever buying from them again unlikely.

 

[DIYreefer]

Yep, just happened to me which is why I reported. Thanks for stepping in. Buyer asked me to ship first after he received he would pay.

I've had someone ask to do that recently as well. I declined, lol.

 

[Birdman Broham]

I've had someone ask to do that recently as well. I declined, lol.

Wonder if it’s the same person lol

 

[Cell]

Lots of people selling coral get scammed by supposed sellers. How many people have actually been scammed by supposed coral buyers? Most scammers are looking for some quick cash, not coral and are not hobbyists.

 

[DIYreefer]

Wonder if it’s the same person lol

I was wondering the same but I deleted the message. I doubt I would recognize the screen name at this point.

 

[Reef-_-Noob]

I'm curious what makes Zelle/CashApp unsafe? Both the sender and recipient need to be registered with the application and an associated bank. Other than no ability to challenge a payment (or get a refund), the transaction itself is very secure.

Once you hit send on that zelle you will never see the money again. The bank gives you warnings and you obsolve them of any fault by clicking through

 

[DIYreefer]

Lots of people selling coral get scammed by supposed sellers. How many people have actually been scammed by supposed coral buyers? Most scammers are looking for some quick cash, not coral and are not hobbyists.

I'm happy to report that I haven't had any issues with any buyers here at all. The only times there were any problems with any of my transactions it has been something that I messed up (and fixed).

 

[CCK_8814]

My biggest tip for anyone selling dry goods or coral and being paid through PayPal G&S is to document everything. Take pictures of every piece before it’s bagged, pictures of it in the bag & also in the box. As several people have mentioned PayPal likes to always side with the buyer even if they’re the one scamming. Documenting everything like I mentioned has helped me win the 3 fraudulent cases that I have had happen over the 6 years. Keeping clear communication with your buyer & logging tracking numbers with PayPal is a must. Another thing I’ve found is that if you send the buyer an invoice versus them just sending directly to you it adds an extra layer of security to your end since the buyer isn’t able to claim they “didn’t approve purchase” with this option. Just my $0.02.

 

[DIFish]

Have lost money by not going through a secured payment on this forum and being sent a defective product. Venmo support was no help and even upon showing proof they maintain the stance that all money transfers are final. Have been through PayPal since and have had 0 issues. Even if a seller/vendor has many transactions they can still make mistakes so I think it is always best practice to do PayPal secured. Not sure that scamming is super common but it can happen.

 

[jda]

I have and I have done it. I don't need this rule to stay safe. I don't buy from people that I don't know and if somebody wants me to apple pay them when they have been a member online for 10+ years with thousands of positive feedbacks, then I am in. I don't see any need to make paypal richer when I am not dumb and then have to listen to people complain about the price of things just rising and rising and rising for the good vendors who can be trusted.

Caveat emptor. If people do get burned, these can be some of best lessons to learn, IMO... and better over a few corals than a retirement account or home purchase.

 

[jda]

PayPal does not cover live animal purchases with their 3% fee anyway... so what are we gaining?

 

[jda]

If you really want to protect the members, allow people to post about their experiences on for-sale threads. There was member on here for years selling obvious fakes and most/all of the posts about it got deleted when past buyers tried to warn the new ones... and even if you paid by PayPal you don't know that you got a fake in the 45 day window.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I knew this was a leading... so predictable