Never ever pay using the friends and family option - goods and services payment only, no exceptions!

PJ_Soul · February 2015

Seems like a good rule to follow, right? If someone asked me to use the friends and family payment option I'd say no, no matter who it is. I'd just add the 2.6% or whatever it is myself if the seller won't pay it, if I even trust them enough to continue with the transaction after they asked me not to use goods and services payment, which i probably wouldn't. Just them asking would set off alarms for me. Why would anyone ask anyone to do that?? It makes no sense. The only time I'd ever do that is for charity donations (for which I accept the risk).

Folks please don't use the friends and family option, and please don't ask anyone to use it. One simple rule and all worries are gone.

2-feign-reluctance · February 2015

Would be nice to have some formal rules here, ones that were enforced by moderators.

RobbyD462 · February 2015

PJ_Soul wrote: »

Seems like a good rule to follow, right? If someone asked me to use the friends and family payment option I'd say no, no matter who it is. I'd just add the 2.6% or whatever it is myself if the seller won't pay it, if I even trust them enough to continue with the transaction after they asked me not to use goods and services payment, which i probably wouldn't. Just them asking would set off alarms for me. Why would anyone ask anyone to do that?? It makes no sense. The only time I'd ever do that is for charity donations (for which I accept the risk).

Folks please don't use the friends and family option, and please don't ask anyone to use it. One simple rule and all worries are gone.

Good rule I prefer it as well it protects everyone involved.

VedderMTL · February 2015

Agreed but mods cannot regulate that rule since payments are made on a third party. Just use common sense and let's all use the regular payment and not the friends/family to keep everyone protected.

Brane_of_JFK · February 2015

Yes, good & services for me as well from here on out. Even though there have now apparently been two cases of scams here, I still feel as though 99%+ of people on this board are completely trustworthy. The bad seeds always overshadow the good ones.

PP193448 · February 2015

Let's not throw out the whole bushel for a couple of bad apples. I have used PayPal friends and family payment for everything I've purchased here for past 3-4 yrs or so, and have never been burnt. But I would agree and have no problem doing goods and services for peace of mind after all this stuff now.

MedozK · February 2015

I have used friends and family before, but it has to be with someone I have met or REALLY trust. Most of the time I pay for goods.

front spacer · February 2015

3% is a small price to pay for peach of mind and protection.....Paypal also just extended the dispute claim time to 180 days, up from 45 days.

PJ_Soul · February 2015

With the goods and services option you are protected from more than just getting scammed. You're protected for if your package gets damaged or disappears en route, for if the seller sends the wrong item or if the item isn't as described, and so on. Even if you do know the person really well, there is still a reason to ALWAYS use the goods and services payment option. Here is the buyer protection info from PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/security/safe-online-shopping

EnterThanman · February 2015

I agree; sellers should be building that 4% into their pricing, so the price a buyer sees is the price they pay as goods and services. People can and will obviously do whatever they want, but I don't see any reason to not just pay and sell (if you're an honest seller) as goods.

Last-12-Exit · February 2015

Isn't there a charge to use the goods/services option? I have always used the friends/family option when sending money to various people. Including people here.......what's the downside?

EnterThanman · February 2015

Last-12-Exit wrote: »

Isn't there a charge to use the goods/services option? I have always used the friends/family option when sending money to various people. Including people here.......what's the downside?

The charge is on the seller's side, not the buyer's, which is why sellers ask you to use friends and family. The problem is that if you pay friends and family and the seller decides not to ship the item, you have no official recourse to get your money back. Check out the link PJ_Soul posted.

jlaustin · February 2015

Downside is that you are sol if you pay friends/family and item is not delivered, damaged, etc. I always add 3%+ get buyer protection through PayPal. I only use friends/family for charity auctions/raffles.

Last-12-Exit · February 2015

EnterThanman wrote: »

Last-12-Exit wrote: »

Isn't there a charge to use the goods/services option? I have always used the friends/family option when sending money to various people. Including people here.......what's the downside?

The charge is on the seller's side, not the buyer's, which is why sellers ask you to use friends and family. The problem is that if you pay friends and family and the seller decides not to ship the item, you have no official recourse to get your money back. Check out the link PJ_Soul posted.

I gotchya.

scott nowland · February 2015

I have always paid as friends and family when buying from members here and havent been burnt yet so will continue to do so. Way i see it if someone has multiple comments and threads that they have written you wouldnt risk your credibility on here for the sake of a few dollars. Why pay paypal extra? Just my opinion but. On the chance I ever do get burnt for a large amount I will hunt that fucker down till he pays it back any way

PJ_Soul · February 2015

Just the insurance on the thing disappearing or getting damaged during delivery is worth the extra money IMO.

jamminpearls · February 2015

I use family/friends all the time. And I usually have others do the same. There's many many great traders/buyers out there.

Dr. Delight · February 2015

Soul, did someone fuck you over?

PJ_Soul · February 2015

I got fucked over on ebay before, but I was covered because I only use goods and services payment. No one here has ever fucked me over though, and i agree that almost everyone here is on the up and up. But almost isn't everyone, and again, it's not just about being screwed over. Buyer protection covers more than that. I don't need to be fucked over to be minimally careful. I guess I'm just not much of a gambler. Better safe than sorry, I always say. Less than 3% extra for complete security only seems logical to me.... and recent threads only got me thinking about it. I just don't get why everyone wouldn't want to insure their purchases when it's so simple and cheap to do.

Never ever pay using the friends and family option - goods and services payment only, no exceptions!

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