Paypal - Can it be trusted?

[Hudskov]

Hi all, i dropped my mobile in a puddle and wasnt insured (DOH!). Hence i now have to buy a new one. Have found somebody with a new Nokia at a reasonable price via the Gumtree website. Can i assume that paying through paypal will protect me against being ripped off?

[sairejayne]

Paypal does offer you some protection - not sure if Gumtree offers anything additional protection.
I bought something from ebay and it didn't arrive (seller didn't post I expect as he suddenly disappeared from the radar). I put a claim in and paypal gave me my money back. I wouldn't hesitate to use paypal - but can't recommend Gumtree as i have never used them before.
Paypal pay you back via your paypal account. If you transfer money back to you current account/credit card or whatever thay charge you 50p if the amount is under �25 or �50 not sure.

[Hudskov]

Thanks, i feel a bit safer now :)

Fingers crossed it'll turn up tomorrow i'll let you know what happens

[Tichfield]

You are only going to get Paypal Buyer Protection if you buy via an ebay listing. Cover is either �150 or �500 - it will say which on the ebay listing.

If you use paypal to pay for a transaction on a non-ebay site you would only get your money back if the seller had enough to refund you in their paypal account!

[Hudskov]

So if they have no money in their account i dont get any back and they keep it with no payback?

[pink-kittens]

If anything goes wrong with it, you may not have protection for the full value of the phone dependent on it's value and on the sellers account - isn't Gumtree rather like Ebay?

It's unlikely Gumtree offer any additional protection as they are only a venue for their subscribers

[pink-kittens]

No, huds

Whether they have money in their account or not is not the issue

If., for example, your phone cost �200 and it is faulty but the seller refuses the refund so you make a claim via PP. PP will only give you �150 if that's is the protection on the sellers account. Plus you will have to return it at your expense via trackable method of postage to gain that refund

Regardless of whether they have �1 or �1,000 if you claim you will get the amount of protection they have, or if your seller has the �500 limit you will get a refund of the cost of your phone and *possibly* your postage costs too