This question is for the smart people out there who have both bought and sold items and accepted payment using PayPal.
Basically, when you sell and take payment using PayPal, you want the user to be verified and you ship to that address only to protect yourself. The way scams are usually run, someone will use a stolen account and pay for an item but ask to have it shipped to an alternate address, usually where the scammer is located. A month or two down the line you get hit with a Chargeback, you have a negative balance in your PayPal account and you the seller are held liable to pay it and are without your item.
So if I understand it correctly, you highly reduce your chance of getting scammed by only shipping the item to the address listed as verified, because that is the address of the person who the credit card is issued to.
Now my case is a bit different, I want to sell a virtual item, something that doesn't need to be shipped. The safest way for me to sell it would be cash or a USPS money order but any smart buyer probably wouldn't want to go and mail those since they're at risk. This has made me have to think of a new way to sell my item, and I believe I may have, I just want to run it by smart people to see if there are any flaws.
Basically I'll still want to deal with verified PayPal members only, and after they pay I will ship something to their verified address. Maybe a code of some sort, lets say its "LPSG". A couple days go by and they receive this in the mail from me, and tell me the code. This basically informs me that the person wishing to go through with the purchase does in fact live there, its not a stolen credit card and I won't have to deal with a chargeback and losing my virtual item.
At that point in time I can release the virtual item to them and both the buyer and seller are protected, got what they wanted and are on their merry way. Are there any flaws in this idea of mine that anyone sees?
Basically, when you sell and take payment using PayPal, you want the user to be verified and you ship to that address only to protect yourself. The way scams are usually run, someone will use a stolen account and pay for an item but ask to have it shipped to an alternate address, usually where the scammer is located. A month or two down the line you get hit with a Chargeback, you have a negative balance in your PayPal account and you the seller are held liable to pay it and are without your item.
So if I understand it correctly, you highly reduce your chance of getting scammed by only shipping the item to the address listed as verified, because that is the address of the person who the credit card is issued to.
Now my case is a bit different, I want to sell a virtual item, something that doesn't need to be shipped. The safest way for me to sell it would be cash or a USPS money order but any smart buyer probably wouldn't want to go and mail those since they're at risk. This has made me have to think of a new way to sell my item, and I believe I may have, I just want to run it by smart people to see if there are any flaws.
Basically I'll still want to deal with verified PayPal members only, and after they pay I will ship something to their verified address. Maybe a code of some sort, lets say its "LPSG". A couple days go by and they receive this in the mail from me, and tell me the code. This basically informs me that the person wishing to go through with the purchase does in fact live there, its not a stolen credit card and I won't have to deal with a chargeback and losing my virtual item.
At that point in time I can release the virtual item to them and both the buyer and seller are protected, got what they wanted and are on their merry way. Are there any flaws in this idea of mine that anyone sees?