Buying a used Laptop... Help!

if you buy through ebay's systems I believe you have a fair amount of coverage.

Not perfect, but one of the least flawed systems.

Also, if the seller is low onm feedback ratings, i think money orders are the way to go - much easier to track down the scumbag if something has to actually be posted to his address.

Joe

Got a good story of ya. I bought a laptop off this guy on ebay but we made the transaction out of ebay to save on costs blah blah blah. Anyways we talked on MSN to make it easier. He gave me the specs and told me he had to make the transaction fast because he had to pay rent. I took 1033$ and sent it through paypal to his account but since I was a new user I had to send it in chunks of 100 and 250 and one of 33. His name was Gustavo Fernandez and he was using his bosses account (so he says) He had 20+ positive feedback and had sold a Rolex watch a laptop and some car parts. He seemed to be trustworthy. WRONG!!!!!! I could make this story way longer then it is but I waited 2 weeks and I got nothing so I made the 1st complaint to paypal and they opened an investigation. (I thought it might scare him abit and he would sent all my money back) I then decided to file a complaint for all the other transaction I had done. It took 1 1/2 month for everything to be resolved . I got most of my money back I lost 40$ in all and alot of sleep . I thought it was to good to be true......well it was. So now I'm looking for a laptop not trusting anyone who wants to sell. If you want the whole story I can send you a book of 250 pages in the amount of 15$ with shipping and handling Now I'm back at square one. Ebay's garantee isn't to good your are somewhat covered but it is a minimal amount. Paypal was good about it they have a rep to keep. I don't know if this is possible but if he had taken the money from his card and transfered it to his account and cancelled the card, I wonder if I would have received any money back. I don't know how Paypal handles things like this and who takes the hit for it. If I make a transaction over the internet I get the name and address. Paypal is safe money order........I don't know if you can get your money back if he decides to rip you off. Feedback is a must and try to get a phone number. You can always contact a police departement and file a complaint for mail fraud if you have his name address and phone number. Try talking on the phone with the person. If anyone wants more info let me know I'd be glade to help anyone out.

Lokoseena@cogeco.ca

i got an idea. First of all, if buying through ebay, be as nice as possible. I got angry with the guy and it started a whole scuffle and now I use a different ebay name (to make a long story short)... I usually wont buy unless they have at leats 100 feedback. I always read to make sure there are no negs, and if so I decide whether I wanna trust him or the guy that left the negative. And I always pay through paypal since the members I pay to are always verified meaning that they have been there for a bit and are most likely not going to rip you off.

I think Lokoseena's deal went south when you decided to make the transaction out of ebay. You just lost that safety. But I'm glad you got most of your money back, good hustle.

PayPal is fine if you use the system to your advantage. If you're the one paying, its not bad. If your the one receiving, it could suck hard. A lot of people exploit that, but if you cover your ass with PayPal, read their rules and play by them, then a lot of the horror stories of PayPal can be avoided. I've read them. I've also done 30 deals of $1000+ through PayPal, had 2 complaints, and never had a problem. When you ship things, certified, tracked, delivery signature, the works. If he has your money, and you don't have an object, then you can go after him.

My advice:

I use ebay feedback and only deal with Confirmed members. Confirmed members have feedback, verification of identity, and a credit card / bank account or both attached. Use that, if theres a problem, you know its not a case of identity fraud (and granted, theres always that SLIGHT possibility, but if you know enough how to exploit it, you know enough that you can still be tracked down... The ones who know enough to do something aren't the ones trying to rip people off.)

3rd Party Services: I dealt a lot with paintball equipment. Buying and selling used equipment to make money. Paintball shops often will do this, act as a 3rd party... They receive both your new laptop and his money, verify the EXACT condition he described, and if its lacking, usually they'll send the respective parties their merchandice / money back, or contact you and find out how you want to proceed. I almost always used a 3rd party service or paypal.

When it comes right down to it, if you try to buy the laptop and send the money and he rips you off, then thats fraud, especially if you mail him the money and he doesn't send you the merchandice. He's now used the mail system to defraud someone and thats potential jail time. When I would buy or sell equipment, thats one thing I always said in my arbitrary conversation, was that I was fully aware of the consequences and options if the other party chose to not hold up their end of the bargain. Granted, the 2 times I had issues were with the other party not sending me the merchandice and paypal dealt with it (used PayPal both times, and it worked out fine, even if you have to wait 2 weeks for your money returned, and you lose out a little because you're not returned the paypal fee they had to pay).

Just investigate the person you're dealing with, ask for a phone number, and talk with them on the phone, go over the deal and ask exact information. Whats the exact condition of the laptop? Are you aware of ANYTHING wrong or odd with it?

Those are the rules I've followed when doign business with people online, and I've never had a problem that was not dealt with.

-Joe

Check this link. This is the safest way to make an online transaction. At least I think so....

https://www.escrow.com/solutions/escrow/process.asp

Best of all - there may be members out here who want to sell their laptops...ask away...check out the ads...

Paypal isnt that bad as long as you shipped to a confirmed address your covered by them and they will pay you if it is fraud ... as for escrow sites... there is way to many scam ones... I would know almost lost my sager to an escrow site.

http://pub135.ezboard.com/fauctionnewsallfrm2

Check out the thread ultra-escrow and perfect-escrow arrests in california

am in there.