Paypal echeck..I got paid...can I spend it?

[mjreine]

Hello DNF,

I am a honest seller.. and buyer but I am coming to realize the reality that not all others are interested in trading fairly also.

I had a small domain which I offered for sale for $400 recently... a gentleman offered to buy it from me this past week via paypal. Now Ive sold small domains on here and ebay before with no problems.

The problem is the buyer promised me $400, told me he was sending payment through an "old business account I had" so he says.

This leads me to believe this guy is planning on reversing the echeck funds soon as I transfer the domain to him. Im getting more and more scared the guy will keep my domain and reverse the payment somehow.

So even though the funds are in my paypal account..I waited 5 days and the echeck cleared, I CANT afford to spend the funds if they arent safe meaning I will get a reversal of funds. The buyer has a confirmed address but a yahoo email address.

What would you do? Would you spend the money? Wait for awhile? How long does an echeck have for a chargeback possibility?

Thanks!
-Matt

 

[GeoOwners]

always use an escrow service. I have to assume agreeing to their terms is as good as a contract. I just used escrow.com for a high 3 figure sale and they will pay me with a "real" check. Worth the fee.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Check with paypal but I am under the belief a echeck is funded via the buyers bank account, no credit cards involved, therefore a standard charge back is not an option once cleared. However it does not prevent a dispute from being filed.

 

[mjreine]

yeah I hope so.. either way I will have to honor my word and transfer the domain..I just pray he doesnt find a way to reverse the charges on me... You would think once you pay someone the money stays with the merchant...like handing them cash..But with chargebacks and bank reversals its got me a little scared to sell online.. I guess im looking for advice..Ive done escrow.com on bigger sales before but didnt think about it for smaller ones like this. What would you have done?

 

[stock_post]

Once it is cleared - that is as best as it can get.

If the other person is bad, you may have issues.

 

[AbsoluteKC]

I think the buyer cannot issue chargeback after 30 days. So you may just want to hang on till that.