Quick advice needed ..

[DomainMagnate]

So someone contacted me by email about a domain I own with an offer, I sent a counter offer etc. and we agreed on a price, he wants to pay with paypal.

But I know nothing about the guy and a google search on him didn't help much either. I've lost money to paypal frauds before, so would really hate that happen again, what would be an easy way to make sure I won't get scammed?
What do you guys usually do in similar situations, to ensure you're protected and to not scare a potential buyer..

thanks

 

[Johnn]

3 Things you need to know when dealing with strangers:

Escrow
Escrow
Escrow

 

[Leading Names]

FYI,

Moniker Escrow - best for gTLDs (IMO) - http://moniker.com
Sedo Escrow - best for ccTLDs (IMO) - http://sedo.com
http://escrow.com

- Rob

 

[HasRob]

Make sure his "verfied" paypal information matches up with his registration information and he puts in the payment box "purchase for domain name xxxxxxxxx.xxx for $xxx amount etc"

This should cover you pretty well, and make sure you receive payment first of course.

 

[Johnn]

They will pay you paypal by credit card and then file charge back after they get the name.
You lost the money plus paypal processing fees.

 

[smashfactory]

how can you get scammed if your the one with the domain??? you dont transfer till you have the money-
i dont get it-

you get the payment, empty your paypal account- print everything, and then transfer the domain

 

[Johnn]

Make sure his "verfied" paypal information matches up with his registration information and he puts in the payment box "purchase for domain name xxxxxxxxx.xxx for $xxx amount etc"

This should cover you pretty well, and make sure you receive payment first of course.

No Paypal - Paypal will not get involve in software/domain names/websites.

how can you get scammed if your the one with the domain??? you dont transfer till you have the money-
i dont get it-

you get the payment, empty your paypal account- print everything, and then transfer the domain

They will file a charge back claiming unauthorized payment after you transfer the name.
Paypal will give them money back as there is no tracking plus charging you processing fees.

 

[DomainMagnate]

thanks Johnn, will insist on escrow.

I had a few cases with paypal last year, where i exchanged e-gold for paypal, so i received e-gold and sent the paypal payment. After 2-4 weeks these payments were reversed. Most like were sent from stolen paypal accounts, or fake/stolen credit cards, so there is a lot of fraud in paypal. And paypal's support is awful, they reply on an email after 2-3 weeks on average and if there is a chargeback you always lose money..

Even if you wait a couple days it won't help since the chargeback can be done even a month later. I lost over $2K to these scams so since then I've only dealt with trusted members on forums, never got to use escrow yet

 

[smashfactory]

wow i did not know sedo and moniker absorbed all those chargebacks-