PayPal The Naked Truth Part II

Protection for Buyers

eBay has been running a series of risque advertisements for PayPal in Australia, one featuring a middle aged woman saying "I've done it with 90 different people, but I used protection". The big push is to promote buyer confidence, and it is hard to find fault with that. As is usual with anything eBay does, which naturally includes all subsidiaries, the baggage which accompanies any policy is to promote the bottom line, profits.

What exactly is PayPal Buyer Protection?

eBay has five separate programs:


1. Item Not Received (INR which is also sometimes referred to as Seller Non-Performance (SNP or NPS)) or Significantly Not As Described (SNAD). eBay says

Note: Your eligibility for reimbursement through our buyer protection programs is determined by the payment method that you’ve used and the eBay country site where you have purchased the item.

If you have paid for an item, but didn’t receive it, or you paid for and received an item, but it was significantly different from the item description. Note: If you paid for your item with PayPal, you'll be taken automatically to PayPal to file a PayPal Buyer Protection claim.eBay facilitates communication between the buyer and the seller through the dispute console, an online communication tool. All information posted in this tool will be accessible anytime by you, the seller, and eBay Customer Support.

Here is the link to the eBay policy page.

What is it in reality?

An automated (bot driven) venting space which is not seen by a human unless and until it is escalated to a claim. Then "Our Trust and Safety team may take appropriate actions if they find the seller has violated our Seller Non-Performance policy."
Red INK Rating



2. PayPal Buyer Protection eBay says

PayPal Buyer Protection Policy only applies to items purchased on eBay or to payments funded through your debit card and processed through the ATM debit network. If you have paid for the item through PayPal, up to $200 (Basic Tier)or $2000 (Top Tier Coverage Amount) at no additional cost. See eligibility.

Henrietta says the fine print is too voluminous to put here!

What is it in reality?

Basically if you meet all eight eligibility requirements specified in Section 13.8 of the PayPal User Agreement; and follow exactly the seven steps of the Claims Procedure specified in Section 13.7 of the PayPal User Agreement; PayPal will cover you up to $200 if the seller does not. Need more? Pick your seller very carefully and meet all six eligibility requirements specified in Section 13.9 of the PayPal User Agreement. Risk to PayPal, very very low.
Red INK Rating



3. PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy PayPal says

PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy - Our best efforts program to reimburse Users for losses only to the extent we are able to recover the funds from sellers.

The PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy only applies to items purchased outside of eBay or eBay Express. If we grant a Claim under our Buyer Complaint Policy, PayPal will seek to collect from the seller by debiting the seller's PayPal Account up to the amount of your loss, and you will receive a recovery to the extent that the seller has funds available in the Account at the time we debit the seller's Account. If there is more than one Claim against the same Account, we will process the Claims in the order they are filed, and will pay out on each granted Claim up to the amount of funds in the seller's Account at the time the Claim is awarded, but not more than the amount of the Claim.

What is it in reality?

Worthless! A crooked scamming seller will have very little in the way of funds in their PayPal account. Buyer will be SOL. An honest seller will bend over backwards to settle any transactional problems with a buyer.

Risk to PayPal, zero.
Red INK Rating, I am looking for another bomb.



4. eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program eBay says

If you make a purchase from one of the eBay websites listed below,(Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Sweden) you may be eligible for the eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program (eBay SPPP) instead of the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy. The eligibility requirements for eBay SPPP are the same eligibility requirements for PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy as listed above. eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program is our program to reimburse buyers for losses up to the applicable coverage amount minus the processing cost for purchases made on the eBay SPPP websites.

What is it in reality?

Worthless and expensive! Processing fees appear to be 12% or greater. A crooked scamming seller will have very little in the way of funds in their PayPal account. Buyer will be SOL.

Risk to PayPal, zero.
Red INK Rating, I am looking for another bomb.



5. eBay Motors Buyer Services & Protection eBay says

The eBay Motors Vehicle Purchase Protection (VPP) program provides protection of up to $50,000 against certain losses associated with some types of fraud. You are automatically enrolled in the program at no charge when you complete the purchase of an eligible vehicle on the eBay Motors site

This program is administered and managed by an independent service provider that is not affiliated with eBay Inc.

Overall Impression

The whole thing is so lawyered up that most claimants will give up. This may be the intended effect. The differences between Standard Purchase Protection, Basic Purchase Protection and the Buyer Complaint Policy are so 'fine print' that I doubt any eBay Live Help Customer Service Representative can give correct advice. Lotta smoke and plenty of mirrors here. No real protection. I will not purchase anything online without using my Credit Card, that is simple to do and easy to claim on should the necessity arise. Best advice to buyers? Do your homework, study your sellers 'feedback left for others' and read the listing.

Next PayPal post will cover seller protection, it will be much shorter.



Y'all come back