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Paypal Chargeback on my item sold on eBay
 

I sold a painting on eBay for $565 and the buyer paid using Paypal. I shipped the painting right away using FedEx. I then transferred the funds to my bank account after the hold was completed.

over a month went by with no problems then I receive a notice from paypal that the buyer did a chargeback on his credit card and a dispute was opened. Paypal then placed my account into a negative -$578 and charged me $13 for a chargeback fee. I didn't know I was accepting credit cards- I don't hold the merchant account with visa- paypal does. I though the idea of paypal is that a user makes a deposit into their account (vis credit card or bank account) then the money gets transferred to another paypal user for payment of merchandise or services.

They could not tell me what the issue was. All they asked was for my FedEx tracking number. They continued to say as a paypal customer part of their service is to fight chargeback disputes on my behalf. WTF???? They didn't let me even put in a statement.

After 3 months I get a notice saying the dispute is resolved and paypal did everything they could to do but the money has be returned to the buyer. The buyer still had the painting.

I sent a note to paypal urging them not to release the funds to the buyer and request my merchandise back. They said it is up to me to try and get my item back. Awesome now the guy has my painting and his money- How is that fair. Maybe I should get a free 50" TV by doing a chargeback through Paypal.

End story- after several emails to the buyer I finally said I my next call is to his local authorities as I considered this theft.