Paypal problems....

[jaso009]

Not sure where to post this, this seemed like the best section.

Long story short.. I was doing well selling SEO Services and I received three lot's of $97.00 from different paypal accounts, assuming everything was normal I carried out the work. And delivered it. Now it turns out these three different paypal accounts were all stolen and the money I made from that is now on hold and now I'm out of pocket, I know it's no one's fault but the people that stole the accounts.

All of the money I made I reinvested in software, domains etc. So my Paypal account is minus...

I'm not sure if there's anything I can do. Bit pissed off about it all. Tight for money at the moment and I was making good progress selling SEO, can't afford to be set back like this...

Any advice ?

 

[calebmann]

this has happened to me.. open a new account and sell more SEO. its all you can really do..

 

[jaso009]

I'm thinking about leaving paypal behind maybe, not sure if I'll be limiting my options though....

 

[MachineLord]

Sorry to hear that OP!
Same happened to me... kinda sucks cuz there is no other option than paypal.
People trust paypal, they feel safe buying via pp... so i guess this is risk we all carry with our IM job.
Cheers

 

[jaso009]

Yeah its pretty annoying lol always read about paypal horror stories, never thought it would happen to me. Oh well, time to work out different payment processors or make a new paypal account...

 

[zebrahat]

Paypal is a crappy processor, lesson re-learned. There are multiple routes to resuming getting the money from SEO, including getting enough to pay off the debt. Set up with a merchant account to take payment by card, or start a WePay account (take payment by card or bank payment). Accept payment by check, money order, moneypak, or processors like LR, MB, Payza, or even cash deposits to your bank where you have to.

 

[Furious George]

Close the bank account attached to it so they can't get that money. They should have covered your under their protection, but it's so biased to the customer, they just don't care. I would strongly suggest to take more secure forms of payment in the future. It's really a double edged sword.

If you don't accept paypal or something like it, your sales will suffer. You have to weigh it against the risk and cost of chargebacks like this.

 

[silentthunder]

Nothing beats your own merchant account. Many if not most banks have them nowadays.
If you want to really cover your butt use a different bank for business than you do for personal.
Just thinking out loud here...but I wonder if PayPal is more secure added to a merchant account than
on its own? Mebbe.

 

[redrubies]

Nothing beats your own merchant account. Many if not most banks have them nowadays.
If you want to really cover your butt use a different bank for business than you do for personal.
Just thinking out loud here...but I wonder if PayPal is more secure added to a merchant account than
on its own? Mebbe.

Merchants have the same problems though. I'm out $170 and a pair of earrings just this week. Someone said they didn't authorize the charge, put in a claim with their own credit card company, and where I have my credit card merchant account ruled in the person's favor. It's just one of those things that merchants have to let roll off them. It happens to merchants.

 

[whynotmakeit]

Strange. I have never had a problem with my merchant CC account as long as you can produce an invoice and some correspondence that you delivered they should always find in your favour or wear the cost, not you.....Helps tho if your chargeback attempts are low percentage wise I guess.....

Merchants have the same problems though. I'm out $170 and a pair of earrings just this week. Someone said they didn't authorize the charge, put in a claim with their own credit card company, and where I have my credit card merchant account ruled in the person's favor. It's just one of those things that merchants have to let roll off them. It happens to merchants.

 

[redrubies]

Strange. I have never had a problem with my merchant CC account as long as you can produce an invoice and some correspondence that you delivered they should always find in your favour or wear the cost, not you.....Helps tho if your chargeback attempts are low percentage wise I guess.....

First chargeback I had with this merchant account. He said he didn't authorize it. They said his card was compromised. I doubt it was. He still has the earrings.

 

[MMBlack]

Selling without PayPal is possible but not easy. It's very limiting, no pun intended. We all know that PP is almost a cruel necessity and it blows. Anyway, even with your own merchant account, you're still going to encounter chargebacks because there are cheats out there who are determined to get something for nothing. The system is always on the side of buyers, and they know it. The advantage with a merchant account versus PayPal is that you can probably fight a chargeback more successfully, if you have invoices and other documentation to prove your case. PayPal just makes up its own rules.

 

[portalweb]

Next time, you need to verify the buyer very closely after they ordered your services.

Check for their address to see if it matches paypal address, etc. based on the signup info.

If the address does not match, along with the IP address at sign-up (check to see if it's real or proxy), and any other suspicious looking details, question the seller closely and ask for additional verifications (such as where they use the forums, etc.).

If they refuse - do not do business with them and refund $$ back to buyer.