If you sell regularly on eBay, sooner or later you are going to run onto a buyer that pays with PayPal and then stops payment (sometimes after you have shipped the item !). That's right, even AFTER PayPal credits your account and sends you a message saying you have received cash, the buyer can stop the payment and PayPal will remove the money from your account. I have had buyers (scammers) do this but I have been covered by PayPal's seller protection policy by following the steps below.
IMPORTANT - I had to follow ALL of the steps listed to qualify for PayPal's seller protection.
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Ship the item ONLY to the address listed in the PayPal transaction. If you ship to a different address, you will not be eligible for seller protection.
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Ship the item within 7 days of payment.
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When shipping the item, purchase Delivery Confirmation or Signature Confirmation as follows: (a). If the PayPal payment you receive is less than $250, purchase Delivery Confirmation. (b). If the PayPal payment you receive is $250 or more, you MUST purchase Signature Confirmation. The $250 amount is the full PayPal payment, NOT just the cost of the item. For example, if you sell an item for $245 and shipping is $6, the full PayPal payment you receive is $251.
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After a buyer stops payment, PayPal will send you one or more messages asking for information. Reply to the message(s) promptly.
That's it. You just have to be sure to follow all of the steps. Look for (or ask for) Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation forms at your local post office (or equivalent forms at UPS or FedEx). The USPS forms are shown below -- Delivery Confirmation forms are bright green, Signature Confirmation forms are bright pink.
If purchasing postage online, you still need to purchase either delivery or signature confirmation. You do not use the forms, you just need to select the appropriate confirmation on the screen.
Please vote "Yes" for this guide to give it better visibility. Unsuspecting sellers are getting scammed every day by not following these steps. THANK YOU!
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Guide created: 12/19/07 (updated 11/16/09)


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