OK, so you've sold an item, you've shipped it, and the money has been taken away from you because the buyer's bank says the account is closed.  There's no need to fear, you're covered under the PayPal's Seller Protection Policy and will be covered upto 5000.00 per year.


What is not covered?

1. Intangible goods, services and sales or licenses of digital content. So the Dagger of Rah, or the 10,000 gold you just sold for World of Warcraft or the web design you did for JoeBobs double wides does not count.  Only physical goods.
2. Claims for “not as described."  If some one files a claim because you said that  it was a Large and they got an XL, you're out of luck.  Make sure you send what you claim in the auction.
3. Total reversals over the annual limit.  After you hit the 5K limit, that's it!!  You're done.

Background:  Cover yourself when you sell an item

Now to the good stuff.  What do I need to do to make sure I am covered?

1.The Seller has a Verified Business or Premier Account.  This can be done in your profile.  Yes, you will need to pay PayPal when you accept a payment.
2.The transaction is between a US, UK or Canadian buyer and a qualified US, UK or CA seller.  No you can't send to Japan, India, Mexico or anywhere else not on that list.
3.  After you go to the details for the payment you have received, go about halfway down and it will tell you if you are covered.  If it is green, your good, if it is red, there are problems.  All you need to do is to click on the question mark next to it and it will tell you what is wrong.  You must return it to the buyer, and as something nice tell them why you can't accept it, and I would also go as far as telling them how to fix the problem.  Once the payment comes back, and it shows green, your good to go!!
4. The seller only accepts a single payment from one PayPal account for the purchase.  No, you can't accept 50, 1 dollar payments.  That doesn't work.
5. The seller does not charge a surcharge for accepting PayPal payments.  No down payments allowed.  Not for a car, not for a plane, not for a train.


Half way there now.
Shipping.  What to do next.

Only ship to a confirmed address.  This means that it has been checked by PayPal and they live there.  This means that you can't ship to their parents, work, aunt, girlfriend, or other peeps.  You have a less likely chance of sending your item to a hijacked account.

You need to also send the item within 7 days of receipt of the payment.

The seller provides reasonable proof of delivery from an independent shipper.  This means you need to get a tracking number, and if the item is over 250 dollars, get an online signature.  If you print off shipping label from PayPal, guess what..  you get tracking for free!!!!!!  Yes, PayPal will foot the 90 cent tab to get you that number.  Don't give an excuse that the shipping company doesn't provide one.  You will have to request it.  And of course, USPS won't track an item sent outside of the US.


Lastly, if someone files a complaint, you have 10 days to respond.  If you don't you will loose and not surprisingly, not be covered by the PayPal's Seller Protection Policy

Good luck on your sales.  99 percent of the time everything will happen fine without problems on Ebay.  But when the 1 percent happens, make sure you are protected.

Fine print:
Please note that this does not fully include everything about the Policy, so make sure you read up on it on the User Agreement on PayPal's website.


Please take a second and indicate if this guide was helpful or not.  Everyone sends me messages in My eBay, saying the guide was helpful, but I would really appreciate the vote of confidence.