For you honest, trusting sellers who accept PayPal payments --- maybe this will help you from being ripped-off, like I was.

In a community as huge as eBay, there will be a few dishonest souls. Don't be one of their victims.

                                          My money - going down the drain...

My story: I auctioned a gift card from Tiffany's that was worth about $92.00, and I got $82.00 for it. The buyer paid with PayPal, so I was safe - right? In my auction I said shipping was by USPS First Class Mail - I've never had anything lost in the mail, and besides, with my the shipping price, I thought it would attract more bidders. The winning bidder lived in Canada, so I put the card in an envelope and sent it First Class Mail to Canada. I didn't want to be bothered with filling out a Customs Form for merchandise. Too much trouble - I was sorry later!

Here were the warning signs:

1. After the auction, I emailed the buyer to let her know when I sent the gift card. I asked her to send me an email when she received the card. She never responded to any of my emails, period.
2. I left good feedback for her. She didn't leave any feedback for me. I kept sending her emails to ask if she had received the gift card, and she never answered me.
3. She had a feedback rating of 2. That in itself isn't a big deal, BUT -- a few weeks after the auction she was no longer a Registered User on eBay! How convenient for her - that meant eBay couldn't contact her or give her any strikes.

About five weeks after the auction, she filed a complaint with PayPal that she never received the Tiffany's card. She did not contact me first. PayPal notified me of her complaint. I had a set amount of time to prove to PayPal that I had truly mailed the item, and if I couldn't prove it, I HAD TO SEND A FULL REFUND TO THE BUYER !!!  I was screwed - she got the Tiffany card and her $82.00 back from the deal.

She almost doubled her investment, and I had my money go down the drain.

  PAY ATTENTION - PayPal will not cover you as a seller just because you say you're an honest person, or you have a feedback score of 5,000, or you swear on your Granny's head that you sent it.

If you don't have have some kind of paper proof, some kind of postal receipt, proof of tracking purchase from USPS on-line, or an email from the buyer to refer back to ... you are TOAST!

                                Do you love toast?

Honest me:

• had no communication from the buyer to present as evidence.
• didn't have a receipt for purchased stamps - I had looked up the mailing cost on-line and I used my own stamps.
• wasn't smart enough to purchase a Certificate of Mailing for $1.05 (used for International Mail). In the U.S., Delivery Confirmation costs just 65 cents.

Protect yourself!  If you are shipping in the U.S., get Delivery Confirmation for 65 cents. If you print your postage on-line with usps.com, Delivery Confirmation and a tracking number are FREE.

If you are mailing out of the country, make sure you have some kind of written proof that the item was sent and the date it was sent.

Keep ALL proof of mailing for two months. If you are certain that the item was received because the tracking information proves it, or if the buyer has left you Feedback, you no longer have to keep the proof. A buyer can't file a dispute after 45 calendar days after payment has been made.

Make the trip to the Post Office if you don't have proof of mailing - it could save you time, aggravation, and best of all - your hard-earned money.