eHam
eHam Forums => Good Seller / Buyer Beware => Topic started by: KM4AH on February 03, 2022, 02:13:53 PM
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I posted on QTH in early December looking for an off switch for an Alpha 374A .. Rare Rare Rare
Donald called me on the phone and said he had one that he had bought and paid $40 for it and I said I would give him $50 to ship it to me which I did through PayPal. Friend and family or whatever you call it. Only $50 and hard for me to imagine anybody going to the trouble of scamming you for $50.
Anyhow, it never showed up and after New Year I called him and he said he had shipped it on Dec. 22, the day I sent the money. But, no tracking number. He said give another week and if it didn't show he would send another and gave me some details that the second switch had a problem with the flag, but better than nothing I thought. Well, it never showed up. So, I called him back on the phone maybe the 7th or 8th of Jan. He said he would get the other switch out. Well, guess what. No switch. I know he's not hacked because his PayPal address is him. Plus I've talked to him on the phone three times.
I don't have a mail box so I have to pick all mail up at the PO.. In other words, nobody stole it out of my box or off my porch.
It doesn't matter what address he used, if he got my name close to right and the ZipCode right I'll get it. I'm in the Post Office every day and I know all two people that work there.
Any other explanation I would like to hear it.
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If you sent the money via Friends and Family you are screwed.
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If you sent the money via Friends and Family you are screwed.
YUP
EVERY online selling forum says do not use "Friends and Family".
I have backed out of 3 buys in the last 2 months after the seller told me they only take friends and family. I don't even offer to pay the fee. Something doesn't smell right at that point.
RUN don't WALK away when that huge red flag comes up!
AND by the way.....there are people that cruise the wanted ads for victims.
All of mine where from "wanted" ads.
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If you sent the money via Friends and Family you are screwed.
Yep. Transactions like that will not be investigated by Paypal either. So never do business unless they have an actual Paypal invoice. That way you have some protection.
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Sadly more and more people are going to F/F with Paypal to avoid the 1099 from them for the IRS. So lots of errors all around. You sent money Friends and Family when this person is neither. You picked the wrong category. Then this person shipped an item with no tracking number? Third if that person shipped it USPS... another fail as of late.
Have you asked this person to refund your $50? That's about your only recourse now. Bright side it was an expensive life lesson.
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Sadly more and more people are going to F/F with Paypal to avoid the 1099 from them for the IRS. So lots of errors all around. You sent money Friends and Family when this person is neither. You picked the wrong category. Then this person shipped an item with no tracking number? Third if that person shipped it USPS... another fail as of late.
Have you asked this person to refund your $50? That's about your only recourse now. Bright side it was an expensive life lesson.
The 1099-K is going to be a nightmare the IRS won't be able to figure out for years.
What they going to do, ask for your cost basis on the home brew widget you made in 1957 and sold in 2022 on ebay etc.
It will be very interesting how that all plays out.
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If you sent the money via Friends and Family you are screwed.
Exactly. And that's what can happen when you screw PayPal out of a legitimate fee.....
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The IRS won’t have any trouble with the 1099. The 1099 will show the gross and you will have to prove the net. Otherwise you will be taxed on the gross.
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I no longer post WTB ads. I posted two WTB ads over the years and both times received several scamming replies. WTB ads seem to be a magnet for things going bad. Good idea not to use Paypal F&F... unless they are really F&F.
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IRS rules should be a boon for future Hamfests and cash transactions!
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Agree with everyone. Never, ever send someone PayPal funds as friends and family. On the bright side. It seems that your man is not a ghost. He is legit as I found his home address and telephone number and compliments on what a great seller he is. The email address showing on QRZ seems to also be legit. Looks like all checks out for this guy but you gifted him $50 and now he's sitting on the driver's seat and will mail you the part when he is good and ready. Cheap lesson, you could have send someone a thousand and that would have been, ouch...
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I dunno... do you think the guy really needs $50 that badly?
If someone wants to do a scam, wouldn't it be for a bigger dollar item?
Shipping has been a crap shoot in many areas for a while now.
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I dunno... do you think the guy really needs $50 that badly?
If someone wants to do a scam, wouldn't it be for a bigger dollar item?
Shipping has been a crap shoot in many areas for a while now.
Yeah, I really don't care about the 50 bucks. I wanted the switch.
It is unfortunate that you have to require the seller to pay a 3% insurance fee because you can't trust ham operators.
And, to whoever thinks this was an expensive lesson I would advise you to get a job.
But, in case this guy is some scammer and not just a victim of bad shipping be advised. That's all.
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The IRS won’t have any trouble with the 1099. The 1099 will show the gross and you will have to prove the net. Otherwise you will be taxed on the gross.
Not going to happen that way.
In theory YES.......In Practice NO
Too much to police.
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I don’t ever use any of those new goofy payment methods ever and never will. Cash only here or personal check. If they doesn’t like it I move on.
PayPal really sucks.
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I don’t ever use any of those new goofy payment methods ever and never will. Cash only here or personal check. If they doesn’t like it I move on.
PayPal really sucks.
Maybe. But, there is a matter of trust and respect with a fellow ham. May not exist anymore. But, it's a shame.
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The IRS won’t have any trouble with the 1099. The 1099 will show the gross and you will have to prove the net. Otherwise you will be taxed on the gross.
Not going to happen that way.
In theory YES.......In Practice NO
Too much to police.
If you will notice PayPal stock has dropped by half in the last year. People will find a way around the IRS and PayPal no longer fits the bill. Problem is people like me have likely never made a profit overall on anything, and I have 1000 eBay feedbacks, mostly chainsaw related as far as the sales. Rarely got my money back out of it and then you run the risk of some moron straight gassing it and starting a claim.
So, the IRS is going to start taxing the gross unless you can come up with documentation ??
Good luck with that.
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Bad weather? health problems? old age (like me!) for $50 this does not seem like a scam, just never use F and F unless it really is, 73
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PayPal sucks, when I used it once in the past it tied up my money for over two months. Never Again!
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Over 15 years ago I sold an item, buyer said it didn't work-
Filed a claim... I lost the money AND the item(He never
shipped it back) (~$500.00) In that case, I wish he used F&F..haha
I have not used Paypal since and never will. In-person or
not at all--and cash.
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Yeah, I sold a TS950SD to a guy. Shipped it UPS. Packed the same way that I have shipped heavy rigs and amplifiers.
Well, he said it arrived damaged and sent photos. The way it was damaged was simply impossible inside the box. So, I'm 99% sure that he dropped it unpacking it. I told him to just keep it and I would credit him back the $600 or whatever it was. Well, PayPal/eBay doesn't have a policy for that. I literally had to get somebody on the phone, no small task, to get them to simply credit the guy without going through the return process. He ended up crediting me back half of it, which was pretty cool actually. Rig still worked. Still think he dropped it.
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In one instance I offered to pay the PayPal fee and the seller never responded after that. I had a bad feeling about him so I thought that may be a good way to "smoke him out". Guess it worked.
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Got screwed outta $5,000 on a Alpha 77SX I sold to a guy on eBay via PayPal..……..Never again.
Tom KH0/KC0W
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I think it is safe to say at this point that Reinshagen is just a crook. Silence is deafening. Not sure what you do with a stolen $50 . Have fun with it I hope.
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K2DGR is still a crook. Unless he is dead obviously. Otherwise, stay away or lose your money.
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One more call to add to my Black Flagged list.
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If you use Paypal F&F you deserve to lose your money. A fool and their money will soon part ways.
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If you use Paypal F&F you deserve to lose your money. A fool and their money will soon part ways.
Well said.
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$50 doesn't make much difference to me other than the principle of the thing. If it had been $5 I'd still be gnawing on him. If it had been $500 I certainly wouldn't have done friends and family.
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$50 doesn't make much difference to me other than the principle of the thing. If it had been $5 I'd still be gnawing on him. If it had been $500 I certainly wouldn't have done friends and family.
It's not the 50 bucks that matters. It's the fraud of paying for goods or services and screwing the payment processor out of their commission.
Fraud is Fraud. For 50 bucks or 5000 bucks.
And if this guy scammed 50 people for 50 bucks... $PROFIT$
I'd say you should probably report him to paypal for initiating a fraud, but then you'd implicate yourself for being complicit... And possibly lose your account too.
--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI
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Anyone else remember the good old days when paypal didn't charge a fee for goods and services payment? After all, look at all of the interest they are earning on money sitting in people's accounts.
73 John AF5CC
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$50 doesn't make much difference to me other than the principle of the thing. If it had been $5 I'd still be gnawing on him. If it had been $500 I certainly wouldn't have done friends and family.
It's not the 50 bucks that matters. It's the fraud of paying for goods or services and screwing the payment processor out of their commission.
Fraud is Fraud. For 50 bucks or 5000 bucks.
And if this guy scammed 50 people for 50 bucks... $PROFIT$
I'd say you should probably report him to paypal for initiating a fraud, but then you'd implicate yourself for being complicit... And possibly lose your account too.
--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI
That's funny. I have over 1000 eBay feedbacks which means I likely bought/sold twice that. All PayPal.
If they want to close my account they can knock themselves out.
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BTW, K2DGR is still a lying crooked SOB.
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Sorry about your loss, but thanks for the heads up. Another for the black list. I've been screwed a few times over the years but each time I used a Standard Paypal and PP eventually got me my money back.
KF4HR
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Send Guido and Louie over to the house for a "chat."
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It took me 15-20 years to.get it in the pooper. Lol, last Sept I was beat for 200 bucks, now I will do PayPal and pay the fees for the seller. I then have a leg to stand on.
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Hey Donald, there is a guy looking for switch covers for an Alpha 78 . Same as my 374A. Maybe you can screw him too .