Red flags or just me?

I have been working with a person for many months about a deal on a dragon. This persons communication has been spotty at best. Recently the emails were more frequent and we came to an agreement on price and shipping.

I stated in the email before a payment was sent that I would only ship to the confirmed paypal address from which the payment was sent. I end up getting a payment from another party in a totally different state wanting me to ship to yet another person in another state.

My gut is telling me to refund and move on but the person sending the payment has done business with some of the same folks I have and has references (I would check with them before anything would be shipped).

Would you do the same in my shoes or am I just being paranoid?

In your shoes, I would refund and move on.

Too many people involved in your deal.

Receive funds,ship to advised address and be done with it

It depends a bit on some of the details...but, I would probably explain the problem to the persons B & C, and request another form of payment if they want to proceed with the transaction as outlined. Refunding, and accepting a personal (gift) payment via PayPal might be an option...but it is one that could blow up in your face, too.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

It depends a bit on some of the details...but, I would probably explain the problem to the persons B & C, and request another form of payment if they want to proceed with the transaction as outlined. Refunding, and accepting a personal (gift) payment via PayPal might be an option...but it is one that could blow up in your face, too.

I checked the BOI and Google and I can't find a reason not to trust them but the whole situation is just a bit off.

Originally Posted by Snake-Queen

In your shoes, I would refund and move on.

Too many people involved in your deal.

I agree.


From Paypal's discussion of their 'seller protection' policies:

What if the buyer asks me to ship to an address other than the Shipping Address on the Transaction Details page?
If you ship to a different address, you will not be eligible for coverage. If the buyer wants you to ship to a different address, we recommend that you ask the buyer to resubmit the payment with the new shipping address.


The way it looks now, you could easily be set up for a scam. Not saying that's happening, but if it did, you couldn't ask Paypal for help.
If the guy doing the paying is a good guy with references, he should have no problem with a refund. After all, he can just as easily send money to whoever is doing the actual purchasing and who has a confirmed Paypal address which is where you should ship.

The 4th party just adds a weird dimension. Seller, buyer, recipient, and negotiator??
Things may be on the up and up, which is why I said it depends on some of the details. You know that shipping to a different person and place will void your seller protection...even having written instructions to do so wouldn't guarantee your success if a claim is initiated. I'm not going to use this as a launch into PayPal's shortcomings, so I'll leave it at that.

Refunded with the explanation that I am unable to ship to an unconfirmed address. Thank you for the advice.

Originally Posted by joshjtd

I checked the BOI and Google and I can't find a reason not to trust them but the whole situation is just a bit off.

I end up getting a payment from another party in a totally different state wanting me to ship to yet another person in another state.

Did you also check the name and email address from where the paypal came from and the other party they wanted you to ship to? There are two things that come to mind when I first read this. One, the person may be trying to buy for someone who is banned or has a bad reputation.

Two, they are using you as a drop-shipper for their customers.

Originally Posted by Dennis Hultman

Did you also check the name and email address from where the paypal came from and the other party they wanted you to ship to? There are two things that come to mind when I first read this. One, the person may be trying to buy for someone who is banned or has a bad reputation.

Two, they are using you as a drop-shipper for their customers.

I checked all three names involved in the transaction. The person I was negotiating with stated their paypal account was "messed up". I then get the payment from one of the other parties telling me to ship it to another party, which I was told was the negotiators significant other that they lived with.

Google nor the BOI showed anything. I did an inquiry and got no replies. Not saying they were up to no good but I had all the risk and was not comfortable.