Funds pending in PP from check payment

Coyja

Coyja

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Just could use a bit of advice here…
Trying to complete a sale with a guy from FB. He spends a day vetting me, checking groups I’m in, because I’ve asked for F&F because of the new PP nonsense.

Previously I was a G&S all the time type seller and buyer, but it’s a new environment, so I understand the need to vet people. and he and I discussed all that and seems he got it and since he’d been burnt before I also totally didn’t mind.

So he says, let’s do the deal, and I say great if you sent payment soon I can still make it to the PO tonight… but the payment arrives via a check from his credit union. Which puts a 3-5 day wait time to clear. PP also sends an alert that says “do not ship until payment has cleared.” Which leads me to think this is going to be a G&S sale after all.

Then he asks me another question about the knife (what date it was made, which is clearly available in photos I provided) after he sent the PP check. I answer and also give a heads up on the funds needing to be released before I can ship. At this point, I’m not worried, just figure I have to wait it out to make sure it lands.

This guy goes into a rant. Oh you think I’m a liar? Didn’t you check my hundreds of vouches? Etc etc.
Fact is, I didn’t. I don’t expect to worry about the buyers end cause as long as I have payment I’ll handle my end correctly. But he’s basically having a small tantrum that I’m not going to ship until the funds are released. I point out to him that he never told me he was paying this way and anyone with hundreds of deals should know you never ship without payment to someone youve never worked with before. Also that I wasn’t the one upset here, or name calling, he is.

His behavior gets me annoyed enough that I tell him I’ll just cancel the payment, but PP won’t let me do anything on my end. Now he’s trying to be apologetic, but I’m feeling like there may be too many red flags here to salvage this sale.

Question is, have any of you run into this before? Scam, or just an immature buyer? Do I ship when this payment clears or refund for my own safety? Once the payment clears, is there any way for him to scam me if I do ship (I’m shipping insured)? Or do I go ahead and try to get vouches on this guy and ship today?

Thanks in advance!
 
Wait for the money to clear. This is a business transaction, not an emotional support group. He can pound sand until the money is cleared in your account for all I care, and any logically minded and reasonable person understands this.

I personally would refund him and move on but that’s your call. People that get angry around here and take things too personally start to act irrationally.
 
If you guys can't wait any longer for the payment to clear, my practical advice is that you just cancel the payment if and when it clears, tell him that you will/did and move on.

Coyja said:
I point out to him that he never told me he was paying this way and anyone with hundreds of deals should know you never ship without payment to someone youve never worked with before.
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I thought you were friends ? :) Seriously, this whole F&F stuff - because sellers are too lazy to fill out an IRS form - changed things. From the buyers perspective, he is out of money, and the seller might refuse to send the knife. Plenty of threads here where this actually happened.

OK, I get it, it's a pain to deal with taxes properly .... then again, why didn't we change from our old and trusted PP G+S payment model to F&F payment is only made when the knife arrives and the buyer is happy ? This whole "let's all do F&F payments from now on" makes life easier for flippers and questionable sellers if you ask me.

Roland.
 
ferider said:
If you guys can't wait any longer for the payment to clear, my practical advice is that you just cancel the payment if and when it clears, tell him that you will/did and move on.



I thought you were friends ? :) Seriously, this whole F&F stuff - because sellers are too lazy to fill out an IRS form - changed things. From the buyers perspective, he is out of money, and the seller might refuse to send the knife. Plenty of threads here where this actually happened.

OK, I get it, it's a pain to deal with taxes properly .... then again, why didn't we change from our old and trusted PP G+S payment model to F&F payment is only made when the knife arrives and the buyer is happy ? This whole "let's all do F&F payments from now on" makes life easier for flippers and questionable sellers if you ask me.

Roland.
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Someone has to take a leap of faith on any transaction, but waiting for a check to clear is completely reasonable. No need to turn a guy wanting a check to clear into a gripe session about f&f.
 
ferider said:
I thought you were friends ? :) Seriously, this whole F&F stuff - because sellers are too lazy to fill out an IRS form - changed things. From the buyers perspective, he is out of money, and the seller might refuse to send the knife. Plenty of threads here where this actually happened.

OK, I get it, it's a pain to deal with taxes properly .... then again, why didn't we change from our old and trusted PP G+S payment model to F&F payment is only made when the knife arrives and the buyer is happy ? This whole "let's all do F&F payments from now on" makes life easier for flippers and questionable sellers if you ask me.

Roland.
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I hear that.
But I also expect to buy a house soon and from experience its a pain in the ass to track down every thread of tiny income you may get.
(I sold a moped and didn't have a bill of sale cause it was like $500 and that became an issue last time we bought a house, lol)

I'm not making money off of knife sales, I'm just selling one knife to buy another knife, lol.
For me, this is the equivalent of a yard sale, and I'm frankly a but fed up with the government (and corporations) with their fingers in every single informal transaction we do. Will my knife sales add up to over $600? Maybe... no, probably, with the GEC prices now, lol.
But my purchases are going to add up very close to my sales.
It's just a minor grief I'm trying to avoid, I'll admit that.
But I also don't think G&S was much protection, either.

IDK, I've had very few issues buying and selling, most of my problems in the past 15+ years of BST knives and whatnot has been with USPS, lol.
 
Pibbles Destroyer said:
I personally would refund him and move on but that’s your call. People that get angry around here and take things too personally start to act irrationally.
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I’d do the same. This is a community for me. It sounds like he’s being a shitty community member I’d rather sell to someone who feel about BF the way I do: as somewhere where knife weirdos can indulge their obsession without being screwed or screwing someone.
 
Ending the deal may be the best answer.
He didn't pay by method agreed upon.
Now doesn't want to wait for it to clear and throws a tantrum. Waiting to clear is standard practice.
If you decide to go on I would be absolutely sure the check has fully cleared, and is not money is available. If there is still a problem with the check they will take the money back. This is not what I normally would do, but his pressing is a red flag. He no longer deserves benefit of the doubt.
 
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Checks delay shipment until funds clear. That is a basic, common sense rule with which anybody using checks, including e-checks, should be familiar. (Occasional exceptions are sometimes made for repeat/regular customers at the discretion of the seller; but one shouldn't  expect that.)

If you are inclined to cancel the sale, do it. Let him know it is happening...but anticipate more of the same behavior.

While I understand the idea behind the recent push for f&f payments, I'm no more willing to pay that way than I was before the 1099 change. Luckily I don't need anymore knives and I had already distanced myself from PP; so the impact is minimal.
 
Ok, seems we are all on the same page here, lol.
I just wish there was a way to cancel the pending payment now, and not wait, because I also don't feel great about waiting to cancel a deal until after a check has cleared, cause that ties us both up.

Mostly, I was concerned that this was a scam, but if it can be trusted once the check clears to not cause more issues with payment, then I probably will just ship it off.
The knife is mint, so unlikely there will be issues with the product... although we all know how people are.
IDK, I'm going to sit with it a bit while I wait for this check to clear.
Thanks for all the input folks!
 
Also something to consider is that if this person in question is reading this thread, more often than not these people start building resentment. The deal is already off to a bad start, so I hope deciding to go through with it is worth the risk.
 
Coyja said:
Ok, seems we are all on the same page here, lol.
I just wish there was a way to cancel the pending payment now, and not wait, because I also don't feel great about waiting to cancel a deal until after a check has cleared, cause that ties us both up.

Mostly, I was concerned that this was a scam, but if it can be trusted once the check clears to not cause more issues with payment, then I probably will just ship it off.
The knife is mint, so unlikely there will be issues with the product... although we all know how people are.
IDK, I'm going to sit with it a bit while I wait for this check to clear.
Thanks for all the input folks!
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The funds are tied up until cleared no matter what. Send that payment right back. Not worth the risk. He's not a friend or family so you should be using G&S. Find a different payment method if you don't want to deal with the paypal tax issue. I mean, you are taking a payment as a gift and he sent a check without asking if that was okay. Cancel, cancel, cancel. Learn. Do better next time.
 
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This happens with G&S as well. I use Paypal for my small business. A customer used his Apple pay credit card and payment is still pending 3 weeks later and Paypal gives me the "don't ship" warnung as well. As long as it is pending I can't cancel so we can start over and his Apple statement is showing clear on his end. Paypal simply replies that they are "reviewing" his payment. if they make no decision in 30 days it cancels automatically.

When this happens it creates issues and hard feelings on both sides.
 
Coyja said:
I’ve asked for F&F because of the new PP nonsense.

Previously I was a G&S all the time type seller and buyer, but it’s a new environment
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What is the new PP nonsense? A few months ago I noticed an explosion of FF use as well as the use of other payment platforms typically not used here (until recently). What happened? I don’t recall forum management saying anything either, so it must be kosher. Anyone?
 
other memory said:
What is the new PP nonsense? A few months ago I noticed an explosion of FF as well as the use of newer payment platforms. What happened? I don’t recall forum management saying anything either, so it must be kosher. Anyone?
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New tax law requiring PP and other electronic payment companies to send out 1099's when "income" exceeds $600. Some states had been doing it for a few years, but now it's federal.
 
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