Paypal issues after using the word Damascus in message to seller...

JustinFournier

JustinFournier

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Hi All,

Anyone else having issues with Paypal holding payments for review after the buyer used the word Damascus in the message to seller?

Twice in the past bit, I have had held payments, one sending one now one receiving. The only thing in common was a link to BladeForums and the word Damascus in the message to seller part.

Thanks!
 
Damascus, as in Syria. Terrorist hotspot. Paypal wants to look at the transaction and be sure you're not funding terrorism.
 
Another one, don't say 'River of Fire' in the description. Don't ask me how I know.
 
Maybe we should put together a Sticky of words guaranteed to get your payment reviewed. And I don't mean things like Weed! :p
 
Persian is another word to avoid with PayPal. I typically leave the subject field blank or enter thanks with my name.
 
There's a knife by another brand called AK-47. Can't imagine I'd want to put that in the comments.
 
JustinFournier said:
Hi All,

Anyone else having issues with Paypal holding payments for review after the buyer used the word Damascus in the message to seller?

Twice in the past bit, I have had held payments, one sending one now one receiving. The only thing in common was a link to BladeForums and the word Damascus in the message to seller part.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

This is very old news and has been happening for over a decade. If you search the forums you can find several threads on the same subject. If you search Google, you can dins various other places that indicate the same trouble. No sticky needed, but some researching ahead of time might be a good idea.
 
RevDevil said:
This is very old news and has been happening for over a decade. If you search the forums you can find several threads on the same subject. If you search Google, you can dins various other places that indicate the same trouble. No sticky needed, but some researching ahead of time might be a good idea.
Click to expand...

I posted this to the CRK forums as we have a pretty small group there and it was primarily intended to get feedback from people currently doing similar transactions.

I'm not American, and have had zero transaction issues since 2002 till recently so it might be old news but not to me nor the buyer/seller from last transaction held for review. It's clearly not common knowledge.

Generally speaking I think the thread lost it's context after it was moved. I never though I would need to research a process I've done countless time flawlessly over the past decade plus.

Thanks for your helpful input.
 
I just had PayPal hold a nice chunk of change on a custom knife . The hold was 19 days after delivery I got the money .

I don't know if it's coincidence or not but I messaged the buyer and asked him to post positive feedback on the sale ,once he did that the funds were available the next morning
 
JustinFournier said:
I posted this to the CRK forums as we have a pretty small group there and it was primarily intended to get feedback from people currently doing similar transactions.

I'm not American, and have had zero transaction issues since 2002 till recently so it might be old news but not to me nor the buyer/seller from last transaction held for review. It's clearly not common knowledge.

Generally speaking I think the thread lost it's context after it was moved. I never though I would need to research a process I've done countless time flawlessly over the past decade plus.

Thanks for your helpful input.
Click to expand...

I should have clarified, to those that deal in many custom knives, delve deeply into high dollar pieces, and are unable to purchase items directly from makers it is more of a common understanding. I don't know how people that are not from North America have dealt with or if they experience it, not really an issue for me as I am in North America. It boils down to potential political implications. I too have used Paypal since 2002 and the only issues I've had with the service were unrelated to the word Damascus. The ideal solution as mention is to simply leave the notes blank or replace the offending word with "pattern welded steel".
 
Avoid any kind of phrasing that could possibly have to do with the middle east. The banks (Yes, Paypal is a bank) scanning tools check for these to make sure you're not laundering money, pulling fraud or transferring to blacklisted countries or people.

At this time in history anything to do with the middle east will probably trigger those flags/filters.
 
"Yakuza" got me under the spotlight. Everything was fine in the end. Just use discretion, or better yet leave it blank.
 
I got jammed up to when I bought a Benchmade AFO. Thinking they think its for Arellano Felix Organization.
 
BIGLOU said:
I got jammed up to when I bought a Benchmade AFO. Thinking they think its for Arellano Felix Organization.
Click to expand...

They more than likely knew it was an automatic, can't/shouldn't use Paypal for buying restricted items. Switchblades, Balisong, and firearms fall under that.
 
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