I just received a payment from an Australian buyer. He said he did not have a Paypal confirmed address because he can only get a PO box where he lives (Broome). Also, instead of sending me a payment for goods, he sent it to me as a gift. Can I potentially be screwed by this? Can he file a dispute or create a chargeback through Paypal if it was a gift payment? I told him I would have the package in the mail in a couple of days (this detail was worked out before he sent payment), so I have some time in which to consider the transaction. If I feel that I'm at risk I'm going to refund his money. (Note: this transaction did not occur through this forum so you don't need to spend time figuring out who it is.)
I know that in past transactions I've done (on different forums) that many many people choose to send the money as a gift. They do this to avoid the PayPal fees that you are charged when sending a payment of sorts. While I do NOT know if it's possible for him to retrieve his money, I know that's it's not uncommon to send as a gift. Hope it helped in one way or another.
I think the gift part saves you from getting fees taken out for money you receive. You might just ask him why he sent as a gift. I also always get unconfirmed address whenever I've gotten a payment from an Australia address and I've never had any problems with anyone there who's bought things from me in the past.
In this case since you received the money as a gift Paypal can offer you NO protection. Your buyer has no way of taking the money back per say but they can claim an unauthorized transaction on their account and have the money returned to them that way. I would return the money and ask that he sends it for goods instead of a gift just to cover your butt. Sure you take the 4% hit but I'd rather be out some cash then cash and product.
Seeing as though all the fraudsters on this board in the last couple of years have been American Id say you are safe.
also, if it's going to an unconfirmed address, get some type of delivery confirmation where they have to sign for it. i got burned this year on a package( that was "lost", personally i think stolen by the PO) and now send everything EMS overseas.
If anybody is at risk, it's the guy who sent you a 'gift' (which implicitly means nothing is expected in return). But, if it were me, I would still get delivery confirmation to insure a smooth transaction.
You usually can't get a confirmed address for non-US residents. Every non-US transaction I have ever done via Paypal (and I've done A LOT!), every one of them have been to unconfirmed addresses. I believe there's also a statement regarding that somewhere on Paypal's website. The GIFT option is so Paypal doesn't take fees. It's us sellers being greedy (towards what I deem a greedy company) so we can get close(r) to what we want for items we sell. And, by choosing the gift option, the sender of the funds has relatively no recourse. I say relatively no recourse because Paypal has under certain circumstances thrown a curve ball and gone against their policies to appease a user. At least this is my experience.
Don't send using flat rate shipping. The tracking for that is BS. I've dealt with Australia before and they receive stuff fast even sent First Class Mail International. But usually small items and nothing expensive. If you really want to make sure that they receive it and to cover your ass, Priority Mail International is the way to go.
actually the sender still pays fees to paypal when using the gift option. at least that happens if it's paid via credit card. i think receiving money as gift is fine, just make sure there's delivery confirmation and proof of receipt. i used to live in australia for a few years and i've had a fair number of packages delivered from the US, although never to a PO box. never had a package go missing or stolen. this was about 8 years ago.
I can vouch for Aust Post! Very reliable. Never had anything go missing as either a shipper or a receiver for over 10 years!
