Is there a way to protect against reversed payment scam for digital key on ebay?

DaRuSsIaMaN

[H]ard|Gawd
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Apr 22, 2007
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Sorry that this isn't actually a FS ebay post (yet), but it seemed like the appropriate place to ask...

I remember when I used to play EverQuest back in the day, and people bought and sold PP outside the game for $, a common scam was for a buyer of PP to send you the money and then simply reverse the payment in PayPal after receiving the PP in-game. They would submit a claim to PayPal saying it was an accident or whatever, and PayPal would ALWAYS take their side because there was no way to prove that we had actually exchanged any good(s).

If I want to sell a digital game code on ebay, is there a guaranteed way to be safe against the same scam from a buyer?
 
Don't think you can avoid a chargeback for digital items on eBay since buyers pay using PayPal goods and services. The buyer has to pay with PayPal friends and family, then they can't do a chargeback.
 
I don't think there is a guaranteed way to be safe. I tried to do it a while back and got screwed, definitely don't recommend it.
 
Hm, could I just print the code on a piece of paper and then sell it that way? And say in my ad that I will not send the code via message, only via mail (with tracking)?

If there's a record of a physical good being received by the buyer, can I be safe that way? Or will I still get screwed if the sale of the code is considered illegal to begin with? The terms of the digital code do state that I'm not allowed to resell it. (It's one of those things that came bundled with a laptop I bought, but I have no use for it.) So maybe the buyer could claim I sold something illegally and that way still get their money back while I'm screwed?
 
I would argue that it is a FREE GIFT and for you to do what you want with it... even if they tell you NOT to sale it. You may be careful and explain clearly that it has restrictions, example, those games that come bundled when you purchase a GTX 1060 or 1070, I do believe you must own one of those cards to be able to redeem those games. I am interested on this thread because I just got 2 games that I am never going to play so I am looking into unloading them for cheap but w/o getting bamboozled by someone.
 
Record yourself making the transaction in-game. If they try to scam you, show Paypal/Ebay the video.

No idea if it works, just an idea.
 
I'd send the code through the ebay mail system from your account to the buying account, then ebay can see you sent it to the winner. They cannot say they didn't get it, but they might say it didn't work.
 
I've been on the opposite side of this. Bought a Destiny 2 code for redemption on a GeForce Experience account w/ a matching video card. Logged in, and GFE said the key was already redeemed. Seller basically told me to fly a kite. Can't say that I'll ever buy or sell promo keys like that again.
 
I'd send the code through the ebay mail system from your account to the buying account, then ebay can see you sent it to the winner. They cannot say they didn't get it, but they might say it didn't work.

Hm but then PayPal would still take their side, wouldn't they? If they said the code is not working.

Sell on [H]. Accept only people with Heat. Should be good to go.

Most likely I'll end up sticking to that haha. But it seems like no one on [H] wants to play Fortnite... whereas people were bidding pretty high for it on ebay -- I saw like $100 bids! I wonder if they're only bidding high because they think they can scam their way out of paying?
 
I've been on the opposite side of this. Bought a Destiny 2 code for redemption on a GeForce Experience account w/ a matching video card. Logged in, and GFE said the key was already redeemed. Seller basically told me to fly a kite. Can't say that I'll ever buy or sell promo keys like that again.

Wait. So when this happened to you, were you not able to take the case to PayPal and/or ebay and have them refund you?
 
I've been on the opposite side of this. Bought a Destiny 2 code for redemption on a GeForce Experience account w/ a matching video card. Logged in, and GFE said the key was already redeemed. Seller basically told me to fly a kite. Can't say that I'll ever buy or sell promo keys like that again.

Dude you get your money back without question. LOL. I got scammed on 2 keys I sold, I checked they were activated and buyer basically went and did a claim of unauthorized account access lol. Knowing that I wasn't shipping the item paypal just refunded their money.
 
Record yourself making the transaction in-game. If they try to scam you, show Paypal/Ebay the video.

No idea if it works, just an idea.

NOPE. NO such thing. You sell a digital key and buyer wants their money back its simple. They just say they didn't buy it lol. Since they already activated the key its lost cause. Since you are not shipping anything and when you respond to the claim its settled automatically as soon as you submit a response. My keys were only sold for 15 bucks each and they were free with the video card so I didn't care. But never again I will sell a key on ebay.
 
Sorry that this isn't actually a FS ebay post (yet), but it seemed like the appropriate place to ask...

I remember when I used to play EverQuest back in the day, and people bought and sold PP outside the game for $, a common scam was for a buyer of PP to send you the money and then simply reverse the payment in PayPal after receiving the PP in-game. They would submit a claim to PayPal saying it was an accident or whatever, and PayPal would ALWAYS take their side because there was no way to prove that we had actually exchanged any good(s).

If I want to sell a digital game code on ebay, is there a guaranteed way to be safe against the same scam from a buyer?

Nope! Don't sell. Very high chance buyer will activate and then report unauthorized use of account to paypal and they get their money back. You can make it so you wanna ship the code once that is done its harder for them to claim otherwise. But if you do digital key via message good luck. They don't do ebay claim they just do paypal unauthorized transaction. Sad part is this was done by 2 different buyers to me on 2 codes I sold for 15 bucks. I had 3 for sale but the 3rd one I gave it to one of my previous buyers here for free lol. Fuck those buyers on ebay lol. 2 people with 100% feedback activated the codes when I checked and then paypal claim same day of unauthorized use of account and they got their money back. You cant even leave a bad feedback to make other seller aware. But its against ebay policy to sell digital keys though I think that is mainly to protect you from fraud though. Even buyers with good feedback will do that to you knowing you are not selling within policy and they are going to get their money back anyways. Unless you are shipping on ebay don't sell.
 
They only way to protect yourself against eBay chargebacks is to not sell on eBay. It blows my mind that a seller would even consider eBay now.
 
They only way to protect yourself against eBay chargebacks is to not sell on eBay. It blows my mind that a seller would even consider eBay now.

Where would you suggest to dump items that don't sell well in forums or on craigslist but will sell almost immediately on ebay?
 
Where would you suggest to dump items that don't sell well in forums or on craigslist but will sell almost immediately on ebay?
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Lols. Okay so I sold my two keys through the WTS/B thread here at [H], thankfully.

But for future reference, I had the same idea as this:
You can make it so you wanna ship the code once that is done its harder for them to claim otherwise. [...] Unless you are shipping on ebay don't sell.

I was likewise thinking I could just print the code on paper and ship it, and refuse to send it digitally. Can anyone confirm if this is safe? Or is it still possible for the buyer to scam?
 
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Give them a fake key until you can:
- transfer the funds into crypto
- change your identity
- move to a non-extradition country
- then send the real key.
 
Wait. So when this happened to you, were you not able to take the case to PayPal and/or ebay and have them refund you?

It was a copy of Destiny 2 for a friend. Back then I couldn't 100% guarantee that my friend didn't screw up the redemption process. Found that the seller had listed multiple Destiny 2 codes, so I asked politely to verify that he hadn't already given us one that was sold. Maybe it was just an honest mix up... but I got an abrupt "no" from the seller. So granted I couldn't vet what my buddy did, I couldn't 100% in good faith just take back my $20 from the seller. In retrospect, having redeemed other games on GFE, I know how brain dead easy the process is so there's nothing much my buddy could have done wrong, much less done to prompt that the key was already used. Live and learn.
 
Sell on [H]. Accept only people with Heat. Should be good to go.

Has the HEAT page actually been updated in the last 10 years? Last time I tried to use it, it was so screwed up that it wouldn't even work and the person who made it was not replying to emails or anything. I though HEAT was effectively dead.
 
Has the HEAT page actually been updated in the last 10 years? Last time I tried to use it, it was so screwed up that it wouldn't even work and the person who made it was not replying to emails or anything. I though HEAT was effectively dead.
Heatware is alive and well in this community. I believe it is also in use in ArsTechnica, and some Reddit forums.
 
Has the HEAT page actually been updated in the last 10 years? Last time I tried to use it, it was so screwed up that it wouldn't even work and the person who made it was not replying to emails or anything. I though HEAT was effectively dead.

Seems to be working fine, as far as I can see. Completed two sales here within the past two weeks or so, and I left and received feedback for each transaction -- I didn't experience any problems with the process. I also sent them a donation of $3 and got an email from them a couple days later (didn't look like an automated one) thanking me for the donation.
 
Has the HEAT page actually been updated in the last 10 years? Last time I tried to use it, it was so screwed up that it wouldn't even work and the person who made it was not replying to emails or anything. I though HEAT was effectively dead.

Heck yea it has. If you the heatware page few years ago it was totally different. They have refreshed the GUI and done numerous improvements and added marketplace as well. So no not dead at all.
 
Heat did go thru a bad period a while back, but they are up & running just fine now. I just used it last week to look up some previous transactions & feedback. They also have a buy/sell/trade page that is extremely simple & effective too. I have sold/bought many things from there that I would never have attempted on fleebay :)
 
Last summer I purchased a key for 1 year access to licensed software that was a few hundred dollars. To my surprise Paypal called me the next day to verify that I authorized the purchase and that I received the digital item. Apparently they do this for some sales of more expensive digital goods.
 
The only way to do it is to sell a physical item that also happens to contain the key (ie. a printed sheet of paper with the key on it). Make it very clear in the listing that the auction is for the sheet of paper and not the key itself.
 
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