Here's the situation:

I received a World of Warcraft Burning Crusade beta key in the first batches of emails sent out. For those that don't know what this is, it's basically a key code that someone can enter into their WoW account and it gives them beta access to the new expansion coming out in January. I received the code a day after I quit the game and decided to sell it on Ebay since I had no use for it, and I thought people might be willing to pay a good price.

-Auction ends at $405.
-Guy pays me the money through paypal that night.
-I forward the email with the key code to the auction winner.
-He replies to my email saying "Thanks!!" and leaves me positive feedback on ebay.
-I reply to his email saying "enjoy the game" and leave him positive feedback as well.
-A week later, I receive an email from Ebay saying that the buyer's account was under investigation and the person who won the auction may not be the owner of that ebay account. They also say if I haven't sent the item yet, not to do so.
-More than a month later, I receive an email from PayPal saying they put the $405 on hold because they are investigating fraud with the buyer's account and to please provide a list of details concerning the transaction.
-I immediately reply to PayPal with all of the information they request.
-2 days later, I receive email from Paypal saying they have reversed the funds leaving my account at approx. -$405 and have given the money back to the buyer.
-I call Paypal to ask what the heck is going on and they say since the item I sold was electronic and not tangible, I am not eligible for seller protection and I'm out of luck.
-I send email to PayPal asking them to consider revising their decision. I also forward every single email concerning the transaction including the proof that the item was sent and received through email.
-I get a response from Paypal saying I'm not covered under seller protection because the item is electronic.

First of all, I think the buyer is scamming. I find it very hard to believe someone stole this guy's ebay account, paypal account, and email account. Also, a thief would not reply to me saying "thanks!" and leave me good feedback on ebay.

So, let me give the buyer the benefit of the doubt and let's say that someone truly stole the guy's accounts and bought this auction with it, how is this my problem?

Account holder currently has his $405.
"Account Thief" has his key-code sent through email.
Seller (me) is out the $405 (I already spent btw, this auction was over 2 months ago!), out the item I sent, and out the ebay fee they charge for listing the item, and final selling price (about $40).

Does this seem completely unfair to anyone else? I did nothing wrong and am not involved with the fraud case in any way. I'm sorry that this guy got his accounts stolen but why am I the one getting completely screwed here?

Does anyone have any advice? Paypal is just going to keep reiterating their seller protection policy and will not actually look at the situation objectively and realize this is a huge load of crap.

I'm very frustrated right now

One last thing, does anyone know what happens when a Paypal account has a negative balance? Am I going to get paypal thugs knocking at my door if I don't add funds to compensate for the -$405?

Thanks for reading this long post.

 

Go back and make sure all of those emails were actually from PAYPAL, EBAY etc.....

anymore I would guess that over half of the emails I get from either place is actually a phishing scam. Look at the URL when you hit the link to log in...... most of the time mine takes me somewhere not even close to the right place..... i just laugh and delete the emails, etc.....

 

I wish I could say this was a scam of those sorts, but there are no links to click, no passwords to enter. They reversed the funds without me doing a thing, and remember I called Paypal directly and talked to them. They were able to bring up the entire transaction to talk to me about it.

 

that sucks!

 

I hate to say it but you're out of luck. I hate Paypal with a passion. I got screwed over by them 2 years ago.

I would simply remove your bank account number and credit card account number that Paypal has and never use that account again. The worst that can happen is they'll send a collection agency after you, and at that point, I'd just pay it.

Look at it on the bright side, that key probably didn't even cost you anything, so it's not like you actually lost something that you spent $405 on.

 

Well, this is half true. The reason I say half is because
1. I already spent about $400 on items I would have not otherwise bought if it weren't for the winnings. I cannot return these items.
2. Ebay took approx. $40 of my money.
3. That item, even though I didn't pay for it, was worth hundreds at the time. If someone legit had won the auction, I'd have that money. So in a sense, I am out several hundred dollars because I can't resell.

Say the situation was that someone gave me a stereo as a gift worth several hundred dollars but I didn't want it. I sell it on ebay, send the stereo, buyer claims fraud, etc. I see no difference.

 

You're screwed. Chalk it up as a learning experience. Paypal blows. They offer no protection whatsoever.

 

That is what pisses me off so much: they apparently offer very nice buyer protection - even when it's the buyer's fault.

If someone stole my check book and went and bought a car with it, do you think when the check book was found stolen the bank would take all the money back from the car dealer and tell them it sucks they just gave a car away?

Makes me want to go bid on every electronic item on ebay then claim someone stole my ebay account. Apparently they would be more than happy to give my money back and I still have all the cool stuff I bought!

You're absolutely right though, Paypal does blow, and I will never use their service again. I just find this whole situation unbelievable. I didn't read the entire sell protection text because I never thought something this senseless could happen.

 

I hate sneeky geeks! Damn that buyer!

 

As crazy as it sounds, I was involved in a VERY similar situation almost 2 years ago. Using my eBay & Paypal account, someone bought a 3-month subscription to WoW and some WoW gold/currency.