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Thread: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

  1. #1
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    Default Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    Hello. I want to buy an instrument off somebody. Generally I use paypal but the seller only has Venmo and Zelle.

    I've used Venmo one time and I found it very confusing. (I am older) I also believe that they discourage the use of their service for private purchases of goods and services.

    Zelle seems a bit clearer to me, but my bank has a $1,000 per day limit on monetary transfers using Zelle.

    Anybody have a preference? Any suggestions?

    As Zelle is a bank to bank service, wouldn't doing a wire transfer through the bank to the seller's bank work in pretty much the same way?

    I need some help with this. Thanks in advance for your advice.

  2. #2
    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    I recently bought a Weber from the MC classifieds and started a similar thread to his one. I suggest you look for it. I ended up using PayPal and paying the fee for the protection it gave me. Your seller can set up a PayPal account easily enough.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    I feel like neither of those options provides you any real protection is the seller is trying to rip you off. So unless they are reputable or you have a relationship with them buyer beware. As Sherry says Paypal charges a fee but that protects you from fraud or other things that can go wrong.

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  5. #4
    Registered User Jcdraayer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    While Zelle can be offered by both banks (send and receiver side) it doesn’t offer the same type of protections that a wire or ACH does. Reason is that Zelle transactions don’t pass through a Federal clearing house or even really an internal clearing house within your bank. Zelle specifically wipes it’s hands of any sort of fraud protection and once the money is gone, it’s really gone - no recourse is possible unless your bank for some reason covers the loss for you (extremely unlikely). Zelle is the riskiest possible option for buying something online.

    Venmo carries some risk protection possibilities, but only if you have it hooked up to your debit/credit card and your card provider is willing to cover the lose as fraud. Again, not a very safe option and Venmo itself will not provide you any protections.

    The seller saying “they only have xyz” is just out of pure laziness or a tactic to scam you. Anyone can sign up for PayPal and it’s the only service that provides protections for both parties.

    I run digital banking and payments for a large regional financial institution

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  7. #5
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    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    Thanks so much!




    Quote Originally Posted by Jcdraayer View Post
    While Zelle can be offered by both banks (send and receiver side) it doesn’t offer the same type of protections that a wire or ACH does. Reason is that Zelle transactions don’t pass through a Federal clearing house or even really an internal clearing house within your bank. Zelle specifically wipes it’s hands of any sort of fraud protection and once the money is gone, it’s really gone - no recourse is possible unless your bank for some reason covers the loss for you (extremely unlikely). Zelle is the riskiest possible option for buying something online.

    Venmo carries some risk protection possibilities, but only if you have it hooked up to your debit/credit card and your card provider is willing to cover the lose as fraud. Again, not a very safe option and Venmo itself will not provide you any protections.

    The seller saying “they only have xyz” is just out of pure laziness or a tactic to scam you. Anyone can sign up for PayPal and it’s the only service that provides protections for both parties.

    I run digital banking and payments for a large regional financial institution

  8. #6
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    I've used Venmo in the past for small purchases (and been paid via Venmo for low dollar amounts when selling furniture drum hardware etc), and only when face to face with the purchaser/seller - lots of folks were using it when the pandemic first started. Wouldn't be comfortable using it for a large purchase and definitely wouldn't be comfortable using it if the seller was in another town/state - as has been pointed out above by others, I don't think it offers a lot of protection in the event of fraud.
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  10. #7
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    Quote Originally Posted by timacn View Post
    Hello. I want to buy an instrument off somebody. Generally I use paypal but the seller only has Venmo and Zelle.
    Find another seller and move on. Anyone that won't meet your terms of protecting your purchase is not worth the risk of doing business with.

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  12. #8

    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    I would say "never" along with the others. There is simply no recourse once you send the money if the receiver doesn't follow through on their end.

    Now, if this is a face-to-face, local sale, and you're simply using these payment methods in lieu of cash, i.e., it's just like we used to do before the internet, with all the typical "buyer beware" and "as-is/where-is" signs along the way, then I wouldn't probably say no. I've accepted Venmo and used Zelle to sell and buy instruments that had been handled and inspected personally. But, as noted, once the money's out of your account, it's gone, same as handing over a stack of legal tender.
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  14. #9

    Default Re: Help: Paypal or venmo or selle?

    Do what you think best but I would never use anything but regular, not friends and family, Paypal. I recently got completely screwed on a guitar purchase using friend and family. The seller said the guitar was in excellent condition but upon reciept it was in at best good condition. There were alot of dings, dents , and finish wear. The seller would not provide a return shipping label nor accept a return. 4 months later it is still not resolved but the seller has finally sent a return label and accepted a luthiers eval of the poor condition that the instrument was in upon receipt. The refund confirmation is supposedly forthcoming. As a result of this experience i will never use anything but a direct cc payment or full Paypal.

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