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CORRECTED Did I Catch a Lying Theif? Overcame PayPal Dispute! Victory!

by Diane S
8 replies
Posts 3,8 and 9 correct the original post. PayPal does not provide buyer protection for digital products.

Post #3
Originally Posted by Tim_Carter View Post

All you have to do is expedite the dispute to a claim and say " Digital Download". Then you win. Simple as that. You don't need to go digging for anything.
Paypal buyer protection doesn't cover intangible goods.

Post #8
Originally Posted by Tim_Carter View Post

No. This is a buyer protection issue.
Trust me. I have never lost one. Check their site for details.

See ineligable items under purchase protection.
https://cms.paypal.com/cgi-bin/marke...e%20Protection.
Post #9
Originally Posted by Diane S View Post

Hi Tim - thanks for the link. I see this in section 13 about buyer (Purchase Protection)
  • 13.3 Ineligible Items. PayPal Purchase Protection only applies to PayPal payments for certain tangible, physical goods. Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection:
    1. Intangible items, including Digital Goods
Pretty clear now. Thanks for pointing that out. I won't lose another one now, either!
Here is the original post. Sorry to mislead. And Tim, thanks again for taking the time to correct this.

We all dread returns of our digital products, but it is something we must live with. All in all, I have been quite lucky in the months since I launched my first eBook. Only two returns in a little over a year.

The first return was very easy. The customer contacted me through my website contact page and asked for a refund. His reason? He no longer owned the software, so he no longer needed my guide to the software. Sure, he could have been lying, I will never know. I chose to believe otherwise and refunded his purchase. Yes, he still has my product, and for all I know has even shared it with others. I cannot let things like 'what might be' or 'what could be' keep me from offering the product, improving the product, and promoting the website that sells it.

The second return was my first experience with a PayPal dispute. By the time the customer asked for the refund, all those emails were buried deep in archives and the person was using two different names and two different emails, and to get all the documentation was a total pain in the arse. Evidently I missed a few emails because PayPal sided with the customer.

My third return almost happened a few days ago. Over the weekend I got that horrible email from PayPal, telling me I had a dispute. This time I responded on the same day, but took more care in looking for emails and details. Luckily for me the person used only one name and one email so it was easier, plus it was only about a week from the time of purchase, so everything was sorta fresh. I even recognized the name from my customer list. I sent in all the documentation, plus this note: Every email and confirmation is normal, as appears for all my sales of this downloadable ebook through e-junkie. There is no tracking information, because there is no physical product, but I did mark the item as shipped, with transportation as "other.'

I won this time. Even though disputes two and three had the same customer reason - purchase was not authorized by buyer - I won. I attribute my success to these differences:

1. I told PayPal I marked the item as shipped - have you been doing that on your main PayPal account page? (It is a gray button. Choose transportation 'other' and "I do not have tracking information.' It generates an email to the buyer. I had not started doing that when the first dispute came in. I do it now every time.)

2. I told PayPal the product was downloadable through e-junkie and was not a physical product.

3. I told PayPal that all the emails about the order were the usual emails that accompany every successful order - and I sent in the emails, all of them.

Did I just get lucky this week? Or is Marking the Item as Shipped and sending in ALL the emails, with explanations of the product and how it was delivered the reason for my success in thwarting some of these disputes?

Just wanted to share my success, and if you use PayPal for payment for a digital product, be sure to mark each sale as shipped and give more detail than you think you should have to should you get stuck in a dispute...
#caught #dispute #lying #overcame #paypal #theif #victory
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    As far as I know PayPal does not side with the purchaser on digital goods. They might have changed their policy when they changed the refund policy and started charging about $0.30 cents in processing fees to issue a refund.

    Like PayPal doesn't make enough money as it is but they noticed a lot of refunds and lost fees so they decided to make up for that by charging a nominal $0.30 cents per refund. That one small change is probably making them millions more a year, if not every month.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim_Carter
    All you have to do is expedite the dispute to a claim and say " Digital Download". Then you win. Simple as that. You don't need to go digging for anything.

    Paypal buyer protection doesn't cover intangible goods.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    When people claim unauthorized transaction, how do you know they are lying?

    I have had three of them in the last month. When I started getting them, I was looking at buyer address and download IP addresses.

    In case one, the download IP was a couple miles from the buyer address.

    In the second case, the buyer address was in Dallas TX and the download IP was in Chicago Illinois.

    In the third case, the buyer address was in Italy, and the download IP was in Russia.

    How do we know which one is lying and which one is honestly a stolen credit card?
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author Diane S
      Originally Posted by Mike Hill View Post

      As far as I know PayPal does not side with the purchaser on digital goods.
      From what I see posted in many anti-PayPal threads, they do side with the purchaser, Mike, or I would not have had anything to write good news about. My victory is the exception.

      Originally Posted by Tim_Carter View Post

      All you have to do is expedite the dispute to a claim and say " Digital Download". Then you win. Simple as that. You don't need to go digging for anything.
      Paypal buyer protection doesn't cover intangible goods.
      I thought I read PayPal Seller protection doesn't cover intangible goods. That is why some folks, with more expensive digital products, outsource the CD version and have it shipped by a carrier to get that coveted tracking number.

      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      When people claim unauthorized transaction, how do you know they are lying?

      I have had three of them in the last month. When I started getting them, I was looking at buyer address and download IP addresses.

      In case one, the download IP was a couple miles from the buyer address.

      In the second case, the buyer address was in Dallas TX and the download IP was in Chicago Illinois.

      In the third case, the buyer address was in Italy, and the download IP was in Russia.

      How do we know which one is lying and which one is honestly a stolen credit card?
      True - good point. Even though the locations of purchase and download were the same, I forgot to think about the possible thief being in the same town. We internet marketers are so used to a hacking scenario - could have been a purse snatch or stolen wallet scenario.
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    • Profile picture of the author OnlineMarketingSys
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      When people claim unauthorized transaction, how do you know they are lying?

      I have had three of them in the last month. When I started getting them, I was looking at buyer address and download IP addresses.

      In case one, the download IP was a couple miles from the buyer address.

      In the second case, the buyer address was in Dallas TX and the download IP was in Chicago Illinois.

      In the third case, the buyer address was in Italy, and the download IP was in Russia.

      How do we know which one is lying and which one is honestly a stolen credit card?
      The only thing you can do is put as much information you can provide to paypal in your dispute. Ultimately it's up to the merchant Paypal in this case, to decide if the transaction is legitimate or fraud.

      The biggest issue I have, is a lot of times its clear that Paypal has not done their due diligence to screen against fraud. If the persons account is compromised, there is no way that I have of knowing that. Unfortunately you are at the mercy of paypal.

      Most cases, I mention all the ip and sales details I have. What you put down is up to you..
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