Sneaky Paypal purchaser?
 

So Im selling an engine block and a crank seperately on eBay and the guy contacts me and asks for a package price. We agree on a price and I tell him PayPal me the money and I'll end auction early and send it Tuesday to Texas. The whole time he seems kind of like he is either slow or young or stupid. We agree on $850 shipped plus 3% PayPal fees. He said the $850 is Fine but the $250 PayPal fee seems Alittle high. I tell him it's $25.50 PayPal fee and he just texts LOL, sorry long day. Anyway he sends the $875 over night but he sends it as 4 seperate payments of $221. I'm new to PayPal. Is he trying to scam me or is he just an idiot.
Thanks

Oh yea and he gave me a shipping address so I googled it and it show his parents name. (Same name as him but senior) is this kid just an idiot with money to spend. Is there anyway I can get ripped off of this block?

I never heard of doing that, you might want to contact paypal and ask.

How did he send the payment? as a service or good? or as a gift? I assume not the latter since he sent enough to cover fees. The concern I would have is the multiple transactions. Paypal may require tracking info for each transaction. He could then "claim" he never got 3 items. When paypal asks you for tracking, you'd only have the one and he would claim that was all he got. So that would be my primary concern.

Check with paypal policies and see if there are minimum amounts for them to offer protection. A transaction under 250 may not have the same protection for a transaction for 875, for you and the buyer. He may have done separate payments if his funding source limits him to a certain amount. I doubt it but who knows. You can refund him the 4 payments and tell him you need it in one for the protection of both of you.

If you are still unsure, just refund the money, and say something came up with family or work if you want. After all, You are not bound by any contract to complete the deal.

All of what Paul said. I believe anything over $250 requires tracking and a signature requirement if you want to abide by the PayPal seller protection policy. The multiple payment makes no sense unless he is tagging up multiple payment sources.

Also keep in mind you must ship the item. A pickup with a receipt/signature does not adhere to the PayPal seller protection guidelines.

If he paid as a gift/friends and family, well you could potentially scam him lol.

For any goods transaction I do via PayPal, I create an invoice and have them pay. The invoice will detail everything including condition, shipping terms, ability of refund etc.

He paid as goods. He just said he put it in 4 seperate credit cards. And I'm shipping it through fastenal so he is going to pick it up there.

FWIW, when my PayPal was compromised, they sent somebody almost $2,500... with consistent $30 payments. I'd be a bit leary.

something is definitely fishy. as stated earlier i bet its so he could claim he didnt receive 3 items. he seems to have an excuse for it...4 different credit cards. i would refund all of his money and ask for it all in one lump sum if he cannot do that i would walk away from the deal.

also if you were to accept the 4 payments of 220 or whatever i would begin to document every communication you have with him so if it does come back to you there is some paper proof of what he was saying to you. its fishy. i dont trust strangers lol...there is no shortage of crappy people out there.

Dont you have to ship to the address they put on paypal? Why not ship 4 things then, stick some bolts in one, crank in another, misc. stuff, then ship block.

I cancelled the eBay listing when we agreed on a package deal and he just sent me money not associated with the eBay listing and texted me his address. I am going to send the block and crank to the nearest fastenal. It seems like there is no way I can get beat, right? I already have the money in my account and didn't even send the parts yet.

Fastenal FTW!

The guy just called me to ask a bunch of questions about the block and he seemed normal. Made me feel better.

PayPal usually sides with the buyer and they very easily can reverse charges. Hope it works out for you.

After talking to the guy, im pretty sure he is having this motor built for a donk grand national. the guy sounded like trick daddy.

Then take it to the house on him

Clever

All day, every day.