Paypal Paypal allows a Chinese company to sell fraudulent items and demand buyer pays outrageous return postage.

DO NOT assume using Paypal will protect you as a buyer. They allow fraud to be committed by foreign sellers using their service.

On October 8, 2019, I responded to an ad that appeared on one of the language apps I use. The video showed a remote control plane that would take off and land on water or land and judging from the video, had a wingspan of about 24 inches. The price shown was $39.99.

I had some reservations but they accepted Paypal payments so I figured if there was a problem, Paypal would take care of it. I was sadly mistaken. I have screen shots of the video used to advertise this item (it has since been taken down) and pictures of what I actually received. It is a plastic toy plane that you might find at a dollar store or other such seller of cheap junk.

It rolls on the floor and has a small remote that makes it turn left and right. It has a wingspan (sorry for such a poor use of the term) of about 8 inches and wouldn't fly if you dropped it out of a real plane.

I was furious at such a blatant case of internet fraud and contacted the seller via email. No reply (go figure). I then filed a complaint with Paypal. They replied that they would happily refund my $39.99 as soon as I shipped the item back to the seller (in CHINA) and gave them a tracking number.

I did some research and found out that the cheapest way to do this is through the United States Postal Service for a cost of almost $28.00. I also found out that there is no guarantee anything sent to China will actually arrive at its destination. 

I contacted Paypal and they continued to hide behind the "terms of sale" crap that allowed this type of fraud to be perpetrated in the first place. This company knows no one is going to pay $30 to return a $40 purchase and Paypal allows them to keep doing business this way. 

Paypal does have a program that allows buyers to be reimbursed up to $30 for return postage (news to me) but you have to sign up for it prior to making a purchase. As far as I can tell, this is not something widely advertised by Paypal. It should be offered anytime you make a purchase; better yet, should be part of their SOP.

Just an additional FYI, this item was NOT sent to me directly from China. The return address was from Los Angeles, CA. Unfortunately I did not save the envelope it arrived in (yes, they sent it in an envelope, my first sign that things were not as they should be).

So buyer beware, PAYPAL is not a safe way to do business, especially with CHINESE COMPANIES. This is my very last transaction with them and I will be closing my account. I have a small business and as of today, we will not longer be accepting payments through PAYPAL. I hope this saves you some aggrevation.