I thought I'd forward this along since it explains PayPal's policies and
is timely. It doesn't address Jim's dilemma, but it's worth a read. It
has some HTML so beware.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 20 Aug 2000 08:01:27 -0000
From: PayPal Business Account Verification <busacctverification_at_x.com>
To: vcf_at_vintage.org
Subject: PayPal's New Fraud Protection Policy
Dear Business Account User,
Businesses who use X.com's PayPal service have asked us to clarify
our new fraud protections. These safeguards were introduced last
week to increase the confidence of both buyers and sellers in our
payments network. We'd like to take a moment to describe these
protections.
Buyer Protection Guarantee
For online commerce to thrive, buyers must feel safe and secure
purchasing from sellers they don't know. X.com's new Buyer
Protection Guarantee protects buyers who pay for goods that were
never shipped. In such cases, sellers are required by law to refund
the purchase. However, if the seller turns out to be fraudulent,
there is often no remedy. Recent cases on eBay have demonstrated
this unfortunate problem.
X.com's new Buyer Protection Guarantee is simple: if a buyer pays a
seller who has been Verified by X.com, then we will guarantee the
buyer's money back in case the seller turns out to be fraudulent.
This Guarantee is like free insurance for buyers, and will make it
much more attractive for buyers to pay Verified sellers with PayPal.
The verification status of any seller appears on the confirmation
page before the buyer completes payment. So if you have not yet
verified your account, please read how below. "Verified by X.com"
is an online seal of approval that will help your business.
Seller Protection Guarantee
X.com also wants to protect our sellers against fraud. As you know,
we have never imposed charge backs due to fraud on sellers. This is
our Seller Protection Guarantee. We plan to continue this policy.
However, in order for us to absorb this major source of risk and
expense, we need our sellers to play by a few simple rules. Here
they are:
* First, starting on August 23, 2000, sellers must be Verified in
order to qualify for the Seller Protection Guarantee. There is
no other way for us to protect ourselves, buyers, and other
PayPal users if we cannot verify the identity of sellers. This
is fundamental to the integrity of our payments system. Please
see below for details on how to verify your account and why we
consider this process necessary.
* Second, please retain reasonable proof-of-shipping. Preferably,
this proof would come from a shipping service that includes date
of shipment, shipping address, and a description of the
merchandise whenever possible.
* Third, please accept payment from only one PayPal account per
purchase - do not accept multiple payments for a single item.
(Payments to Business and Premier Accounts do not count against
a buyer's $2,000 credit card limit, so you should always be able
to sell high-dollar goods while accepting payment from one
account.)
* Fourth, please do not ship internationally, until X.com releases
international payments (coming soon) and a list of approved
countries.
In addition, we are working on Seller Protection Tools that will
tell sellers whether buyers are Verified and whether the buyers'
requested shipping address matches their credit card billing
address. Once these tools are launched (in about a month), we will
be adding a fifth rule:
* Only ship Unverified buyers' purchases to their credit card
billing address. If the buyer is Verified, you may ship to any
address. We will notify you before this rule goes into effect.
As long as you abide by these rules, X.com guarantees that you will
always be protected against charge backs due to fraud.
How to Become "Verified"
To verify your PayPal account, simply register and confirm a bank
account. Just log in to www.X.com, and look for the "Add Bank
Account" link in the How to Activate Your Account box. You will be
able to confirm your bank account by completing a simple online
process. The instructions are on the website. Why do we ask users
to confirm ownership of a bank account? Because banks and other
financial institutions are required by law to screen account
holders. By proving ownership of a bank account, you demonstrate
that you have passed this screening process and have verified your
identity. In turn, this lowers our company's financial risk and
allows us to guarantee you.
* Please be sure to encourage all of the users you refer to PayPal
to become Verified, too. As of August 23, 2000, new users will
generate $5 referral bonuses for the person who referred them
only when they become Verified.
Keeping Your Money Safe
Whenever your bank account is involved, you may be concerned about
safety and security. So are we. Please rest assured that X.com
will never, ever transfer money from your bank account without your
permission. Regardless of any charge back decision, X.com will
never transfer money out of your bank account without your explicit
consent. In addition, X.com protects every account with up to
$100,000 of free insurance against unauthorized transactions. And
since our encryption is the safest on the Web, your financial
information is completely secure. Your bank account will always
remain 100% protected with X.com.
* * * * * * * * * *
X.com is committed to making online payments safe for both buyers
and sellers, and we think that our new fraud protections help to
accomplish this goal. This should encourage the growth of both the
X.com payments network and your online business. Thank you for
using X.com's PayPal service, the fastest and safest way to send and
receive money online.
Sincerely,
The X.com Team
www.x.com
--
This email is an account status notification regarding your account
with X.com's PayPal service. As a financial services company, it is
occasionally necessary for X.com to email our users regarding their
account status or changes in our policies. However, promotional
materials from X.com will only be sent to you if you have checked
the "Promotional Notifications" box on the "Preferences" page in
your online user profile.
Sellam International Man of Intrigue and Danger
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking for a six in a pile of nines...
VCF 4.0 is September 30-October 1
San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, California
See http://www.vintage.org for details!
Received on Sun Aug 20 2000 - 09:41:11 BST