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Tried using Zelle for a $500 sofa sale on Facebook Marketplace and got burned
I sold a sofa to someone on Facebook Marketplace last weekend for $500 and they insisted on paying with Zelle. It seemed fine at first, the money showed up in my account within minutes. But a day later my bank flagged the transaction and froze my account. Turns out the buyer used a stolen bank account and Zelle has basically zero buyer protection for sellers. I learned the hard way that peer-to-peer payments are not safe for big transactions with strangers. Has anyone else had issues with Zelle or Venmo for used goods sales?
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the_elizabeth16d ago
Right? That's basically the "learn to code" moment for selling stuff online. Zelle is awesome for splitting dinner with friends but for a 500 dollar sofa you might as well just accept a check drawn on a bank made of cheese. At least then you'd have a funny story about being outsmarted by processed dairy. Seriously though, using Zelle with a stranger is like handing your keys to a stranger and hoping they bring the car back. Hope your bank unfreezes your account before you miss a mortgage payment or something.
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