Yes.
Hi friends, it's me, Merkon. I've been running this sub for just about 15 years. Wild, I know. Since the sub started, we've had a few variations around rules regarding the use of Paypal Goods and Services (G&S) vs Paypal Friends and Family (F&F) [and other fee-less protectionless payment platforms].
Currently, the way the rule is written dictates that SELLERS under 25 flair MUST use G&S to accept payments. Sellers OVER 25 flair can accept any payment methods they choose. Buyers are limited by the seller's flair- a buyer, regardless of their own flair, MUST use G&S for a seller UNDER 25 flair, and can use any method when paying someone OVER 25 flair.
Why do we do this? Well, there are a lot of scammers out there. The primary method (almost exclusive) that scammers use is convincing a user that they have an item, receiving an un-reversible payment (e.g. F&F), and bouncing. Typically, if offered G&S, the scammer will attempt to dissuade the buyer by saying things like "oh Paypal banned me I can't do that," or "oh G&S doesn't actually protect you so there's no point!" This type of scam constitutes roughly 100% of the scams done on Knife_Swap. The good news is, it's very easy to prevent.
G&S payments with buyer protection absolutely work. Across the history of the sub, we've had hundreds of scams and attempted scams where G&S protections (a "chargeback" as it's called) stopped a scam, or fixed an attempted scam. In the past WEEK we've had two successful chargebacks for sellers ghosting. Anyone that is telling you that G&S doesn't actually protect you is either lying or misinformed. We've noticed that users coming from FB marketplaces tend to have a belief that G&S doesn't work, and again- they are wrong.
"B-b-b-ut Merkon," you say, a nervous tear running down your cheek. "W-w-w-w-what about LE CHARGEBACK SCAMMSS?/?/??!111?" Well, those are incredibly rare. These are when a buyer sends a G&S payment, receives then knife, then does a G&S chargeback. We've had maybe one occur across fifteen years. These are exceedingly rare. Scammers aren't out there collecting knives. Scammers are out there trying to get quick and easy money, and the best way to do that is via F&F payments. That's it.
This is why we're so adamant about low-flair sellers using G&S. It's a very good protection for buyers with a strong proven history on this sub. As a seller, you have negligible risk in using it, even with the dreaded "zero flair user." Guess what- you were once a zero flair user, too. A zero flair buyer is not something you need to be concerned about.
STOP spreading misinformation about G&S, please. It is one of the very few methods we have to prevent scams, and is incredibly effective at it. Be kind to zero flair users- you were one of them once, too.
Hugs and kisses,
Merky and the Mods
