Generally no, unless you can have equipment inspected and you understand that PayPal offers no buyer protection on Gumtree.

You need to be careful when buying anything like expensive equipment on Gumtree, a local classifieds selling platform here in Australia. Did you know sellers can circumvent the buyer protection that normally exists when you use PayPal? 

Suso aka Jackypl aka Jackpyl aka Jacky…

I wanted to purchase something recently and was dealing with the seller, a guy called Suso. He said he accepted PayPal. The item I was looking at cost around $4.5K AUD and when you buy something expensive sight unseen, you need all the protection you can get.

Interestingly, after what I’m about to describe happened, Suso then quickly changed his name to jackypl, jackpyl and later (currently as of 2024) to Jacky. Be very wary of sellers who constantly change their name, it’s a way of getting around bad feedback and poor reputation. There’s a reason I’ve used the same name on eBay and Gumtree for 20 years.

So, I asked ‘Suso’ aka Jacky if I could pay with PayPal. He took a long time to reply (warning #1) and then said I could, but that it would cost more (warning #2), despite the listing claiming that PaPayPal was accepted, at the asking price. Anyway, I reluctantly agreed and asked for the invoice to be sent. I was about to pay the PayPal invoice when I read the fine print:

NOTE: Buyer protection is not available on this transaction.

PayPal payment window

Buyer Protection

That’s right, you pay to use PayPal only to discover that the only reason for using it isn’t available on the expensive transaction you are about to complete! What’s the point did using PayPal if there’s no buyer protection? None.

I followed up with Gumtree who told me they didn’t offer buyer protection, and PayPal, who told me they did AND they didn’t (warning #3). One PayPal agent told me they did, as long as the seller invoices you a proper goods and services invoice rather than using the family and friends option. The other told me they didn’t offer buyer protection on any Gumtree transactions.

The seller stopped responding to me when I asked about this (warning #4). To me, this behaviour indicates he had something to hide and I decided the seller and his equipment were too dodgy. It seems he deliberately used the family and friends payment option that negated buyer protection. 

I bailed on this transaction and imported other equipment myself, directly, which is my preferred methodology anyway. My advice is to avoid PayPal on Gumtree, and probably to avoid Suso / jackpyl / jackypl / Jacky. I will not use Gumtree for any serious equipment purchases in the future.