I am a new to using paypal. I bought an item on ebay yesterday a buy it now dvd. The minute I paid for the item with paypal, the seller contacted me by instant message and tried to sell me other stuff. Today i received an email stating the dvd is damaged and he can't send it to me. i paid via echeck on paypal. the seller has requested my PayPal account user ID to give me a refund. Is this an indication of suspicious activity? I have contacted paypal via email but they havent contacted me. Wouldn't the seller have the information needed to give me a refund already in his paypal account from my transaction to him.
Also I'm not 100% sure I'm dealing with the seller as this individual has contacted me outside of the ebay messaging system but knows exactly what I bought and how I paid for it on paypal.
The paypal echeck hasnt cleared my account. Can I have my bank not accept it?

Any advice would be deeply appreciated as this is my first transaction on ebay and I get this odd issue.

Why not send the seller an email via the address in his ebay account, and then ask this person on the instant message program to verify what you sent via email? Or just wait for a response directly from the email address?

Give him your paypal id and see if he pays you. That's a normal way of receiving a refund.

ok thanks. I was just wondering cause this seller is a little different. They claimed their cat chewed up the dvd. And I've never been instant mailed by someone I bought something from.

You do not need to send him your ID.

He simply needs to go to HIS Paypal account, click on "details" for your payment that is showing in his account, move down to the bottom of the page, and hit the "refund" button. That's it - the refund is sent back to wherever it came from (you).

I agree you don't have to send them any ID. I have done several refunds through my Paypal account without needing any additional information from the buyer. It shouldn't be a problem, or require anything from you. They screwed up the transaction and should promptly issue the refund.

does he have to wait for the echeck to go through/ or can he issue the refund before it clears. He says he was to wait for the echeck to clear? thanks for the help

Yes, the payment has to clear before it can be refunded. Unless there is a way for you to cancel the payment, or the seller does not 'pick it up' for a certain number of days...

Not sure how many days that is, but I had a Paypal payment come back to me once because the seller hadn't 'taken' it after awhile.

I have refunded plenty of echecks before they clear (for people that double pay). In essence, the refund cancels the transfer.

That's why I wrote what I did. Rather than to wait for the echeck to clear the guy can refund to you immediately but may need your id if he does not already have it. There is no security issue if one only gives out that information.