Sadly, I was taken

The only F & F payment I ever made was to Jurgen Hempel for one of his handles. I was a little skeptical, but it all worked out.

I don’t have an issue doing F&F with active known members, no way would I do it with an unknown forum member. Even trades, I turn down trades with unknown members and will offer it for sale to them. Sad people troll the forums to rip someone off like this

I also encourage folks to look at trade feedback as a guide.  That is a valuable bit of info.

yep, that's why we have it.

I'd encourage everyone to use the trade feedback when a transaction is completed.

Unfortunately, I never fill in the user feedback section (mainly because I'm lazy).
I have zero problems paying F&F with someone I've traded before (prior history) or someone I know is an upstanding member (others prior history).
Having said that, I HAVE been scammed, but not through paypal. I'm a member of a private facebook group of 57 members (member by invitation only) and a fellow member wanted to buy my WCS CG razor I was thinking of selling. I offered to send it to him first as a "try before you buy" and I think at the beginning that he had every intention of paying for it. He must have had something bad happen because he unfriended everyone in the private group and disappeared. Some of the members of the group have met him in person and one member considered him a good friend. This "theft" and his sudden departure from the group was a shock for everyone. I won't post his name here unless the admin thinks it may help others.
I'm not condoning his actions (or the thief the OP posted about), but some good people turn bad through a change in circumstances.

Gentlemen, for those of you who say you don't have problems with F&F for a buy/sell transaction under certain conditions, please remember that it is now officially against the B/S/T rules of Damn Fine Shave, as well as PayPal. If you choose to continue a buy/sell through e-mails or PMs so you can use F&F then you are completely on your own. andrewjs18 has gone above and beyond by asking friends he knows if anything can be done and also stating that he will do his best to help should those scammed go to the authorities in their areas. However, I believe this will be the end of such help if you continue to circumvent the rules, both PayPal's and DFS's. Truly, we can do just so much and we have warned against using F&F numerous times. It's now up to each member to do his due diligence. We can put up all the warnings in the world stating, "Danger: Thin Ice" but if you insist upon walking out on that ice there really is no more we can do to help.

Having been the burn victim I feel it is incumbent to speak in agreement with Andrew's and Freddy's posts. F&F stands for Friends and Family. If the other party is neither, then don't do the transaction using Friends and Family. If you do, and get burned, then look in the mirror and before you commence shaving say, "good morning idiot." This has been part of my self imposed penitence.

I'm sorry to hear about this never2close and the others who have had issues with this. PayPal can be very supportive if you pay through 'Goods and Services', and there are safeguards built in both for the buyer and seller. It never made sense to me why someone would request FF. I had one person request payment through FF, and to be cautious, I asked him to increase the price to include fees, and I would pay through G&S. Worked out well.

Freddy and Andrew are exactly correct. If someone insists on F&F and the item is something you really, really want, offer to pay +4%. If the seller declines, you've just saved yourself a lot of hurt. BTW, just to reiterate a point, using F&F in this manner violates PayPal's TOU and they can terminate accounts if they wish. Of course, doing so for someone who's been taken over what's to them small change is neither in their best interests or sympathetic. However, if a seller declines to have you pay the fees, I would notify PayPal. If the fraudulent sellers get their accounts terminated, that's a good thing.

BTW, I hope that you find your razor sir!

Cheers, Steve

Very sorry to hear. Older and Wiser!!

I have used F&F if I know the party. That is no guarantee, but ... I do it sometimes.

My alternative to F&F is I pay the paypal fee. I just do it as a courtesy to the seller.

I've never been stuck ... Yet, but the alternative is insurance that I won't be, and at least I'll get my $ back if anything goes south on the transaction.

Here @ DFS I abide by the rules, referring to other venues where I may take chances.

Frankly, I never understand sellers who say "this is the price, plus you (the buyer) pays PayPal fees." Why not simply build the fee into the selling price? Why even just psychologically put the onus on a buyer? Just a pet peeve of mine as someone who has bought and sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end audio stuff via BST thread in enthusiast forums.

It's like a listing I once saw on eBay for a Wolfman. Asking price was like $1,200, which, totally cool with me. But then seller said "+ $15 for shipping." I mean, seriously? you want $1,200 but can't adsorb minuscule (in relation to sale price) shipping fee? I won't even respond to sales posts with these kinds of terms. YMMV