Paypal won't hold funds except for newer sellers.
The buyer is protected. Credit card payments can be reversed. A reversal happens if seller can't prove delivery (After 90 days fedex deletes tracking information, but buyers can complain for 6 months so a hinky buyer can cheat you that way.) I recently lost one of 6 chargebacks from a man whose son used his card without permission because I'd shipped that box with Fedex. The other 5 transaction went by US mail so there was still tracking.
The buyer can claim the package was stolen off his porch if the tracking shows it was delivered. In this case the seller is not responsible. Paypal may refund the buyer if the buyer has a police report for the theft, and has not claimed other items stolen in the past year.
If the item is not as described Paypal can force the seller to take it back just like ebay does. However, and this may have changed, Paypal can only refund the buyer if there is money in the paypal account. Ebay will refund the buyer and put the amount on the sellers fees.
The seller is protected because he gets the money before he ships, and ships with tracking information to prove it was delivered, (Paypal told me that I could take a screenshot of fedex tracking page showing delivery and that "should" work.
There are still ways to cheat. I won't explain them here, but no matter what you do someone trying to scam you always has the advantage. I didn't know about the fedex tracking issue until I got screwed by it.
For me, I feel that the majority of buyers just want trains to play with. If we are selling electronics or maybe camera equipment it might be different. When a buyer seems off, I don't do the deal.
Here's an example. Lately, I've had a string of people asking if I'd guarantee the "authenticity" of HO figures in sealed packages. I've sold thousands of these sets over the years. The buyers open the boxes and put the people on their layouts. No one asks that question.
And as far as the sellers, we know what the trains are and how people who own or collect them act.
