Texas: Sold My Laptop Through Facebook Marketplace, Buyer Picked It Up In Person, Then Disputed The Payment As Fraud And Now Has Both The Laptop And Money

Location: Texas

Last week I sold a gaming laptop on Facebook Marketplace for $1,150. The buyer messaged me for a couple days, asked normal questions about specs/battery, and we agreed to meet in the lobby of my apartment building.

He inspected the laptop for probably 15 minutes, booted it up, checked the ports, then paid me through PayPal Goods & Services because he said he didn't carry that much cash. I watched the payment show as completed in my account before handing him the laptop.

Our Marketplace messages clearly show the agreed price, meeting location, and him messaging me afterward saying "everything works great thanks." I also still have the serial number and the original purchase receipt with my name on it.

Eight days later I got an email from PayPal saying the payment was being disputed as an unauthorized transaction. The $1,150 was removed from my balance and my account is now negative.

I submitted screenshots of the entire conversation, including him confirming that he received the laptop, but PayPal's response says this type of dispute is being handled through the buyer's financial institution and they can't guarantee the outcome.

I tried messaging him on Facebook and discovered his profile is gone. The phone number he gave me now goes straight to voicemail.

I called PayPal and explained that this wasn't something shipped to a stranger, the buyer physically met me and walked away carrying the computer, but they basically told me to wait for the dispute process.

What am I supposed to do legally if the chargeback is ultimately approved? Would this be something I report to the police as theft/fraud, or is it considered a civil dispute because I voluntarily handed him the laptop after seeing the payment?

My apartment building has cameras in the lobby and management said they probably still have footage from that day, but they won't release anything directly to me without a police request.

I know the first name he used, his phone number, the Facebook conversation and possibly his license plate if the exterior camera caught it. I'm mainly worried that if I wait weeks for PayPal to finish their process the building footage could be overwritten.

Should I be filing a police report now even though the payment dispute isn't finished yet?

I've sold stuff locally plenty of times and honestly thought seeing a completed payment before handing over the item meant I was safe.

Apparently not.