£200 item paid with paypal. Collection?

Norman_Castle · 6 March 2018 at 5:34PM

Just sold a £200 collection only item, paid with paypal. Should I hand over or cancel the payment and ask for cash instead. I didn't think to add cash on collection to the listing.

Too risky?

Brynsam · 6 March 2018 at 7:12PM

Helpful thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=65282064#post65282064

gemstars · 7 March 2018 at 11:22AM

That is a good thread Brynsam has posted.

It explains what I was going to say which is even when an item is collection only, you HAVE to list paypal as an option - it won't let you delete it.

You could contact the buyer and ask if they would be willing to pay in cash if you sent them a refund, as you want to avoid the paypal fees. That seems quite reasonable in my mind - be aware that if you do send a refund you would still be charged a 20p admin fee by paypal but in my opinion it would be worth taking this hit to avoid the fees on a £200 payment.

I have spoken with both ebay and paypal about this situation in the past and they advised me that if a buyer pays by paypal for a collection only item that you should ask them to sign something to state that they accept the item when it is collected so that they can't say it is not as described later. Remember to check that the signature the use is genuine.

soolin · 7 March 2018 at 11:34AM

gemstars wrote: »

That is a good thread Brynsam has posted.

It explains what I was going to say which is even when an item is collection only, you HAVE to list paypal as an option - it won't let you delete it.

You could contact the buyer and ask if they would be willing to pay in cash if you sent them a refund, as you want to avoid the paypal fees. That seems quite reasonable in my mind - be aware that if you do send a refund you would still be charged a 20p admin fee by paypal but in my opinion it would be worth taking this hit to avoid the fees on a £200 payment.

I have spoken with both ebay and paypal about this situation in the past and they advised me that if a buyer pays by paypal for a collection only item that you should ask them to sign something to state that they accept the item when it is collected so that they can't say it is not as described later. Remember to check that the signature the use is genuine.

Out of interest how do you check a signature is genuine or even 'belongs' to the owner of the account that bought the item?

HHarry · 7 March 2018 at 2:07PM

In these circumstances would it be an idea to post them a receipt using a trackable service. That would give you a tracking number to put in the system.

CurlySue2017 · 7 March 2018 at 4:45PM

If you can afford to lose both the item and the £200 then accept Paypal, if not then insist on cash.

There is NO protection for you as a seller if the buyer pays by Paypal and then collects in person - no amount of bits of paper with a signature on will see you win against an INR case.

Been there, made that mistake, never again.

pinkshoes · 7 March 2018 at 6:38PM

PayPal requires proof of delivery.

You should politely contact the buyer letting them know this and say that you are refunding their payment as you'd like cash on collection, or they can pay via bank transfer if they prefer.

Or... find out what postage would be and offer a PayPal payment including delivery cost.

soolin · 7 March 2018 at 6:47PM

pinkshoes wrote: »

PayPal requires proof of delivery.

You should politely contact the buyer letting them know this and say that you are refunding their payment as you'd like cash on collection, or they can pay via bank transfer if they prefer.

Or... find out what postage would be and offer a PayPal payment including delivery cost.

It's worth reading the thread suggests in post 2 here

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=65282064#post65282064

Basically to return the payment without incurring a defect the seller would need to cancel the sale , probably using 'problems with buyers address' as the reason. That leaves seller open to a warning for selling 'off eBay' as they would basically be messaging the buyer after the sale has been cancelled and the FVFs refunded arranging collection. Obviously the seller still has the option of cancelling and contacting the buyer via email (which will show in the PayPal payment page) but even that risks a warning.

It is no longer as simple as just returning the payment and insisting on cash, as far as eBay are concerned buyer has done nothing wrong, they have paid using a method that would show as the preferred method at checkout.

Many of us gamble on hoping for cash on collection on eBay but we must accept it is a gamble and can go wrong.

Alfrescodave · 8 March 2018 at 10:53AM

Basically the connection between item for collection only and Paypal payment is potentially a minefield. I've read all the threads and in my opinion this action is a gamble which neither ebay nor Paypal have satisfactorily addressed. It requires trust on behalf of the seller and the buyer which in most cases works well but is open to abuse.

Would I agree to a paypal payment for an expensive easily sale-able item - no I wouldn't risk it!

soolin · 8 March 2018 at 12:42PM

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Basically the connection between item for collection only and Paypal payment is potentially a minefield. I've read all the threads and in my opinion this action is a gamble which neither ebay nor Paypal have satisfactorily addressed. It requires trust on behalf of the seller and the buyer which in most cases works well but is open to abuse.

Would I agree to a paypal payment for an expensive easily sale-able item - no I wouldn't risk it!

I doubt many people would risk paypal on a £200 item being collected, however that doesn't outweigh the fact that ebay rules allow it and the pitfalls of trying to avoid this situation are as outlined in this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=65282064#post65282064

Personally I am not a gambler, and for higher end items that require collection I now use other sites, I would no longer risk a problems with defects or losing FVFs by using ebay.

Alfrescodave · 8 March 2018 at 1:18PM

soolin wrote: »

I doubt many people would risk paypal on a £200 item being collected, however that doesn't outweigh the fact that ebay rules allow it and the pitfalls of trying to avoid this situation are as outlined in this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=65282064#post65282064

Personally I am not a gambler, and for higher end items that require collection I now use other sites, I would no longer risk a problems with defects or losing FVFs by using ebay.

Basically it comes down to the fact that there is an (unacceptable ?) level of risk associated with this type of transaction which ebay and paypal are not willing to address. Whilst a £200 item might generate a higher level of risk than a £50 item - none of us wish to be scammed.

£200 item paid with paypal. Collection?

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