Need to sell a laptop on eBay, but am worried!

groovygarden

Last week I ordered a laptop from Dell. It had to be done in a bit of a rush, so I couldn't do my normal anal levels of pre-purchase research. Anyway, having done some reading, turns out this laptop isn't going to be suitable. Unfortunately because it was a business purchase I can't return it - eBay is probably the best solution, but am scared of putting something a) electronic and b) worth £330 up for sale.

Does anyone have any experience of selling expensive items on eBay? Are there any steps or precautions I should take? I feel very nervous!

What if the laptop goes wrong? Am I responsible? (There is a 1 year warranty on the laptop, which I should be able to pass on). Are there any issues selling a laptop purchased for a business to someone for personal use?

Any thoughts or advice much appreciated

cake21

Hi groovygarden, buyers are protected (to an extent) if they pay by Paypal, but are put off bidding if the seller doesn't have much feedback, you can increase your feedback score by buying little things that you would have bought anyway.

Personally I would say in the listing that the item is under warranty but the buyer would be responsible for following up any issues directly from the manufacturer.

Don't think there are any issues with selling it on for personal use - quite a few companies sell on old laptops to their employees after they've been cleaned up.

I'm sure some more experienced people will be along soon to give better advice

frivolous_fay

1. Don't sell it abroad. Make it clear on your listing that you won't.
2. Consider 'Immediate payment required' if you use BIN.
3. Block anyone with recent strikes. Check that all your buyer requirements are set strictly.
4. Watch your bidders and remove any that look suspect, and block them.
5. Check that you are sending the laptop adequately insured.
6. Scrutinise the payment of the winning bidder well. Check back here if necessary. I won't go into the full details now as you might not get paid with paypal (if you're lucky!)

groovygarden

Thanks for the advice. I have quite good feedback (over 50, 100%), so hopefully that will give people confidence.

I always hear horror stories about PayPal and would rather not offer it, but I know that as a buyer I prefer to use PayPal as it gives me (the illusion of?) security. What's the alternative? Bank transfer?

You worry me frivolous_fay, when you say "Scrutinise the payment of the winning bidder well"! Once they pay, and I take the money out of PayPal, isn't that it...?

frivolous_fay

Basically OP, when it comes to paypal and high value items, you need to tick ALL the boxes to make sure it won't come back and bite you later on.
Dishonest buyers can claim the payment was fraudulent (or indeed, it could really be fraudulent) and unless you meet paypal's strict requirements for the purchase, paypal will just hand the money back to them - putting your paypal account into the red, or sending debt collectors after you.

Have a read of these seller protection requirements from a recent paypal email;

1. The Seller Protection Policy is only available for US, UK or Canadian sellers transacting with US, UK or Canadian buyers. Please note that while sellers outside the US, UK and Canada may meet the following conditions of the Seller Protection Policy, they do not qualify at this time and therefore may be responsible for any reversals made due to fraudulent funds.
2. The seller has a Verified Business or Premier account.
3. The payment is listed as 'Seller Protection Policy Eligible' on the Transaction Details page.
4. The seller delivers to the confirmed address listed on the Transaction Details page.
5. The seller can provide reasonable proof-of-delivery which can be tracked online. For transactions equal to 150.00 GBP or more in value, the seller also needs to provide a proof of receipt signed or otherwise acknowledged by the buyer. A proof of delivery from the carrier which does not contain the buyer's signature or other acknowledgement will not be sufficient. Because comparable proof-of-delivery is not currently available for electronically delivered items, we are currently unable to offer Seller Protection for digital goods and other electronically delivered items.
6. The seller accepted a single payment from only one PayPal account for the purchase. (Multiple payments from different accounts for a single item are an indicator of fraud. Sellers should not accept such payments.)
7. The seller cooperates in resolving disputes by responding in the following time periods: If PayPal contacts the seller with regard to a Buyer Claim or chargeback, the seller needs to provide the requested information to PayPal within ten days. PayPal will indicate the response
time required in the email message sent to the seller.
8. The seller sends the item within seven days of receiving payment.


If you meet the seller protection requirements, paypal will fight your corner in the event of a problem - if you don't qualify, you're on your own.

cake21

By the way, you have to offer paypal as an option now. Also ebay have been cancelling some auctions if it looks like the seller is implying that that Paypal should not be used

There have been various posts about Paypal holding on to payments for 21 days or until positive feedback received, whichever is sooner, in certain circumstances (seller not having enough positive feedback I think?). So far hasn't really affected me as luckily buyers have left positive feedback as soon as item received.

superjaggybunnet

I recently sold some stuff on eBay and had to offer Paypal like it says above.

I just emailed the buyer and asked them to pay by Direct Bank Transfer instead. No Problem! Cash came through very quickly.

Try this method it is easy and a lot less hassle than Paypal.

amcluesent

Follow the advice on the board about locking down your buyer preferences.

Include the item serial # inc. battery in the listing

Follow every rule in seller protection guide.

Follow you instincts about dodgy bidders.

Wrap the package in brown paper to disguise what it is, otherwise ParcelForce will steal it (been there, AND got the compo!)

s30jok

Take a note of the serial number(s) take the battery out and mark this area with some thing unique to you with a UV pen. This stops scammers swapping their faulty laptop/phone/ipod etc with the internals of yours then claiming the item you send is faulty. They send it back you send them there money and they have your new laptop and their money back.

what is the spec of the laptop is it a gaming pc mention this on the listing etc

groovygarden

Wow! This sounds scarier and scarier! Can't believe people buy things on eBay, swap the internals, then claim they don't work! Eeek!

The laptop is a Dell Vostro 1510. 1.8 GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB, Vista Premium.

I haven't even opened the box yet. I'm going to call Dell on Monday (closed all weekend!) and beg for a refund or exchange.

If that fails, might see if I can sell in the local paper or something. Don't mind loosing 20 or 30 quid on it if that's what it takes.

Nightmare!

Bamber19

Do Dell know it was a business purchase?