Ebay Suspicious seller

impecunious

Hi All

I recently bought a Nokia E71 on Ebay. I only went for it as it was in my home town. I also have a policy of only buying expensive items on Ebay where I can pay in cash and collect them. When I bought this item and the invoice was created it stated that the seller was registered in York (as I do), but when I asked about collection etc she has stated that she now lives in Leeds and it was too much of inconvience for her for me to collect! I offered to go over to Leeds to collect, but she still refuses. Checking her meagre feedback, the account has been dormant for a couple of years. She is insistant that I pay by Paypal, but I am smelling a rat here and would like to ask people's opinions on what I should do next.

mikey72

Walk away, there's more on there.

rockin_plumber

Did you ask about collection before you bought the item

Paypal favours buyers more so whats the problem

frivolous_fay

You can't go assuming people will let you collect.
Why didn't you check the meagre feedback before you bid?

sequence

Yes you shouldn't assume collection, I don't allow any collections on any items. To be honest it sounds like the seller is more scared of you being a scammer then you are of them

soolin

You did it all in the wrong order.

You check feedback and history and also ask permission for collection before you bid, not after. If you pay by paypal through ebay correctly then you will be covered against a simple claim of non receipt. However if this is a dodgy seller you might well be facing the whole 'brick in a box' scenario and that will cost you a lot of time and effort.

Premier_2

I agree, you should request whether collection would be possible before bidding (unless the listing states so). Some sellers will not allow collection for various reasons.

However, there is an issue here. Ebay requires the listing to accurately represent the item's location. It obviously said York (else how else did you know where the item was) and it's not there.
You could try a complaint against the ebay policy on item location.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/item-location.html

However, if you pay by paypal, what have you got to lose?
If the item doesn't arrive or arrives significantly not as described, you can easily get your money back.