Calling mobile??

1jim

Hi
I have sold something on ebay...very low value (item less than £2)... I had that the item was for collection only and to use contact seller to arrange collection. After sale ended I emailed buyer to say make contact and arrange collection, they emailed back to say they would collect on thursday and to call them on mobile number if that was a problem, I emailed back immediatly to say thursday evening would be best and requested a time from them....no reply, have followed this up with another email to request time from them.
Now I do have their mobile number but I have a moneysaving policy of not calling mobile numbers ever...am I being unreasonable in this instance (the buyer has zero feedback and only just registered)? I am quite worried that they will either not turn up, will either turn up at a really inappropriate time.
Thanks
1jim

Hintza

Em.............call the mobile!?

soolin

Or send a text and just ask them to call you.

StaffsSW

http://www.freebiesms.co.uk/

Premier_2

Lifes too short...and the profit is probably not in the item anyway.

If the buyer cant set up a date and time to collect the item, then they'll have to take their chances as to how well your crystal ball predict their arrival time.
(I suspect not too good, especially if you cover it with flour!)

If the item doesn't get paid for within 7 days, file a NPB claim.
If the item is already paid for, put it in a cupboard and forget about it until the buyer decides to contact you again.

1jim

thanks for the advice guys....soolin...hadnt thought about texting (much cheaper than calling)

freebiesms seemed a good idea until I realised they have to pay £5 to read the message (can that be right?)....can you imagine the feedback on that one ;-) but it did give me an idea and I found www.cbfsms.com which seemed to be free so have messaged from this site but no reply yet

Premier is right, life is too short, the item only went for £1.71...if I start calling mobiles from home then I could easily end up out of pocket on this...I have a very strict no mobile calls policy in the house to cut down phone bills and couldnt justify breaking it for this sale

Anyway, have ebay messaged and now left txt message so balls in their court if they come when Im not in...although as they have 0 feedback have a sneeky feeling that I will be relisting it soon

soolin

I would play fairly tough with this, you can only go so far to please some buyers so be polite, be slightly flexible but be prepared to go straight to an NPB on day 7 if they are still stalling.

1jim

well as thought the buyer has just emailed to say that hes realised we are too far away for him to collect, he has offered to pay for the item, should I let him or is there a feature to allow us both to withdraw from the sale and thus cancel the fees but still allow me to offer a second chance other buyer?
Am i right in thinking that if I use second chance offer and that buyer agrees I will have 2 sets of fees? I dont really want to charge the original buyer for nothing bu dont want to have fees for nothing either
thanks

soolin

You could try a mutual, but the buyer cna refuse and you lose your FVFs. Or you could go for a full NPB and risk a neg.

Usually I would be pushing for a full NPB, but for the sake of FVFs of at most 19p, I think I might risk a mutual.

Premier_2

If you offer the item as a second chance, you will have to pay fvfs on that listing if the sco is accepted.

With regards to getting your fees back for the initial listing, you could request a mutual, but the danger with the time waster is that they refuse and then you've lost any chance of getting fees back.

What is the buyer planning? Why are they happy to pay for the item when they can't collect it? Since you didn't offer to post, you don't need to.

The danger is they pay by paypal and claim item not received so get their money back. Again you lose.

I'd be inclined to ignore them and if they don't pay claim a non paying bidder. If they fail to pay, you can get your fees back. If they do pay, tell them to arrange their own courier.