Sold item which stated 5 day payment

zak1976

Hi all,
I've sold a camera which stated payment must be within 5 working days.
Now the guy who I sold it to first said he waould send a cheque immediately. Then I asked him which postage he wanted and also pointed out 1st class doesn't insure the camera for the full amount. He said he wanted to just go for 1st class.
I contacted him again Thurs and he said payment had been sent and yesterday he told me he had sent cash.
Now I have asked him 3 times for proof of postage, or tracking number so I can "help him out" finding out where the money is, and he has ignored all 3 e-mails.
I have now asked him to provide them, or at least explain what is going on or I would post a Non payment. (In a nice way!)

Do you think I am justified in doing this? Also can he leave me a neg feedback if I post non payment or does it freeze him out from leaving any feedback?

Normally I dont chase people for payment, but I am really in need of tha cash in my account!! (Which I have told him!)

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Hintza

Payment within 5 days won't wash with EBay. You have 7 days to pay!

Obviously this will be up at the start of the week (from what you say) I would wait until Monday and if the money hasn't arrived contact him and tell him that you will start NPB on Tuesday if it doesn't arrive with that post...then follow through with your threat.

Currently I think you are hassling the guy and if I was a buyer it would be making me very twitchy about your desperate need for the money. So leave it until Monday before doing anything rash.

zak1976

Hassling the guy?
I've been polite and helpfull with the guy, offering advice on postage and trying to sort things out for him, maybe my OP doesn't read properly, but it's certainly not harrasment, it's trying to be helpfull.
The terms of my sale clearly stated 5 days payment, if he couldn't pay in that time then he should not have bid! The fact that it'll be 8 days before payment can arrive now puts him over the time limit from E-Bay as well!!! (Tuesday will be day 9.)
So surely asking for proof of postage or a tracking number now is perfectly acceptable? Because if it's not in the post now then it will not be here by Monday anyway!

Hintza

You wanted an opinion/advice and I have given you mine. The great thing about advice is you can totally ignore it!!

As I said i would wait until post on Monday before you do anything else. If you want you can start the NPB against him as soon as 168 hours are up. If you want to do that you can nothing stopping you.

If he has posted the money it can not noe get to you until Monday. If he hasn't and you follow my suggestion it gives him the opportunity to post it on Monday.

But you box on!!

juno

3 emails since thursday does seem a bit excessive!

He's said payment has been sent, and currently you have no proof he's lying. So you'll have to wait and see if it does arrive soon, or if you want you can report him as a non-paying bidder. Personally I wouldn't, as he has kept in contact and it's too early to say the payment was lost or won't arrive.

soolin

Sorry but I think you're being a bit unrealistic as well. If you accept cheques then you really need to be patient. If he has sent cash then he may well not have bothered with special delivery due to the cost, so he won't have a tracking number.

As for the 7 days that ebay allow, it actually works out to 15 days by the time the NPB goes through, as you cannot start the NPB until exactly a week after auction end and it can't be closed until either the buyer responds or 8 days later whichever is earliest.

As for feedback, yes the buyer can still leave it. The only way he loses the right to leave feedback is if he does not respond to the NPB dispute and you close it on day 15.

Also, you might want to reconsider your thoughts on postage methods. The insurance afforded by special delivery is for your benefit not the buyers benefit so never ask what a buyer wants always send it with sufficient insurance to cover yourself. Suggesting it is up to the buyer to ask for insurance is naive and may well lose you money if the item fails to arrive.

Soo

jenniferpa

zak1976 wrote:

The terms of my sale clearly stated 5 days payment, if he couldn't pay in that time then he should not have bid!

You asked for opinions, so here's mine. You can put certain things in your auction to vary standard terms and conditions (e.g. payment methods etc) but you do not have the power to vary the ebay 7 day payment period. You have made comments regarding your buyer's ability to read, but this sounds a lot like the pot calling the kettle black. You don't seem to have read ebays T & C's yourself. I would agree that it sounds like you're harrassing the purchaser. Further, when i send a cheque to someone I do not normally have "proof of postage" and why should I? As a further note, a cheque's going to take some time to clear anyway - if speed was of the essence, why did you not limit it to paypal and bank transfer?

I've never opened a NPB, but I believe that the system won't allow you to do that until you're past 7 days anyway.

zak1976

Juno, I'm not saying he is lying. I have asked for proof of postage so I can chase up the PO.... as for keeping in contact, the contact from him has been minimal and not convincing........ you know when you get a gut feeling something isn't right....... well I had that gut feeling from day one. If he intended to pay by cheque immeidately then it would've arrived by now, even if it was posted Weds it would've arrived, or Thursday when he said he had posted cash.
Soolin, if he has sent that much cash through the post without at least recorded delivery then he is risking losing the lot as there is no way, (if it is lost,) for him to get any compensation from the PO.
I always offer options on my listings, if you only have an expensive option then people don't always bid. If I offer 2 options then it is up to the buyer to decide whether to risk it. I always offer advice on my listings that certain items should be sent SD for insurance purposes. If they chose the cheaper option it is made clear via e-mail about insurance limits and if the item fails to arrive then that is the compensation that they will receive.
Jennifer, If he had sent a cheque then proof of postage is not important, as no one else can cash it, but when you send cash it is very risky. It would not be the first time something has gone "missing" in the post that contained cash. As for speed of the essence, they are personal reasons for it, (which can be found in another thread.) and as long as the cash/cheque was in the bank today then clearance time didn't matter as it was all taken into account.

Thank you all for your input.

jenniferpa

But recorded delivery doesn't cover you for cash, so why would he do that either?

carrie483

zak1976 wrote:

Juno, I'm not saying he is lying. I have asked for proof of postage so I can chase up the PO

If the buyer sent it via 1st class (cheque i mean) and they did get a proof of postage (i don't know anyone who gets a proof of postage if they are sending a cheque) then you can't chase the post office up, the sender has to.

zak1976 wrote:

Soolin, if he has sent that much cash through the post without at least recorded delivery then he is risking losing the lot as there is no way, (if it is lost,) for him to get any compensation from the PO.

You are also risking losing alot if you are going to be sending the camera 1st class or even recorded.

No matter what you state in your terms, it is up to you to get the item to the buyer. If it gets lost then you have to refund the full amount.

Nadia

Here's my opinion:

As soon as the 7 days are up start the NPB dispute. If the buyer is telling the truth and he HAS already posted the money it will arrive on Monday or Tuesday and you can then just close the dispute. If the money doesn't arrive either because the buyer is lying or because the money has been stolen (as the buyer should know better then to send cash in the mail especially for an expensive item), you can then close the dispute after 7 days (or 10, I don't remember which) and get your FVF back. After that you can offer it to the second highest bidder or relist it.

Whatever you do you have to send it by special delivery even if the buyer only paid for first class. I don't think there is a big difference price wise. If anything goes wrong RM will compensate you only if you have sent it by SD.