ebay sale should i pay

joolee_2

just won a bid on a 6 month old imac seems really cheap but the seller only accpets personal cheques. as its nearly £600 im a bit unsure as not bought anything this value on ebay before. when i emailed the seller about other options to pay ie paypal ive heard nothing back - this was only 2 days ago but surely if someones bidding has ended they would be eager to get the sale sorted out. also only 2 feedbacks for this person one on 22nd may saying the wwere a complete timewaster would not give address to collect goods after agreeing time reporting to ebay ....any thoughts??

rhino_2

Approach With Caution I Personally Would Not COntinue With Sale Until I Had Spoke To The Seller In Person. Alternatively Why Not ask For The Sellers Bank Details Direct And Do A Transfer to Their Personal Account That Way You Have Some Security and details Should Anything Go Wrong

Chalky87

Sounds very dodgy to me. 2 feedbacks and one of those a negative you should have stayed well clear in the first place. Especially for their poor feedback and the fact they don't accept PayPal, if they accepted PayPal it would state this in the listing, you should not have to e-mail to find out.

soolin

rhino wrote:

Approach With Caution I Personally Would Not COntinue With Sale Until I Had Spoke To The Seller In Person. Alternatively Why Not ask For The Sellers Bank Details Direct And Do A Transfer to Their Personal Account That Way You Have Some Security and details Should Anything Go Wrong

A bank transfer is just about the least secure method of payment, you don't even know who you are sending the money to and you don't have their address either, so I wouldn't suggest that where there is doubt about a seller.

Going back to the OP I think you have been a little unwise in your decision to buy. Their feedback is low and poor, that should have been enough to put you off. As for payment methods, if they say cheque only you can't expect them to take another payment method and it's too late now to start asking about it. If you wanted to pay by paypal then you should have asked before bidding, or moved onto another seller if you got no response.

However, as the feedback is so poor I personally would risk getting a neg on this one and actually not do anything else and see what happens. I certainly wouldn't be happy sending a cheque off to someone who already has a warning feedback comment.

Soo

payless

rhino wrote:

Alternatively Why Not ask For The Sellers Bank Details Direct And Do A Transfer to Their Personal Account That Way You Have Some Security and details Should Anything Go Wrong

Surely that would give you even less security than a cheque ( soolin beat me to it!)

is it local enough to collect / pay on collection after seeing working ... think given the circumstances thats the only way I would continue .. if not explain the position & maybe risk the neg/strike , then be careful about feedback on othe high priced items

dodger65

I'd avoid.
Probably went cheap beacuse others spotted his feedback.
Did he orginally offer paypal on his listing but is now backing out?
If your little green eyed monster is edging you to go for it.
I'd test him out - you could send email saying a relative of yours lives nearby and is comming to visit you this weekend would it be possible to get them to pick it up and pay cash.
If he says no walk away.
If he says yes then up to you - but you won't have much protection with a cheque ebay will only cover you for the first £120 or so.
And then I think it's small claims court etc basically a whole lotta hassle.

jenniferpa

Well my first questions is what payment terms were on the auction? It's definitely too late to ask about payment methods after you've won the auction. From that point of view, assuming that the seller didn't indicate that he would accept paypal in the auction, you haven't got a leg to stand on. However, there is no way that I would pay for such a big ticket item using a cheque, so unless you can persuade the seller to go along the mutually agreed not to complete the transaction, prepare yourself for a NPB strike. The feedback issue would be sufficient to just tell the seller that on further consideration I had decided not to go ahead with the sale. I would accept that I was in the wrong, but I'd rather be wrong and not potentially lose £600. In future, you need to check the entire auction (payment method and feedback included) BEFORE bidding.

joolee_2

i agree with you all i should have checked out the payment methods first. as for the feedback it wasnt on until the bidding was completed - came on the same day as i won the item but yes i may try the can i pick up and pay cash. thanks all for your advice

matto

It's possible that he won't accept PayPal because of the fees involved. Maybe if you offer to cover the fees he might accept.

dodger65

matto wrote:

It's possible that he won't accept PayPal because of the fees involved. Maybe if you offer to cover the fees he might accept.

aha! there's your answer joolee offer him the extra 3 or 4 % for paypal fees (say your prepared to wait for him to set up a paypal account and get it verified) if he turns you down - walk away.
matto's a wiseman.

Chalky87

dodger65 wrote:

aha! there's your answer joolee offer him the extra 3 or 4 % for paypal fees (say your prepared to wait for him to set up a paypal account and get it verified) if he turns you down - walk away.
matto's a wiseman.

I would still stear clear regardless of whether or not the seller decided to accept PayPal, though its a more secure method than transfer or cheque it is still not 100% secure and you could face loosing your money.

It was a bad deicision to buy in the first place from an eBayer with such a low score, selling a high priced item. As Soo said in earlier post, I would risk taking a neg, rather than risking loosing £600+