Collection in person? Paypal problem!

custardy

RHemmings wrote: »

Surely if you collect evidence of some sort that the instruments have been handed over, then if the buyers claim back through paypal, they will have stolen the equipment. Even if a challenge to paypal is unsuccessful, and if the police are uninterested, the seller could sue the buyer in small claims court. Couldn't they?

and if the buyer has fake details on ebay?
its very risky and a lot of hassle
however very few buyers wont pay cash if you ask

soolin

RHemmings wrote: »

Surely if you collect evidence of some sort that the instruments have been handed over, then if the buyers claim back through paypal, they will have stolen the equipment. Even if a challenge to paypal is unsuccessful, and if the police are uninterested, the seller could sue the buyer in small claims court. Couldn't they?

That rather depends on whether the seller can take legal proof of ID and copy it in sufficient detail to satisfy a court. A case of 'here is a photo of a bloke who says he is John Smith collecting my stuff' is not likely to be handy.

Don;t forget as well even getting a buyer to small claims and winning does not guarantee that any funds will be recovered.

RHemmings

The seller could say that they will personally deliver the items locally. Providing that the buyer is local. If I was the seller, I would do as suggested above and include a postal option, saying then that cash on collection is only for cash. Still risks of people becoming "uncooperative", but that is always going to apply. It's a matter of maximising the return while minimising the risk, and there's not going to be any ideal solution. If it is to be paypal, then collection, then perhaps only for those with confirmed addresses. No guarantee of course, but might reduce the risk while not reducing the pool of qualified buyers too much.

RHemmings

soolin wrote: »

That rather depends on whether the seller can take legal proof of ID and copy it in sufficient detail to satisfy a court. A case of 'here is a photo of a bloke who says he is John Smith collecting my stuff' is not likely to be handy.

It will become a bit better quality evidence if it's John Smith being sued, and he's there in court to be compared to the photograph.

Don;t forget as well even getting a buyer to small claims and winning does not guarantee that any funds will be recovered.

Yes, I'm well aware of this.

custardy

RHemmings wrote: »

The seller could say that they will personally deliver the items locally. Providing that the buyer is local. If I was the seller, I would do as suggested above and include a postal option, saying then that cash on collection is only for cash. Still risks of people becoming "uncooperative", but that is always going to apply. It's a matter of maximising the return while minimising the risk, and there's not going to be any ideal solution. If it is to be paypal, then collection, then perhaps only for those with confirmed addresses. No guarantee of course, but might reduce the risk while not reducing the pool of qualified buyers too much.

you can say that but it comes back to the buyer can pay via paypal

Blackjack_Davy

Thanks for the replies. I've told him the risks, and he insists he's done it before, had no problems, blah blah. Some people will not be told. :rolleyes:

He did sell some instruments once before, a long time ago, but I believe that was before eBay insisted on sellers having PayPal as a payment option and they paid via cash on collection.

I've decided to set up a separate eBay and PayPal account for him so if anything goes wrong it's out of my hands. (he's forgotten his original account details)

I expect I'll still get the blame if it all goes tits up. :rolleyes:

RHemmings

custardy wrote: »

you can say that but it comes back to the buyer can pay via paypal

The paypal price would have to include tracked postage, as someone described further up. There would be a discount for cash on collection.

custardy

RHemmings wrote: »

The paypal price would have to include tracked postage, as someone described further up. There would be a discount for cash on collection.

you cant discriminate for paypal
you cant offer only postage for paypal
so if you have an auction you would have to offer the discount in the text and refund the buyer in cash
so you pay higher ebay fee's and cant enforce your conditions

cyberbob

Blackjack_Davy wrote: »

A friend wants me to sell some musical instruments of his, some accordians and melodeans. The combined value could be quite high, totalling more than a grand.

Selling items for a friend on ebay normally ends in disaster either your out of pocket your ebay rep is trashed, your paypal account held. Theres so many things that can go wrong. If he wants to sell them on ebay show him how to open an account and let him do it himself

There has been numerous threads about people selling for others and it all going pear shaped. Its not worth the hassle or the risk

RHemmings

custardy wrote: »

you cant discriminate for paypal
you cant offer only postage for paypal
so if you have an auction you would have to offer the discount in the text and refund the buyer in cash
so you pay higher ebay fee's and cant enforce your conditions

Yes, you'd have to offer the discount unofficially for cash. The additional fees paid would be a cost of reducing the risk, a tradeoff which the OP would have to evaluate as to whether or not it's worth it.