Selling high value item on Ebay - how not to be scammed?

mooomin

Hi all,

As it's (another!) free listing weekend, I thought that it might be a good idea to see a bluray player I have been wanting rid of. It's unused and retails for £400 new.

I have seen quite a lot of information here about how people can be scammed when selling electicals and was hoping you might have some tips for me as to how to avoid this. I'm going to send the item by courier if it sells - do I need to get online proof of signature and what companies are best to use for this?

I am really wary about selling this player on Ebay but had trouble selling through friends and on Gumtree. All help will be appreciated.

Cheers!

patman99

If posting, use a tracked service such as RM Special Delivery or Parcel2go's DHL@home 48hr service. That way, you will have a record of the delivery should some scammer claim non-receipt of the item, and if it does arrive broken (or not arrive at all/get delivered to a dishonest neighbour), you can claim back from the delivery company.

If you offer local pick-up, insist on cash on collection rather than Paypal as this prevents any 'item not received' claims.

Also, take a photo of the serial number/s of the item. That way, if they claim the item is not working and return it for a refund, you will know if it is the item you sent them, or a duplicate broken unit that they already had.

theonlywayisup

As has been said above, although to stress the point, anything over £150 must also show signature, not just delivery online. So ensure the courier service shows this.

I would also add details in the listing, that you have taken a note of the serial number and put an invisible security mark on the item. Add that you will only ship to the address within Paypal.

Keep your receipt for postage for 180 days as this is your ONLY defence against an authorised chargeback reversal. Ensure your item is posted within 7 days.

forgotmyname

Cash on collection only... Show them the player working.

Always a risk any other way. Small risk but still a risk.

Just read some of the posts on here to see how others have been scammed.

theonlywayisup

forgotmyname wrote: »

Cash on collection only... Show them the player working.

Always a risk any other way. Small risk but still a risk.

Just read some of the posts on here to see how others have been scammed.

You have to offer Paypal on this type of item on Ebay. You cannot insist on cash.

TrickyDicky101

theonlywayisup wrote: »

You have to offer Paypal on this type of item on Ebay. You cannot insist on cash.

Yes, I was rather shocked to find this out when I came to sell a large volume of books last week. Despite the fact I only offered "Local pick up only", I still had to permit Paypal (which is crazy if mandating Local Pick Up Only).

In the body of the advert I did clearly state "Cash Only" - both lots have sold so will have to see if anyone attempts to pay Paypal. If they do, I will refund them thru Paypal, I won't hand over the books, and no doubt eBay will ban my account. C'est la vie!

themull1

its not the delivery you have to worry about, its the buyer telling you the item is broken, and sending a different, broken one back to you and claiming a refund.

soolin

Just my usual cut and paste as there is still some issues around the cash on colelction problem with ebay:
Can we please just clarify the rules here, we are getting more and more threads where people are being told to just refund paypal payments and tell the buyer to bring cash instead, and it worries me.

Ebay say that sellers must offer paypal, it cannot be refused for any reason (except in the motor vehicle categories). It is not even allowed to say you would prefer cash on collection.

If a seller is doing a collection only item then paypal say their service is not appropriate so you have a Catch 22 situation and you must have a back up plan. Either accept the risks and sell collection only, or don't use ebay for these items. If you do want to use ebay then find a courier, any courier and add that postage charge to your auction but mention that collection may be possible for cash. Then if someone uses paypal the invoice picks up the courier charge as well, if they don't then they can bring cash. That is still a bit dodgy to be honest, but it is the only solution that stands any chance of working.

If you refund a paypal payment on a collected item then buyer can just refuse to collect and the seller is then stuck with no sale, FVFs to pay and the possibility of a neg and a non performing seller complaint.

We sellers must stay safe on ebay, and to do that we need to understand the rules.

themull1

its not the ebay rules people don't understand, its the way that ebay favours the buyer more often than not, and a lot of people are losing their items and also their cash to buyers who are playing the ebay system. Which, incidentally is not the best system in the world.

peter_the_piper

A small dab of clear nail varnish on the screws will tell if the unit has been opened.

martindow

themull1 wrote: »

its not the ebay rules people don't understand, its the way that ebay favours the buyer more often than not, and a lot of people are losing their items and also their cash to buyers who are playing the ebay system. Which, incidentally is not the best system in the world.

But the sellers losing out are, in the main, the ones who don't understand the system or Ebay's requirements. Disaster stories we see here almost invariably could have been avoided.

Taking steps such as those explained in Soolin's post above and being sure that any method of sending is appropriate allows many people to sell very successfully.