Selling a collection only item on eBay

tigeress289

If it were me, I would ask them to send a cheque by special delivery, bank it and leave 6 clear working days. Once clear phone and say ready for collection. Job done and yes people can travel miles as there maybe somewhere else they are going to and it all fits in. I have done it and also had buyers do the same.

soolin

tigeress289 wrote: »

If it were me, I would ask them to send a cheque by special delivery, bank it and leave 6 clear working days. Once clear phone and say ready for collection. Job done and yes people can travel miles as there maybe somewhere else they are going to and it all fits in. I have done it and also had buyers do the same.

Two reasons why that doesn't work.

A) if it is a scammer then they will obviously be paying by paypal and cannot be forced into using a cheque
if it is a private individual they will now be thinking seller is a scammer who wants them to use an unsafe payment method and to pay extra (special delivery will be £5.45) for the privilege. AS seller now looks like a scammer it iwll make them more inclined to use paypal to protect themselves.

Crowqueen

tigeress289 wrote: »

If it were me, I would ask them to send a cheque by special delivery, bank it and leave 6 clear working days. Once clear phone and say ready for collection. Job done and yes people can travel miles as there maybe somewhere else they are going to and it all fits in. I have done it and also had buyers do the same.

It's not all about you as the seller. Often it's also about making the buyer comfortable as well.

I would not ask buyers to abrogate the protection they have against something going wrong. As Soo says - consider their feelings - they are definitely going to think the seller is unsafe. I know smart sellers like to protect themselves - but there are two people in the transaction, buyer and seller, and they both have interests, often which conflict. To make buyers trust you you need to play fair with them.

I wouldn't have sold something like this on eBay, and since my market is limited anyway to local pick-up, then the need for a mass market on the off-chance someone is going to come miles to get anything I have to sell is not worth the lack of Paypal protection on this sort of item for me.

macfly

MissGivings wrote: »

So your advice is?

Already given. Not as exciting as holding a postie hostage while taking pictures, but a bit more practical.

samanthaknd

gazfocus wrote: »

I recently listed a PC for sale on eBay and put Collection Only and stated the item was for collection only in the description.

The reason for this is because a) I didn't want to accept paypal and b) the fragility of the item would make it more difficult to post.

Anyway, I received a few bids from local buyers as would be expected and then in the last 5 seconds, someone from 200 miles away bid and won the auction. I knew it'd be trouble but I emailed the buyer to ask when they would be looking to collect.

I got a reply the following morning saying that they would be looking to collect in the next couple of weeks and would be sending paypal payment in the next 2-3 days.

I politely emailed the buyer saying that I couldn't accept paypal as it was a collection only item and would be unable to wait for 'a couple of weeks' without any payment.

I had a fairly long reply from the buyer basically saying that collection only does not mean cash on collection and it's unfair to assume so. He also said that cash payment is not permitted on eBay as there's a chance I could take his payment then report him for not paying. He ended the email saying he still wanted the PC and would be willing to pay by bank transfer as HIS risk if I pay out of my own pocket to ship the item to him instead.

Now, am I the only one that sees how dangerous paypal on a collection only item would be? I mean, he could make payment by paypal, then he collects the item, then when he gets home makes a claim on paypal, then I would have no proof that the item was posted.

What should I say to the buyer because obviously I don't want to accuse him of attempting to rip me off.

Just a thought and maybe I am miles off but,,,
Say you accept payment via paypal, and then said buyer comes to collect, maybe you could get buyer to sign written statement with a photo to go along with it saying he is happy with purchase!? If he had any doubts of doing this, offer him a refund and refuse to sell!
I am no expert on selling on ebay as I have been burned in the past and gave up, so I am a buyer only and I haven't ever had to leave a neg!(luckily) But I understand that there are many unhonest buyers and scammers! So I am not sure where you would stand if you followed my advise (BE AWARE I AM NO EXPERT AND HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE)

scheming_gypsy

samanthaknd wrote: »

Say you accept payment via paypal, and then said buyer comes to collect, maybe you could get buyer to sign written statement with a photo to go along with it saying he is happy with purchase!?

you could video him dancing naked and having sex with your budgie, but it's not an accepted proof of delivery so it wouldn't hold any water.

The only time i've been happy to let somebody pay by Paypal when collecting (decent amount of money and not a small amount), was for them to leave Feedback when they collected it (while at my house), which we'd agreed to before they came and collected.

Jen_Jen1985

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

you could video him dancing naked and having sex with your budgie, but it's not an accepted proof of delivery so it wouldn't hold any water.

The only time i've been happy to let somebody pay by Paypal when collecting (decent amount of money and not a small amount), was for them to leave Feedback when they collected it (while at my house), which we'd agreed to before they came and collected.

But even feed back doesnt count as proof of delivery, paypal ignore it as it could have been left by mistake.

soolin

The rules on paypal seller protection and postage/collection are very clear and were posted in post 7 but in case you missed them are here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3146680

The paypal on collection scam is a common one to be tried and whilst there are still the urban myths about getting photographs, signatures etc someone out there will get scammed. The way to stop these scammers is to keep the correct info high profile so that absolutely everybody, down to the 'bloke in the pub who thinks he knows how ebay works'- knows how to stay safe.

Once you ignore all the urban myths then you can decide on your own level of risk. I do actually have collection only items being sold- but I limit them usually to low risk items and accept that in the worse case scenario I could lose my money- and I haven't lost any yet. However th elevel of risk I am prepared to take does not make it safe- and as has been said on this thread already a PC is a highly scammed item and I certainly would be looking to send it or using Gutree instead.