EBay - NPB, case opened, now wants to pay....

ready123

Hi

I had a clearout and sold quite a few things on EBay last month. One small item only sold for £2 but the buyer didn't pay/didn't make contact. I sent a reminder message just before I went on holiday, but didn't hear anything. When I got back earlier this week, I opened a non paying bidder case. Didn't hear anything and was about to close it yesterday to get my fees back when I received a message from the buyer. Buyer apologised and said they still want the item but haven't been able to access their Paypal account for a few months. (My auction states Paypal only, so don't know why they bid? And it doesn't explain lack of contact). They have offered to pay by another method.

On the one hand, I'm generally a nice person and like to help people where I can so my initial instinct is to say yes, send a cheque.........on the other, I will need to bank the cheque and then wait for it to clear before posting it.......a lot of hassle for £2? (bearing in mind I'm not selling anything else at the moment so have no need otherwise to go to PO/bank).

And there's always the possibility that they still won't pay again. I can't decide - what would you do?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Crowqueen

If I received a cheque for £2 I wouldn't bother waiting for that amount to clear tbh. You can also post it off to your bank without having to make a special trip anywhere - you just need an envelope and a stamp and possibly a short covering letter or paying-in slip. You'd need to go to the PO to post the item so that would be the simplest way to do it.

In this situation, however, I think this is probably a stalling device - I would possibly politely say you only take Paypal and close the dispute if you can.

graspthenettle

I'm like you, I try to help people when I can but tbh, I wouldn't get involved in this case. They had any amount of time to at least contact you and didn't and as you say for £2 it's just not worth the hassle.

What is wrong with their paypal? It all sounds a bit odd. I'd be inclined to politely tell them that you are only accepting paypal you don't have to explain why.

Carry on your action against them - I think they are just trying to get it stopped - then make sure you block them.

The only thing that gives me pause is if they left negative feedback. I'm not 100% sure if they can still do that after a non-payment against them. Perhaps someone else on here could answer that bit?

Crowqueen

The only thing that gives me pause is if they left negative feedback. I'm not 100% sure if they can still do that after a non-payment against them. Perhaps someone else on here could answer that bit?

No - once the dispute is closed and eBay are satisfied they didn't pay, they can't leave a neg.

I think now if a seller only offers payment by Paypal and the case is opened neither party can leave feedback either.

I don't think it's necessarily odd that someone doesn't have a Paypal account - after all, it's not compulsory for buyers to have Paypal accounts. That said, very recently my mother registered an account on eBay and I stayed up very late one evening to set her up on Paypal (I was going away for a very long weekend at my boyfriend's house and so it was the last opportunity for me to do it) because she had already bid on something. I know very few sellers now accept anything other than PP and I didn't want her to be in this situation as a buyer, fumbling around trying to pay with an impatient seller. Particularly for new buyers, Paypal isn't the most intuitive payment system to use (most sites now just ask for your credit card details, either for each transaction or to set up an account for automatic payment like on Amazon; Paypal ask you to go through the whole business of creating an account, and then later on there are verification issues once a certain amount of money has passed through the account), and new buyers are the ones we all have an interest in cultivating.

So the situation itself is not too odd. If it was for more than £2 I'd say a cheque might be worth taking, if only to get the sale sorted - but it probably isn't worth it in this case.

ready123

Crowqueen wrote: »

If I received a cheque for £2 I wouldn't bother waiting for that amount to clear tbh. You can also post it off to your bank without having to make a special trip anywhere - you just need an envelope and a stamp and possibly a short covering letter or paying-in slip. You'd need to go to the PO to post the item so that would be the simplest way to do it.

In this situation, however, I think this is probably a stalling device - I would possibly politely say you only take Paypal and close the dispute if you can.

That's a good point re the cheque clearing, I can afford a £2 hit if it happened........I also wondered whether it was a stalling technique.

Graspthenettle - yes, I don't know why they haven't bothered to contact before now, they didn't offer an explanation and that makes me suspicious. (BTW I don't think you can give feedback if an NPB has been awarded, at least the seller can't so I think it's the same on the buyers side)

Thanks for your opinions - I'm swaying towards saying no and carrying on with the NPB case......think I just wanted someone to ease my conscience!

ready123

Crowqueen wrote: »

I don't think it's necessarily odd that someone doesn't have a Paypal account - after all, it's not compulsory for buyers to have Paypal accounts. ...........

I'm usually very lenient towards new buyers who have trouble setting up accounts and give them extra time to pay, because I know it's not always easy. However, my buyer (not a newbie) has a Paypal account but has apparently not been able to access it for "a few months", so I'm puzzled why they bid on my item if they knew that?
Anyway, thanks for your help, I'm being a ditherer today so I need it

Crowqueen

OK. Perhaps they thought they might be able to offer a cheque.

But they should have arranged that with you beforehand.

Good luck with this .

(BTW I don't think you can give feedback if an NPB has been awarded, at least the seller can't so I think it's the same on the buyers side)

That's good - might go some way towards stopping strikes being repealed if the seller leaves positive feedback, and training sellers to behave within the rules.

No_Eye_Deer

ready123 wrote: »

my buyer (not a newbie) has a Paypal account but has apparently not been able to access it for "a few months", so I'm puzzled why they bid on my item if they knew that?

The fact that they knew this and still made no contact until the end of the NPB case makes me think you would be wasting your time with this.

If you want to give them more time, I would ask for an Uncrossed Postal Order by the end of next week, you can cash that the same time as you post the item.