selling on ebay for the first time

thezib

hi everyone
i had a laptop i decided to sell on ebay since i decided to get a new one. had been on gumtree for weeks with no offers.
the seller seems to be genuine and has paid through paypal.
im sending it off today, using royal mail special delivery.
ebay tried to charge me around £10 to print off a post label. is this compulsory or can i just type out a simple one or go handwritten?
please is there anything to watch out for? i was a bit wary of being scammed, but the buyer appears genuine.
thanks

Crowqueen

eBay are charging you for postage - you don't have to print it off from them, you can go down to the Post Office yourself and buy Special Delivery. I personally never use eBay postage, mainly because my printer is temperamental but also because I prefer to handwrite the addresses.

As long as you send the laptop via the correct means of postage, then you're fine. You have certain responsibilities you can't avoid, such as damage in post - I hope you have packed it very securely - so although there are possible scams involved, the risk is yours when you list something like this on eBay.

Personally I avoid these kind of items either as buyer or seller - they have a limited shelf-life and can get damaged in the post too easily. But if your buyer has paid, any worry about that is academic - you have to go through with the sale, and the buyer is given a certain amount of protection both legally (item needs to be as described, and if it arrives non-working they are entitled to send it back) and through eBay/Paypal - up to about six weeks' worth of cover, depending on the vagaries of any dispute.

The time to think about scams is over, I'm afraid. I'm sure there will be a lot of people saying 'this can happen, that can happen' - it's mostly to do with the return process, however, and there's no way you can prevent your buyer from returning something that is genuinely faulty, though there are certain things that can be done retrospectively if you do get scammed through this method.

The time to consider whether or not you can be scammed and how is when you write a listing, not when you have sold your item. If you think the risk is too great then, don't list it for sale online and sell it through the paper or through small ads.

Sorry, I do sound a bit harsh, but unfortunately the buyer now has certain rights.

thezib

Crowqueen wrote: »

eBay are charging you for postage - you don't have to print it off from them, you can go down to the Post Office yourself and buy Special Delivery. I personally never use eBay postage, mainly because my printer is temperamental but also because I prefer to handwrite the addresses.

As long as you send the laptop via the correct means of postage, then you're fine. You have certain responsibilities you can't avoid, such as damage in post - I hope you have packed it very securely - so although there are possible scams involved, the risk is yours when you list something like this on eBay.

Personally I avoid these kind of items either as buyer or seller - they have a limited shelf-life and can get damaged in the post too easily. But if your buyer has paid, any worry about that is academic - you have to go through with the sale, and the buyer is given a certain amount of protection both legally (item needs to be as described, and if it arrives non-working they are entitled to send it back) and through eBay/Paypal - up to about six weeks' worth of cover, depending on the vagaries of any dispute.

The time to think about scams is over, I'm afraid. I'm sure there will be a lot of people saying 'this can happen, that can happen' - it's mostly to do with the return process, however, and there's no way you can prevent your buyer from returning something that is genuinely faulty, though there are certain things that can be done retrospectively if you do get scammed through this method.

The time to consider whether or not you can be scammed and how is when you write a listing, not when you have sold your item. If you think the risk is too great then, don't list it for sale online and sell it through the paper or through small ads.

Sorry, I do sound a bit harsh, but unfortunately the buyer now has certain rights.

thanks for your advice
fingers crossed it all goes well

Crowqueen

Yes, good luck. I'm sure it will go smoothly - I think people overemphasise scams.

However, if something does go wrong, we're always here to help.