Selling on ebay... Is this normal?

ScottyCroft

Hi

Over the last few weeks I have been selling my unwanted stuff on ebay and it was all going well untill someone put in the highest bid and won something I was selling. But after a few days of no payment they finally sent me a message saying they are currently having problems with their paypal account and they want to post the money out to me...

Are they trying to con me somehow by going around ebay and paypal or is this common?

NeverEnough

Possibly not - there may be a genuine reason. After all, paypal usually benefits and protects the buyer, so it would be in their interest to pay by paypal. Depending on the value of the item, of course, just be wary and make sure that if you take a cheque, it has cleared completely before you post the item. If is relatively cheap, there is less risk of you losing a lot, but if its a pricey item be especially careful. Remember that ebay does not allow you to accept cash sent by post as a payment method officially, but unless your ad has mentioned this they are unlikely to discover it, if this happens. Beware of dodgy £20 notes in particular.

ScottyCroft

NeverEnough wrote: »

Possibly not - there may be a genuine reason. After all, paypal usually benefits and protects the buyer, so it would be in their interest to pay by paypal. Depending on the value of the item, of course, just be wary and make sure that if you take a cheque, it has cleared completely before you post the item. If is relatively cheap, there is less risk of you losing a lot, but if its a pricey item be especially careful. Remember that ebay does not allow you to accept cash sent by post as a payment method officially, but unless your ad has mentioned this they are unlikely to discover it, if this happens. Beware of dodgy £20 notes in particular.

Thanks. It is only worth £30 so I think I will just tell him to send out the money.

soolin

Personally I would ask for a bank transfer as once the money hits your bank account you can safely post out next day and money can't be recalled.

No_Eye_Deer

I have had postal orders sent as payment before.
Uncrossed are best, you can cash those at the post office the same time as you send the item.

Just resist any demands/requests to post before you are happy.

paddyrg

Tell them you accept UKash or Western Union payments - they are both as good as cash to you and cannot be reversed (unlike all the cheque and transfer scams) or you will wait a week for them to sort out their paypal before striking as non-payment and relisting

cestlavie

if they send anything other than a cheque i'd get them to send it with secure proof of posting. i once accepted postal order payement, but i never received anything in post. when i contacted buyer he swore blind he sent it and started accusing me of cheating him. i will never opt to accept them again - i figure if you don't have a cheque book or a registered paypal account, you are not my kind of buyer...