collection item buyer paid by paypal, advice

myrtleturtle

wanting some advice on best way to proceed. as no contact from buyer until today.

sold a collection only item on 28th july
sent 1st invoice 28 july
sent 2nd invoice 1st august
messaged via ebay morning of 3rd august
late night of 3rd august opened NPB case( to be closed 7th aug)

but today 6th august he has messaged with what is possible a geniune reason for not paying sooner but given the timing who knows and he has paid via paypal.so ebay have closed the NPB case.
saying:
Sorry about the late payment,
i am a carer for my mum and she has been ill, so i didnt get round to checking my ebay.
I am afraid i dont know when i can collect just yet,everything is a bit difficult, i know you cant hang onto it for ever so if you relist it i will understand
many thanks for your understanding


obviously i'd prefer not to except paypal for a collection item, so wondered the best way to proceed. given that hes also no idea when he can collect. hes at least 30 miles away to delivering to him isn't an option
TIA

Crowqueen

You can't not accept it. Most people are honest and only a handful of categories of items are scam-prone. This is a happenstance on eBay and if you didn't want to have to accept Paypal then you shouldn't really list on eBay. There are plenty of other alternatives for collection only items where you can dictate payment method and not be liable for closing fees if the buyer doesn't turn up.

You also sent invoices, inviting Paypal payment - why? You should have messaged the buyer asking what time it was possible for them to collect, sent your phone number and address, asked for theirs, phoned them to discuss a time they could collect and so on.

It's a bit of a PITA because you really didn't want him to pay - though it is their prerogative to do so. Now they have paid you have to fulfil; you can refund and refuse to deal with him but you have fees you can't reclaim and are then liable to all sorts of nasty consequences e.g. non-performing seller report.

Your call but you open yourself up to problems if you return their payment and demand another sort, so I would ask when he is likely to be able to get to you to claim. Whatever you do, don't go in all guns blazing about the Paypal issue - if you know there's a risk, you take the risk when you list the item on eBay, so that is largely irrelevant now. You need to sort this out to their satisfaction - to protect your feedback - and to yours.

myrtleturtle

hi CQ
thanks for the reply, no guns blazing here
want to work this out as best for him & not leave myself open to claim backs.
i will except paypal if needs be, as you say thats what you agree to when listing.
don't think its a scam worthy item either.
more concerned hes only respond when NPB was nearly closeable and that he has no idea when he will be able to collect.although a claim back after collection concerns me a little and yes i know not everyones like that.

1st time i've had anyone pay paypal for a collection item, so how does that work on my account , hes paid but can't collect
i can't mark as dispatched so it will look like i've had his money and not delivered.

Crowqueen wrote: »

You can't not accept it. Most people are honest and only a handful of categories of items are scam-prone. This is a happenstance on eBay and if you didn't want to have to accept Paypal then you shouldn't really list on eBay. There are plenty of other alternatives for collection only items where you can dictate payment method and not be liable for closing fees if the buyer doesn't turn up.

It's a bit of a PITA because you really didn't want him to pay - though it is their prerogative to do so. Now they have paid you have to fulfil; you can refund and refuse to deal with him but you have fees you can't reclaim.

Your call but you open yourself up to problems if you return their payment and demand another sort, so I would ask when he is likely to be able to get to you to claim. Whatever you do, don't go in all guns blazing about the Paypal issue - if you know there's a risk, you take the risk when you list the item on eBay, so that is largely irrelevant now. You need to sort this out to their satisfaction - to protect your feedback - and to yours.

Crowqueen

I would work it out with him a bit more before definitely deciding what to do. See when he is likely to be able to collect, and see whether he gives a concrete date - in which case I would wait at least until then - or wants a refund. If the worst comes to the worst and he refuses to accept a refund minus your fees (which might be the most equitable solution in this case but I would not do this unless you have his agreement), you can resell the item to recoup costs.

If this sale falls through, list the item on Gumtree or Facebook or another classified ad site, thereby avoiding any issue with either Paypal or fees.

Don't panic for the moment about dispatch - it's only for your records and for the buyer's records, it won't make an impact your account. It is important on some sites (e.g. Amazon don't release money until you mark as sent, but then again you don't sell collection items there, everything has to be posted) but not eBay.

myrtleturtle

hi CQ
thanks again
i'll message him and see if he can give me a collection date , as i don't mind holding onto it for a little while if i have a date.
like you say he may decide he wants a refund. but poss. not given he paid and didn't as for sale cancellation.

but deff won't be doing anything unless hes agreed first.

thanks for reassurance re: account and dispatch too.

Crowqueen wrote: »

I would work it out with him a bit more before definitely deciding what to do. See when he is likely to be able to collect, and see whether he gives a concrete date - in which case I would wait at least until then - or wants a refund. If the worst comes to the worst and he refuses to accept a refund minus your fees (which might be the most equitable solution in this case but I would not do this unless you have his agreement), you can resell the item to recoup costs.

If this sale falls through, list the item on Gumtree or Facebook or another classified ad site, thereby avoiding any issue with either Paypal or fees.

Don't panic for the moment about dispatch - it's only for your records and for the buyer's records, it won't make an impact your account. It is important on some sites (e.g. Amazon don't release money until you mark as sent, but then again you don't sell collection items there, everything has to be posted) but not eBay.

Crowqueen

No problem. Collection items I think need a little bit of flexibility when dealing with them. Initial contact from a buyer should be prompt (I don't disagree with your decision to open an NPB dispute), but I would allow two full weekends for collection, or at least allow the buyer to name a date.

Like I said though, eBay is simply not appropriate for collection items; I would always advise people to sell stuff via other sites. Quite apart from the Paypal issue, you have the issue of people turning up only to find the item is not as expected and then walking away leaving you with the fees; you don't to pay for need worldwide exposure (and quite often overseas buyers will bid by mistake if you don't set your postage blocks correctly) and people are often unrealistic about collection timings - not saying you're being unrealistic, but there have been ridiculous threads where a seller is just relisting and relisting trying to get the buyer to come immediately at EOA and wondering what is going wrong.

Most collection items can be sold quite comfortably with a postcard in the shop window.

myrtleturtle

hi CQ
you are proberly right about NPB i was in too minds at the time but had no contact whatso ever from buyer.

well i have sent him a message that hopefully sounds friendly.
saying sorry to hear about mum, willing to hold onto it for little while if he can give me a better idea of when he thinks he could collect.

so we'll see what he says. thats if hes not offline for ages again.

Crowqueen wrote: »

No problem. Collection items I think need a little bit of flexibility when dealing with them. Initial contact from a buyer should be prompt (I don't disagree with your decision to open an NPB dispute), but I would allow two full weekends for collection, or at least allow the buyer to name a date.

Like I said though, eBay is simply not appropriate for collection items; I would always advise people to sell stuff via other sites. Quite apart from the Paypal issue, you have the issue of people turning up only to find the item is not as expected and then walking away leaving you with the fees; you don't to pay for need worldwide exposure (and quite often overseas buyers will bid by mistake if you don't set your postage blocks correctly) and people are often unrealistic about collection timings - not saying you're being unrealistic, but there have been ridiculous threads where a seller is just relisting and relisting trying to get the buyer to come immediately at EOA and wondering what is going wrong.

Most collection items can be sold quite comfortably with a postcard in the shop window.

Crowqueen

Best of luck. I think you're handling this very well. I hope he gets back to you ASAP.

I'm surprised at the dearth of people telling you to refund and insist on cash, as normally happens.

myrtleturtle

hi CQ
thanks, hopefully i can sort this to both our satisfaction & as quickly as possible.
if he doesn't reply to this last message whats the best thing to do.as he was offline for at least nine days before.

Crowqueen wrote: »

Best of luck. I think you're handling this very well. I hope he gets back to you ASAP.

I'm surprised at the dearth of people telling you to refund and insist on cash, as normally happens.

Crowqueen

Eventually you would probably refund him and relist, but I would wait another week or two; theoretically the item is his property and he has rights, though you also have a right after a certain period to charge an incremental storage fee.

This would be an absolute last resort though, and only something I would contemplate after at least another fortnight. You might, say, notify him politely that after a certain date - give him a bit of time - you will charge a storage fee equal to your listing and FV fees and then refund the rest of the money.

I'm trying to find the DirectGov page on uncollected items. Does anyone have a link?

myrtleturtle

thanks CQ
i suppose its in his interest to reply this time as hes now paid for it.
hopefully it won't come to relisting etc
but thanks for time scales as sometimes its hard to know how long to leave things.

Crowqueen wrote: »

Eventually you would probably refund him and relist, but I would wait another week or two; theoretically the item is his property and he has rights, though you also have a right after a certain period to charge an incremental storage fee.

This would be an absolute last resort though, and only something I would contemplate after at least another fortnight. You might, say, notify him politely that after a certain date - give him a bit of time - you will charge a storage fee equal to your listing and FV fees and then refund the rest of the money.

I'm trying to find the DirectGov page on uncollected items. Does anyone have a link?