Selling a collection only item on ebay

aeb_2

I've been successful with GUMTREE for large local items - and it's free.

wantsajob

soolin wrote: »

It isn't illegal

I think Microsoft said the same in court, just before they were fined £381 million http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Microsoft_competition_case

Edit: thinking about it, the parallels with eBay insisting Paypal must be an option are quite striking. Part of the reason for the £381 million fine was that Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer were an integral part of Windows. Of course, people had the choice NOT to use them, they could install Firefox, or Winamp, Itunes, or VLC media player, or anything of their choosing from the millions of options available. The simple fact the default options were forced upon customers, using Windows was reason enough for a £381 million fine. Remember these options ultimately made Microsoft money via MSN advertising, and sales via Windows Media Player (which is why they were anti-competitive business practices).

I guess the problem here is having a big enough company to complain about this monopoly, and who will put their large reserve of gold bullion where their mouth/legal papers are. Paypal has weakened the market position of many of the smaller companies, and even taken over many competitors (Yahoo auctions, Gumtree). Obviously Banks like Barclays who are making a foray into internet money transfer, have their own worries at the moment.

These exact types of business practices have clearly been deemed illegal in the past. Here's a typically pith poor response to someone else's FOIA query on the matter. http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/freedom_of_information/FoIA-responses/IAT-FOIA-127113.pdf

sham63

I wouldn't worry too much about being scammed - you just need to be aware that it can happen.

It is quite rare and seems more likely to occur with laptops/phones rather than garden sheds!

I've sold many items (including high value over £500) as 'cash on collection' only and never had any problems with scammers. On two occasions I have been paid by PayPal, however after a polite email reminding the buyers that the items were cash on collection & refunding the Paypal payments, I still received positive feedback. This is out of approx 50 cash on collection items I've sold over the past few years.

Most people are very reasonable and not out to rip you off. The worst case scenario is that you will receive a neg - not the end of the world.

It would be a shame for someone to be put off selling 'cash on collection' items through fear of a very rare scam.

soolin

Most people are very reasonable and not out to rip you off. The worst case
scenario is that you will receive a neg - not the end of the world.

No , worse case scenario is that you get left with lots of fees to pay, and don't forget FVFs are now 10% in most cases

Crowqueen

The difference between Microsoft and eBay is that eBay still permit the use of other payment methods, e.g. cash on collection in this instance. That is not illegal.

If it were illegal eBay would have been referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. I don't think they have (at least not successfully). There would have been a similar high-profile suit or prosecution - there hasn't been.

eBay US were forbidden from having Paypal as the only accepted payment system by the same anti-trust laws that snared Microsoft. They had to allow other electronic providers access to the site.

Amazon UK make sellers use their in-house electronic system only. I guess that is not the same since it is not a separate enterprise.

Until proven otherwise, while the Paypal-on-collection scam does stop me from recommending eBay for those sort of sales, there is plenty of other competition to use, and plenty of evidence that what eBay are doing by making Paypal compulsory but still allowing other payment methods to be used (even if the uptake is not great). The difficulty here is that the value is such that many buyers would feel safer making an electronic payment if they were coming to an unfamiliar area. Cash is not safe from a loss/theft POV and it might be wise for the OP to consider allowing a buyer to pay them over a counter at a local bank as well as just handing over cash.

As Soo says, on eBay, a neg and its accompanied problems - everything from paying the fees to a non-performance report as well as trashed DSRs. I also like to treat buyers with respect - they are the ones paying for my stuff. So just calling someone a scammer to their face if they pay using a legitimate method and saying you will take the accompanying neg is bad for the site atmosphere as a whole. Every annoyed or insulted buyer is a loss to everyone else on the site. So you do your bit to pee people off by all means - but don't come crying to us when sales are slow.

buggritt

I don't believe it's illegal. However you can't say it's legal because there hasn't been a prosecution. That makes no sense at all. Microsoft were not acting legally the day before the action was brought.

sham63

soolin wrote: »

No , worse case scenario is that you get left with lots of fees to pay, and don't forget FVFs are now 10% in most cases

Yes - fair enough. However, this would only happen if you were dealing with someone completely unreasonable and the worry of this happening should not outweigh the benefits of being able to sell cash on collection items.

As I said, in 50+ collection transactions this has never happened to me. There have been very few posts on this forum where people have been victims of this scam - it seems very rare. The only examples I can remember are where people were unaware that you shouldn't accept PayPal for collected items - I can't remember any where the seller has known the potential pitfalls and still taken a neg and had to pay fvfs.

SaverSavvy123

sham63 wrote: »

Yes - fair enough. However, this would only happen if you were dealing with someone completely unreasonable and the worry of this happening should not outweigh the benefits of being able to sell cash on collection items.

As I said, in 50+ collection transactions this has never happened to me. There have been very few posts on this forum where people have been victims of this scam - it seems very rare. The only examples I can remember are where people were unaware that you shouldn't accept PayPal for collected items - I can't remember any where the seller has known the potential pitfalls and still taken a neg and had to pay fvfs.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I have taken on board everyone's advice and think that as we need to move it quickly ebay will still be the best option. I can't wait for the free ads to be printed and distributed. I will certainly list as Cash on Collection and will let you all know how I get on.

Thanks again for your advice everyone

sham63

I think you will be fine selling a shed. Make it clear in the listing that it's cash on collection - I usually put this in bold at the top of the description and state it again at the end of the decription - just to make sure!

Also, remeber that you can't say 'no Paypal' - that will probably get your listing pulled.

wantsajob

Crowqueen wrote: »

The difference between Microsoft and eBay is that eBay still permit the use of other payment methods, e.g. cash on collection in this instance. That is not illegal.

I feel you have just confirmed and supported my point! People using Windows were never prevented from using Firefox, Opera, Netscape Navigator, AOL or whatever browser other than Internet Explorer (IE). And I am sure this defence will have been used and made clear in the trial. IE was merely installed automatically with Windows, just like Paypal is automatically 'installed' with your eBay account.

In fact, if someone wishes to pay with Paypal, you're over a barrel as you're forced to accept! This is somewhat more of a monopoly than Microsoft bundling IE with Windows as standard. At least with Windows, you were never forced to accept anything through Internet Explorer. Since it's you who has to pay the Paypal fees, and in the end are therefore their customer, something very wrong going on there!