Vent: eBay buyers

MamaMoo_2

Why oh why am I always plagued with buyers on eBay who don't read the sodding listing?!
I'm selling a load of heavy, bulky stuff at the moment, and as such it's all listed as "local pickup" and I have specified cash on collection only.
So imagine my surprise today to find that an item I've sold has been paid for by PayPal, and the person lives ~2.5hours drive away.
The item I'm selling, afaik, is nothing special. Certainly not worth driving that far for, so I'm waiting for the request to ship which will be declined as it'd cost a fair bit to courier, and would be a pain to package.
It's clear the seller hasn't read the item description as it specifies cash on collection only, the only way I'll accept payments since I got scammed by some cow who paid by PayPal, picked up the item, then filed an "item not received" claim. Unfortunately for her, I had her home address and she wasn't too pleased when I knocked on her door, but that's another story.
Just grrrr.

battleborn

There are lots of silly people on ebay.

If its pick up only, let them worry about how they are going to get it, dont even bother trying to explain to them.

Azari

I don't know if this is still the case but fleabay had a very annoying feature whereby the shipping would be marked 'Free' for items that the seller would not ship.

It's something you learn to spot very quickly (especially as it usually only applies to heavy items) but I wonder if this is something that catches new users out.

I could never understand why the marked the shipping as 'Free' rather than simply state 'Collection Only' to avoid any possibility of confusion.

MamaMoo_2

Azari wrote: »

I don't know if this is still the case but fleabay had a very annoying feature whereby the shipping would be marked 'Free' for items that the seller would not ship.

It's something you learn to spot very quickly (especially as it usually only applies to heavy items) but I wonder if this is something that catches new users out.

I could never understand why the marked the shipping as 'Free' rather than simply state 'Collection Only' to avoid any possibility of confusion.

These days they show up in listings as "Local Pickup", and having just double checked the listing, under the shipping section it says Shipping: Collection in person

Valli

I would simply refund the paypal payment straight away...and put in the comment/message box that your terms are strictly COC but thank them for their interest.

Azari

MamaMoo wrote: »

These days they show up in listings as "Local Pickup", and having just double checked the listing, under the shipping section it says Shipping: Collection in person

So they don't even have that somewhat dubious excuse to fall back on.

Glad fleabay have sorted that out, though.

MamaMoo_2

Valli wrote: »

I would simply refund the paypal payment straight away...and put in the comment/message box that your terms are strictly COC but thank them for their interest.

I refunded immediately and added the comment "cash on collection only as specified in the listing. Please contact me to arrange a date/time for collection."
We'll see how this pans out. Took 24 hours to make a payment. Probably won't hear anything for another 24 hours. :@

soolin

MamaMoo wrote: »

Why oh why am I always plagued with buyers on eBay who don't read the sodding listing?!
I'm selling a load of heavy, bulky stuff at the moment, and as such it's all listed as "local pickup" and I have specified cash on collection only.
So imagine my surprise today to find that an item I've sold has been paid for by PayPal, and the person lives ~2.5hours drive away.
The item I'm selling, afaik, is nothing special. Certainly not worth driving that far for, so I'm waiting for the request to ship which will be declined as it'd cost a fair bit to courier, and would be a pain to package.
It's clear the seller hasn't read the item description as it specifies cash on collection only, the only way I'll accept payments since I got scammed by some cow who paid by PayPal, picked up the item, then filed an "item not received" claim. Unfortunately for her, I had her home address and she wasn't too pleased when I knocked on her door, but that's another story.
Just grrrr.

You really can't complain about buyers not reading listings though when you don't read eBay terms and conditions that state PayPal must be offered. It will be there clearly on your listing and will show more prominently than any disclaimer you try and add, and if user goes through checkout only PayPal will be shown.

none of us want to take PayPal on a collected item and no once can force you to sell if you don't want to. However we sellers must understand what the buyer actually sees when they bid, and on many mobile devices a great deal of info is missing.

johnsons_baby

I've had the same this week.
Selling Mr's old car, it's a non runner, doesn't start or drive so very clearly put this in the description but said viewing was very welcome etc. Made it very clear that a trailer/flatbed recovery truck would be required to collect.

We had an eBay message from an interested party asking if they could arrange a test drive. Politely explained that the car wasn't drivable, viewing was welcome however. Heard nothing back but noticed the same eBayer as the high bidder. Mr messaged him back just to reiterate it was a non runner, no reply.

He won the auction and then asked us when the car would be delivered to him as we'd put that a trailer/truck would be required for collection and he'd 'assumed' because we had put that, that we had both.

He wasn't local so had to file a non payer on him but luckily car sold to under bidder

codger

I used to think, once upon a time, that before being allowed to bid on anything on eBay, a buyer should have to take an intelligence test.

Then as time went along, and eBay's listing changes and charges and general sodding about went from bad to worse, I decided that before being allowed to flog anything on eBay, every seller should be required to take an intelligence test, too.

The results of my test recommended that I, as a seller, stop bothering with eBay. Who'd a guessed it?

MamaMoo_2

soolin wrote: »

You really can't complain about buyers not reading listings though when you don't read eBay terms and conditions that state PayPal must be offered. It will be there clearly on your listing and will show more prominently than any disclaimer you try and add, and if user goes through checkout only PayPal will be shown.

none of us want to take PayPal on a collected item and no once can force you to sell if you don't want to. However we sellers must understand what the buyer actually sees when they bid, and on many mobile devices a great deal of info is missing.

It wasn't that I didn't read the T&C's, I just decided to make a note that, whilst offered by force, payments should be made by cash to protect myself, as PayPal would be taking a ridiculous risk. If the guy had wanted to do it a different way, it may have been an idea to contact me first to prevent any issues.
I don't understand why somebody wouldn't read the listing of a second hand item. I *always* read everything to prevent myself from accidentally buying tat. Blah.
Also, as someone who uses the eBay app and mobile site a lot, it still specifies "Local Pickup", and my plain text descriptions are still easily readable. The reason I do all my listings in plain text is to prevent incompatibility with certain ways of viewing eBay.

My other bug bear is some of the "Best offers" I receive. BNIB item, still security sealed, with receipt and warranty. Retail value £600. My BIN price £450. Best offers received? £50, £150, £163, £210. That was in the 1 hour before it was bought as a BIN. Just... No.