Buyer has not paid for item I posted, despite promises they would pay

mrbobsy

Hi, I require some advice.

I sold a BIN item on eBay, which the buyer paid for using PayPal within an hour. They then asked if it could be sent and received within the next 2 days. The item P&P was for Hermes, so I told the buyer that they would have to pay extra for RM 1st Class, which they agreed to.

So I cancelled the buyers original PayPal payment and generated a new PayPal invoice with the increased P&P costs. For the next 2 hours messages were going between myself and the buyer trying to finalise payment. No idea where the problem was but he claimed to be struggling to pay the invoice, reckoning he had paid multiple times, which he hadn't. Then finally I received a message from the buyer saying that he had finally succeeded to pay. I checked PayPal and it said that a payment had been made (possibly processing/pending?), so I took the item to the Post Office for delivery.

This is the point when it starts to go wrong - I checked my emails later in the day and noticed that the payment had been made using an eCheque, so funds would not be available until they had been cleared by the buyers bank. No problem I thought, as they had originally paid okay using PayPal. Buyer received item the next day. But, 3 days later I have an email from PayPal saying that the eCheque payment had failed and was cancelled.

I have now spent the last 2 weeks asking the buyer to pay for the item, with him sending back messages saying he will pay for the item "tomorrow", "friday", "monday", "when I get to the bank", etc. Now it's gone very quiet.

I realise it was stupid of me to send the item without cleared payment, so what options do I have?

I've got proof of postage from the Post Office, messages between myself and the buyer describing receipt of goods and promises of payment.

Why would the original PayPal payment have gone through okay, but the buyer then resorted to an eCheque? Have I fallen for some kind of scam?

I feel really let down by the buyer as I went out of my way to ensure that they received the item in plenty of time :mad:

Any advice will be appreciated.

campdave

Learn from it. I had a buyer ages ago ask if I would send first class and they would pay extra. Of course, they never did. So I have first class as an option, and if people select the slower option, I send it by the slower option, unless they pay for the upgrade up front.

MrJester

mrbobsy wrote: »

Hi, I require some advice.

I sold a BIN item on eBay, which the buyer paid for using PayPal within an hour. They then asked if it could be sent and received within the next 2 days. The item P&P was for Hermes, so I told the buyer that they would have to pay extra for RM 1st Class, which they agreed to.

So I cancelled the buyers original PayPal payment and generated a new PayPal invoice with the increased P&P costs. For the next 2 hours messages were going between myself and the buyer trying to finalise payment. No idea where the problem was but he claimed to be struggling to pay the invoice, reckoning he had paid multiple times, which he hadn't. Then finally I received a message from the buyer saying that he had finally succeeded to pay. I checked PayPal and it said that a payment had been made (possibly processing/pending?), so I took the item to the Post Office for delivery.

This is the point when it starts to go wrong - I checked my emails later in the day and noticed that the payment had been made using an eCheque, so funds would not be available until they had been cleared by the buyers bank. No problem I thought, as they had originally paid okay using PayPal. Buyer received item the next day. But, 3 days later I have an email from PayPal saying that the eCheque payment had failed and was cancelled.

I have now spent the last 2 weeks asking the buyer to pay for the item, with him sending back messages saying he will pay for the item "tomorrow", "friday", "monday", "when I get to the bank", etc. Now it's gone very quiet.

I realise it was stupid of me to send the item without cleared payment, so what options do I have?

I've got proof of postage from the Post Office, messages between myself and the buyer describing receipt of goods and promises of payment.

Why would the original PayPal payment have gone through okay, but the buyer then resorted to an eCheque? Have I fallen for some kind of scam?

I feel really let down by the buyer as I went out of my way to ensure that they received the item in plenty of time :mad:

Any advice will be appreciated.

Escalate to eBay/Paypal.

19lottie82

JoeJester wrote: »

Escalate to eBay/Paypal.

There's very little point. You could raise a non payment case against the buyer but all that will happen is they will get a non payment strike against them, the OP has no chance of getting their money or item back, if the "buyer" doesn't want to cooperate, unfortunately.

MrJester

19lottie82 wrote: »

There's very little point. You could raise a non payment case against the buyer but all that will happen is they will get a non payment strike against them, the OP has no chance of getting their money or item back, if the "buyer" doesn't want to cooperate, unfortunately.

I'm sure there's more to the process than that.
Anyway OP you have their details, threaten legal action if they don't pay, it's stolen goods basically/fraud.

19lottie82

JoeJester wrote: »

I'm sure there's more to the process than that.
Anyway OP you have their details, threaten legal action if they don't pay, it's stolen goods basically/fraud.

No, there isn't. The OP has already sent the goods, the buyer hasn't paid. Ebay warns at all times not to send goods until payment has been received and cleared. What do you expect them to do? PayPal won't get involved, the buyer didn't pay with PayPal.


It's not stolen goods. The OP sent the item of their own free will.

Small claims could be an option but I'm not sure how far you'd get or if it would be worth it. Was the item sent tracked?

19lottie82

Edit..... from reading the OP the seller has a proof of postage so I'm guessing no proof of delivery. This wouldn't stand up in court at all. The "buyer" can just say they didn't recieve it.

OP learn from this mistake, firstly never send until an cheque is cleared (this is stated in the notification from PayPal when a echeque is sent) and always send recorded unless it's a low cost item.

philatio

Yep.

You've "been done"

Learn from it and move on.

mrbobsy

19lottie82 wrote: »

Edit..... from reading the OP the seller has a proof of postage so I'm guessing no proof of delivery. This wouldn't stand up in court at all. The "buyer" can just say they didn't recieve it.

OP learn from this mistake, firstly never send until an cheque is cleared (this is stated in the notification from PayPal when a echeque is sent) and always send recorded unless it's a low cost item.

Sorry, should have said that I sent it using Royal Mail "Signed For", I've also got messages from the receipient confirming that they have received the goods.

Could someone explain/give a reason why the buyer would have been able to pay using PayPal initially, but then resort to paying using an eCheque 2 hours later?

Other than that it looks like I'm stuffed

soolin

mrbobsy wrote: »

Sorry, should have said that I sent it using Royal Mail "Signed For", I've also got messages from the receipient confirming that they have received the goods.

Could someone explain/give a reason why the buyer would have been able to pay using PayPal initially, but then resort to paying using an eCheque 2 hours later?

Other than that it looks like I'm stuffed

There are several reasons, one is that echeque can be completely random. A number of my payments to eBay for fees end up going as an echeque.

More likely is that the original refunded payment would still have been paid from the bank account, it wouldn't go back immediately, so the second payment triggered the echeque .

Unfortunately the payment would have carried a very prominent warning that goods should not be sent until payment clears, as many of these echeques do fail.

WLM21

campdave wrote: »

(1) Learn from it.

(2) I have first class as an option, and if people select the slower option, I send it by the slower option, unless they pay for the upgrade up front.

Two very good points !

I too, (when I remember) offer two prices, a cheaper courier option as well as the faster Royal Mail price. I don't think anybody has actually paid for the more expensive option, but at least it's there, if they want it