ebay buyers - grrr

trailingspouse

I'm sure I'm not the first, and won't be the last to have had this problem.

I posted a few items on ebay last week, and they timed out today.

Out of 13 items posted, 4 have sold. Yay!!

Out of those 4 items, one person has paid. Yay!!

Of the remaining 3 successful bidders -

One has announced that he lives in London and can't come and pick up the heavy item that was clearly described as collection only in West Yorkshire.

One has told me that the Canon camera lens that I was selling is not a Nikon but is, in fact, a Canon...

And one hasn't been in touch at all yet.

These were not low value items. Why don't they read the description? No-one forced them to bid - but seemingly they only think 'Is this the right thing for me?' when they've won!!

The Resolution Centre is going to be busy on Tuesday.

AndyCF

I have had this a couple of times, despite (second time I listed) I put in larger (as in about an inch in height) the items were collection only and *why* they were collect only. I still had both 'winners' asking how much postage was.

To be fair they were physically postable with sensible packing (glass mainly) however apart from breakage risk the reason for not wanting to post them was clearly stated in the listing too as they were car parts that would not fit a UK model (again clearly stated, they would only fit a US spec LHD not any other LHD model either!) but as you say people do not read.

If I had of done a 'post' thing I would of no doubt ended up with some kind of chargeback or "item unsuitable" thing hence it being "collect only"

I hear you only too well

Pollycat

That's really rude.

I don't sell much on ebay but do buy a few things.
I always try to pay as soon as the auction has finished, if I'm out (I don't do 'money stuff' on my phone), I'll send a message to the seller telling them I'll pay as soon as I get home - and I do.

I always leave feedback, luckily I've never had a poor purchase so that's pretty easy to do.
And if I'm really pleased with an item (if it's a personal item e.g. a piece of jewellery, always 2nd hand) I tend to drop the seller a message to say I've received it OK and am pleased with it.

I always read the listings very carefully, check the postage details (I don't like certain carriers) and ask any questions as soon as I can in the listing.

Maybe I'm the one person who's paid for the item you've sold.

grayme-m

I find it tends to go in waves, either a range of auctions or just for a particular product.

Two laptops I've sold had to be listed seven times between them, either due to 'oh I've just bought one so I don't need this' to those that are too rude to even make up an excuse and contact at all.

I believe that some people see eBay as optional and not a done deal until payment is made. If they were to be charged as soon as they won or at least a 15% 'non-refundable deposit' on winning, that would change their behaviour.

However, eBay doesn't really seem to care, you can't leave negative feedback for buyers and the non-paying bidder process is rather limp in terms of penalties.

One of my favourite bits of eBay feedback that I have come across, that sums up some buyers perfectly:

'Not worth the price I paid for it'

The seller had responded:

'It's an auction, you decided how much you were paying'

macman

If they've bought things because they failed to read the description, then it's not your problem. If one can't collect, he can arrange a courier, or you can dispose of the item if he fails to collect it. The one who bought the wrong lens can resell it himself.
If they don't pay, raise a dispute in the normal fashion.
One thing I never do for collection only items is allow cash on collection, because they then have no incentive to turn up, and it stops them trying to renegotiate the agreed price on arrival, both of which have happened to me before I got wise to this.

grayme-m

macman wrote: »

One thing I never do for collection only items is allow cash on collection, because they then have no incentive to turn up, and it stops them trying to renegotiate the agreed price on arrival, both of which have happened to me before I got wise to this.

Conversely, I always insist on COC as it saves on Paypal fees and prevents chargebacks as it's not a tracked method of delivery.

I've been lucky never to get a no show or someone trying it on though.

Ames

macman wrote: »

If they've bought things because they failed to read the description, then it's not your problem. If one can't collect, he can arrange a courier, or you can dispose of the item if he fails to collect it. The one who bought the wrong lens can resell it himself.
If they don't pay, raise a dispute in the normal fashion.
One thing I never do for collection only items is allow cash on collection, because they then have no incentive to turn up, and it stops them trying to renegotiate the agreed price on arrival, both of which have happened to me before I got wise to this.

The problem with PayPal for collection items is that you have no proof that the buyer collected it, so they can open an item not received case and get a refund.

Silvertabby

That's really rude.

I don't sell much on ebay but do buy a few things.
I always try to pay as soon as the auction has finished, if I'm out (I don't do 'money stuff' on my phone), I'll send a message to the seller telling them I'll pay as soon as I get home - and I do.

I always leave feedback, luckily I've never had a poor purchase so that's pretty easy to do.
And if I'm really pleased with an item (if it's a personal item e.g. a piece of jewellery, always 2nd hand) I tend to drop the seller a message to say I've received it OK and am pleased with it.

I always read the listings very carefully, check the postage details (I don't like certain carriers) and ask any questions as soon as I can in the listing. Posted by Pollycat

Me too (buyer only) plus I give the seller the benefit of the doubt and allow a couple of days after the 'receive by' date in case it takes longer than normal in the post.

I can understand the sellers frustration, but I did find this funny - a dolls house chesterfield sofa was re-listed as: 'Despite this clearly being listed as dolls house furniture, with correct size given and postal charges of £2.90, buyer thought he was getting a brand new, full sized, real leather chesterfield sofa'.

Gavin83

macman wrote: »

If they've bought things because they failed to read the description, then it's not your problem. If one can't collect, he can arrange a courier, or you can dispose of the item if he fails to collect it. The one who bought the wrong lens can resell it himself.
If they don't pay, raise a dispute in the normal fashion.

One of the main issues is that eBay don't care. You can't force people to pay and if you do raise a dispute nothing happens. eBay are far more keen to protect buyers than they are sellers, it's one of the reasons I sell very little on there these days.

macman wrote: »

One thing I never do for collection only items is allow cash on collection, because they then have no incentive to turn up, and it stops them trying to renegotiate the agreed price on arrival, both of which have happened to me before I got wise to this.

That is one of the easiest ways to get scammed on eBay. If you are selling an item for collection always insist on cash on collection.

Pollycat

Silvertabby wrote: »

I can understand the sellers frustration, but I did find this funny - a dolls house chesterfield sofa was re-listed as: 'Despite this clearly being listed as dolls house furniture, with correct size given and postal charges of £2.90, buyer thought he was getting a brand new, full sized, real leather chesterfield sofa'.

I'd have loved to have seen his face when he opened that package. :rotfl:

trailingspouse

Update -

The one that hadn't been in touch got in touch, agreed to collection at lunchtime today, arrived 15 minutes early and paid cash. Why oh why oh why can't they all be like that?

I realise I can't make them pay. I will offer the 'collection only' person the option of arranging a courier at their own expense. Don't think I can do much about the camera lens person.

And I will be going via the Resolution Centre tomorrow, but with no great expectation of success.
But I feel better for a bit of a rant.