How to proceed with sale (I'm the seller) when buyer needs to use Shiply

forgotmyname

Way forward they pay by bank transfer or you take the risk?

Tunstallstoven

@soolin It's £190.  So in the middle, albeit at the lower end...  Which way does that tip the scales?

@forgotmyname What about Jeremy Clarkson!??  If they are dodgy, and they end up with my name, address, and bank details, could I be in any kind of trouble with other form of scams and/or identity theft?  

I haven't heard back from the buyer yet.  I've done a little reading int he meantime though and it seems there are Shiply couriers who provide proper on line tracking.  If he were to cancel the current courier and find one who offers this, AND have me in the messages (or able to email the courier to confirm delivery address, or similar) would that be a potential other avenue?

It really means a lot that you're sticking with me through this.  Huge thanks

soolin

Bank transfers are safe for a seller but not for a buyer, you can ask buyer to repay using a bank transfer but many buyers, myself included, would not consider using an unsafe payment method. 

The Jeremy Clarkson situation explains why bank transfers are safe. All the buyer can do is set up a direct debit to a charity and when the bank confirm that one has been set up, as they are obliged to do, you are completely covered by the direct debit guarantee and cannot lose money. Us older people who used to use cheques were used to having our bank sort code and account numbers displayed as they were on every cheque we wrote. 

Tunstallstoven

That all makes total sense.  Thanks for explaining.  

What about identify fraud?  

As for the buyer, hopefully he can find a courier who ticks all those boxes above; in which case we can continue with the him having paid by PP.  If not, I can at least offer the bank transfer although I totally appreciate what you're saying about the trust involved and why he might not want to do that.

Thanks again

Tunstallstoven

Just having a look this morning.  This article says:  

"Bank and credit card statements usually contain your name, address, and details about your account that can be used by identity thieves to commit fraudulent acts"
https://www.equifax.co.uk/resources/identity-protection/identity-fraud-how-they-could-try-to-access-your-information.html

And another says:
"Giving out your account number and sort code is often necessary, for example, to receive payments from your employer, friends, family, customers or clients.  It’s generally considered safe to give out your account number and sort code, but you should always use common sense and avoid sharing your bank details with people you don’t know or expect payments from..." 
https://www.starlingbank.com/resources/banking/bank-accounts-explained-sort-code-account-number/#:~:text=It's generally considered safe to,know or expect payments from.

I guess the first one gives a blanket "No, you shouldn't do it."  
Whilst in the second one, I guess I would be "expecting payments from" the buyer.  
Still seems there is general advice out there that warns against giving out bank details.  But then I can see the logic in how it is on cheques, etc too.    
I guess, thinking about, that it's not just the bank details, it's the fact they have your name, address, possibly phone number, and bank details too.  For my personally, I have an unusual and quite unique surname, so that too might help someone in an attempt to steal identity or be fraudulent in some way?  

forgotmyname

Identity fraud?   Your more likely to find info on a person by googling them than having a bank account number

and sort code.

The buyer wont know if you have middle names, they wont know your date of birth or security questions. People

post far more personal information on Facebook every day.

People are more likely to find more about you from the info you have provided on this forum if you have been

postingfor a while. I know people have posted personal ebay usernames and real names they would rather

not have divulged.  Its easy to get carried away explaining something or posting a link which may have

identifying info. 

eg. people looking to buy a car and posts a link to one on autotrader where they have used their real

postcode. That often links to a dozen or so houses, sometimes less.

Every shop you use your debid card in can see your account number and sort code, as soolin mentioned

cheques had the same info on them for how many years?

Tunstallstoven

Quick update to see that the sale ended up being cancelled but all was well and the buyer understood the situation.  He was disappointed but accepting.  I've since updated all of my adverts so they're in line with what I've learnt here.  

Thanks for all the help along the way.

@soolin - just one thing to add...  In a couple of my recent threads we've discussed how the whole Paypal fee is lost when you refund someone.  But on three separate occasions now when I've refunded, all I have lost is the "standing charge" fee (30p).  I was wondering where you have seen that the whole fee is lost?  Many thanks   

soolin

Seagull27 said:

Quick update to see that the sale ended up being cancelled but all was well and the buyer understood the situation.  He was disappointed but accepting.  I've since updated all of my adverts so they're in line with what I've learnt here.  

Thanks for all the help along the way.

@soolin - just one thing to add...  In a couple of my recent threads we've discussed how the whole Paypal fee is lost when you refund someone.  But on three separate occasions now when I've refunded, all I have lost is the "standing charge" fee (30p).  I was wondering where you have seen that the whole fee is lost?  Many thanks   

I can't explain it any better than I already have, it is hidden in the available balance. A few people are still insisting that they cannot see any charge, and rather than keep pointing it out I just suggest they keep quiet about it so that paypal don't realise the rules are not being applied to everyone.

Are you sure you want to continue with trying ebay for your collection only items- as per the sticky thread you face issues with buyers who want to pay with paypal and refunding and refusing a sale is likely to give you a defect . A very low volume seller can face issues with just a single defect and 2 can see your account lost - have you not considered other places to try and sell, or if you can afford to wait, then wait for managed payments to apply to your account. 

How did you cancel the transaction in the end, what option did you use from the drop down menu to refund on ebay?

pbartlett

What I did when I sold an expensive Laura Ashley sofa which the buyer wanted to collect by their own courier was this... I told them to pay friends and family paypal once the courier had arrived at my house and started to collect the sofa but not actually loaded it  into the van. the courier called the purchaser to say the item existed and was about to be loaded. The money pinged into my account and I let the courier continue loading.

Spoonie_Turtle

pbartlett said:

What I did when I sold an expensive Laura Ashley sofa which the buyer wanted to collect by their own courier was this... I told them to pay friends and family paypal once the courier had arrived at my house and started to collect the sofa but not actually loaded it  into the van. the courier called the purchaser to say the item existed and was about to be loaded. The money pinged into my account and I let the courier continue loading.

The trouble with that is there is zero protection for you whatsoever, the buyer can pay the money but then do a chargeback (something like that) and the seller loses the money anyway.