ebay collect in person. cash or paypal?

hubblebubble

Hi
I am selling something on eBay which I offered for collection or post. If the person opts to collect in person, is it better to ask for cash on collection, or to ask for paypal payment ?
If I go for cash on collection, can I legitimately ask them to sign to say they received it (and likewise i'd give them a receipt )?

Thanks

motorguy

If its collection, insist on cash, otherwise they can do a paypal chargeback as you wont be able to prove you've delivered the item - paypal only recognise trackable online methods of delivery such as parcelforce, special delivery, etc, so you will lose a chargeback claim automatically.

Make it clear in the wording that you can accept paypal for an item being posted but will only take cash for personal collection.

Lorian

VERY correct. Collection form me is cash only, and get yourself a pen to check the notes!

Remeber if you take Paypal you MUST have the tracking slip from sending the item.

on-the-count-of-three

As the others have said, cash only for collection..but don't forget too, if you take cash it saves those Paypal fees.

Contains_Mild_Peril

It strikes me as a rather odd question. Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't think of any possible reason one would ask for Paypal payment for a collected item. If a seller accepted Paypal for collected items it would be entirely for the customer's benefit not the seller's, and as others have mentioned, you leave yourself vulnerable to possible chargebacks as well as paying unnecessary fees.

hubblebubble

Thanks for your speedy replies. I had thought that cash on collection was the better method, but just wanted to make sure. I'd rather avoid the paypal fees and risk of chargeback too. I will insist on cash for collection then.
Thanks all.

motorguy

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote: »

It strikes me as a rather odd question. Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't think of any possible reason one would ask for Paypal payment for a collected item. If a seller accepted Paypal for collected items it would be entirely for the customer's benefit not the seller's, and as others have mentioned, you leave yourself vulnerable to possible chargebacks as well as paying unnecessary fees.

You wouldnt necessarily ask for it, but theres nothing to stop a winning bidder paying for the item in paypal, then emailing to say 'ive paid for the item, when can i pick it up?'

Avoriaz

hubblebubble wrote: »

..If I go for cash on collection, can I legitimately ask them to sign to say they received it (and likewise i'd give them a receipt )?.

As others have said, never take PayPal for collection.

Just take the obvious precautions dealing with a stranger at your door and check that the cash looks genuine. Have someone with you if possible though the risks are really very small.

You can ask them to sign something saying they have received the item and give them a receipt for the cash but there is little point unless one or both of you are traders and need the paperwork for tax reasons.

Once the buyer has parted with his cash, there is little he can do and anyway, even in the very unlikely event of a later claim, Ebay and PayPal are not in the slightest interested in seeing receipts. It would be your word against his if there is a later dispute.

I have collected or had collected maybe 100 items and I have never once asked for or received a receipt, nor has a subsequent claim ever been made.

Good luck.

Avoriaz

pgilc1 wrote: »

You wouldnt necessarily ask for it, but theres nothing to stop a winning bidder paying for the item in paypal, then emailing to say 'ive paid for the item, when can i pick it up?'

To which the answer is

“If you wish to collect then I will refund your PayPal payment and you can give me cash on collection or a cleared cheque or bank transfer before collection”.

I always offer collection in my listings but I also state firmly that I do not accept PayPal for collected items.

My listings always have something like this.

I prefer cash on collection but I will happily post to addresses in the UK mainland for £20 or to other UK areas for a price to be agreed. If you want this posted, I will accept cleared cheque, bank transfer or PayPal. If you pay by PayPal I will only post it to your confirmed PayPal address by one of the PayPal approved recorded delivery methods. This protects us both. I will not accept PayPal for collection nor for despatch to an unconfirmed PayPal address so please do not ask for this.

I know most ebayers are honest but I have been around on ebay for a long time and I know all the scams. Check my extensive 100% feedback. I am an honest and trustworthy ebayer.

motorguy

Avoriaz wrote: »

To which the answer is

“If you wish to collect then I will refund your PayPal payment and you can give me cash on collection or a cleared cheque or bank transfer before collection”.

I always offer collection in my listings but I also state firmly that I do not accept PayPal for collected items.

My listings always have something like this.

Yes, totally agree, however my point was it wasnt necessarily a strange question for the o/p to ask as the scenario such as the one i posted could arise without the o/p encouraging it.

hubblebubble

Hmmmm. The item sold this afternoon for £26 and the winning bidder instantly paid by Paypal. They have emailed me asking when they could collect it. (its some second hand pre-school toys, nothing of particular value)
What should i do? Refuse the payment and insist on cash on collection. Or accept and allow collection?
The listing did not state I would not accept paypal for collection.

I wish I'd asked this question before listing!!