eBay Large Item - Best for buyer or Seller to Arrange Courier?

Tunstallstoven

Hi

Sorry to be back again so soon with one of these types of questions....  

I've a large piece of furniture on eBay listed as collection only.  Someone has been made a Best Offer and been in touch to ask if they can arrange a courier if I accept.  They've 300+ 100% feedback and certainly sound legit on the face of it.  

I know with Paypal that the seller must arrange the trackable delivery/courier, and it must go to the registered PP address.  But since eBay have taken over that side of things, I'm not sure what's the best and safest way to proceed.  Googling brings up a myriad of answers, perhaps because things have changed so much over the past few years?  

While I pondered, the buyer has been back in touch to say they would be happy if I wanted to arrange a courier.  In the past I've used Shiply for such things.  

With those options in front of me, could anyone please lay out what's best to do nowadays, what caveats to look out for, etc etc.  Or even whether it's best to stick with collection only.  

Many thanks for any help

tightauldgit

From my perspective I think it's better for the buyer to arrange a courier with the proviso that the courier has to be given the collection QR code so you can scan it as collected in person. That way any risk sits with the buyer rather than you if it turns up at the other end smashed up or doesn't turn up at all. if the courier won't scan your QR code though then you're potentially at risk of buyer saying it was never received.

Whether I'd be comfortable sending something large by a courier I paid for - it really depends on the item I think but if it's something potentially fragile then you're on the hook for it if it turns up smashed and courier may decide not to pay out. If buyer decides they don't like it and puts in a SNAD claim you'll be on the hook to pay for a return, etc etc.

That's all assuming you go through Ebay's processes - if it's an offline courier arrangement you may well find that Ebay are quite unhelpful in sorting out any issues that may arise for doing deals via other methods. 

Personally I'd say it's collection only - so either buyer or person acting on their behalf (which can be a courier) picks it up, provides the QR code to verify pickup, and takes it home at their own risk. No refunds, no takesy backsies.

soolin

It used to be very poor advice to let a buyer arrange a courier but managed payments changed that. As tightauldgit says the best way is to treat it exactly as a collection only item, tell buyer they can send a courier if they want but the courier acts as their agent and will be treated as though it has been collected and inspected , and of course the QR code must be used. 

The issue is how happy you are to make yourself available 24/7 for a courier , what packing you will be expected to do, unless you can negotiate that the courier accepts it unwrapped. 

se2020

As said,
With shiply/man-in-van there is no tracking so you need the collection code.

The issue with the buyer arranging the carrier is you having to wait around for the carrier. Generally,  with Shipley, the carrier gets your contact number and will arrange collection directly with you. Some of these are actually much better than the mainstream carriers as they will give you a 30min window for collection. Some are terrible and will ring you saying they will be there in 10mins then not actually turn up for the next 3 days.
Pot luck I expect. 

Aside from that, it's better to let the buyer arrange as the risk passes to them once its been collected.

There is a number version of the qr code as well, the few times I have done this I've just told the buyer to send me that once the collection is booked and I make sure it works and that I have marked the item as collected before the carrier actually arrives.
I don't think any of the carriers are able/interested in bringing a qr code with them for you to scan anyway.
Plus there is the remote risk that the 'carrier' that arrives could actually just be the buyer in a van trying to pull a fast one so I'd rather get the code bit sorted in advance. 

Tunstallstoven

Thanks all, fantastic advice as ever.

One last thing please, is cash on collection the best of all payment options? The buyer might have a friend who can collect. I'll still insist on all of the above, including the collection code etc, just wasn't sure whether to ask for CoC too?

Many thanks

se2020

If they pay cash on collection then you don't really need the collection code as ebay can't refund them if they claim its not received. 
Either use the code or just mark the item as dispatched. 
I think you might get nagging messages from ebay if you don't put the code in but nothing more than that.

Tunstallstoven

That makes sense.  Many thanks for the help