i owe ebay money

jonnybravo19 · 22 August 2019 at 1:54PM

Hi all,
I currently owe ebay £3500. I was in a dark place a few months back and sold some items i did not own to sell. Obviuosy when buyers complained they did not receive ebay refunded them. I sold 3 separate items for a total of £3500 for a drug addiction which I have now overcome. As ebay refunded buyers they are now rightly chasing me for the money. I do want to pay them back but don't have that kind of money but could pay back monthly. I am just worried before ringing them to discuss if they can call the police and have me arrested if I explain what happened

ThinkingOfLinking · 22 August 2019 at 2:30PM

jonnybravo19 wrote: »

Hi all,
I currently owe ebay £3500. I was in a dark place a few months back and sold some items i did not own to sell. Obviuosy when buyers complained they did not receive ebay refunded them. I sold 3 separate items for a total of £3500 for a drug addiction which I have now overcome. As ebay refunded buyers they are now rightly chasing me for the money. I do want to pay them back but don't have that kind of money but could pay back monthly. I am just worried before ringing them to discuss if they can call the police and have me arrested if I explain what happened

Don't tell them why, just apologise and sort out a payment plan. They will sell on the debt to a collection agency, and you will be chased and charges added.

jonnybravo19 · 22 August 2019 at 2:41PM

Thank you for the swift response and advice. When I call ebay to set up payment plan will they not demand a reason for why I did not send items or why I cant afford to pay full balance?

[Deleted User] · 22 August 2019 at 5:03PM

If you need any help with debt please contact step change,

ThinkingOfLinking · 22 August 2019 at 7:20PM

jonnybravo19 wrote: »

Thank you for the swift response and advice. When I call ebay to set up payment plan will they not demand a reason for why I did not send items or why I cant afford to pay full balance?

I doubt they need to know or really care....they're more interested in getting their money back. They would rather take a reasonable, affordable amount you can guarantee you can pay per month than to try and force you to pay money you haven't got which may result in bankruptcy and then they wouldn't see a single shiny penny.

soolin · 22 August 2019 at 11:48PM

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

I doubt they need to know or really care....they're more interested in getting their money back. They would rather take a reasonable, affordable amount you can guarantee you can pay per month than to try and force you to pay money you haven't got which may result in bankruptcy and then they wouldn't see a single shiny penny.

I do slightly disagree with you, eBay (or I suspect PayPal ) don't care about the end result, they have a debt, they want paying and they have a direct line to debt collectors. I have not heard of anyone successfully negotiating a payment plan with PayPal, they chase the debt, then just sell it on and let debt collectors harass for it.

OP firstly you really do need to get advice on the wider picture here, have a look round the other boards towards the top of the forum, try the debt free board and also the bankruptcy board. I suggest the latter purely as they can give advice of what the debt collector can and can't do, yes they can harass you within reason, but the moment they overstep their remit you need to remind them that you also have rights.

There is no chance that PayPal will involve the police, I've never even seen it get as far as a court case. They tend to chase for a couple of years and then half heartedly after that. However, you can obviously never have a PayPal account again, and it is likely than anyone eBay consider connected to you will also lose their PayPal accounts. With PayPal currently being a requirement of using eBay you also can't use eBay again, but I suspect your account is beyond saving anyway.

Also, look at the other MSE boards, there are other gambling addicts posting, get support from them.

ThinkingOfLinking · 23 August 2019 at 6:01AM

Soolin, I know you're more experienced and knowledgeable than me so thank you. I was making assumptions as I've thankfully not been in the position OP is in. I also discouraged OP from saying anything which could lead to more trouble/getting arrested etc as at least they've seen the error of their ways and are trying to pay it back. The last thing someone trying to recover from an addiction needs is legal trouble.

soolin · 23 August 2019 at 8:58AM

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

Soolin, I know you're more experienced and knowledgeable than me so thank you. I was making assumptions as I've thankfully not been in the position OP is in. I also discouraged OP from saying anything which could lead to more trouble/getting arrested etc as at least they've seen the error of their ways and are trying to pay it back. The last thing someone trying to recover from an addiction needs is legal trouble.

PayPal tend to see things in black and white and I suspect they get several defaults a day and their business model is to pass the debt on.

Contrary to belief I don't work for PayPal 😀 But I'm on several forums and absolutely no one has ever posted that they have managed to set up any sort of payment plan. So my response is not from any 'guaranteed' source, just from having been around for a while- and is probably not based on any more knowledge than your thoughts. As usual though I would be very interested to hear if anyone has ever managed a payment plan (and not a troll post from a friend of a friend who heard it down the pub) as any change in PayPal behaviour is worth highlighting.

I don't think OP needs to fear jail, but does need to be prepared for a bumpy couple of years watching the debt collectors in case they overstep the mark.

messia07 · 23 August 2019 at 12:48PM

jonnybravo19 wrote: »

£3500 for a drug addiction

not 100% the same but when my sister came out of a mental institution, she got into £4000+ worth of debt by using credit cards and taking out multiple phone contracts, for herself and others.. she spent money she would never be able to repay, as she didn't have a job.

the debt collectors did chase her for the money (my parents payed some of the debt) but once they realised she had mental health problems, they cleared the remaining debt. doctor & social worker helped quite a bit by writing letters.

ballisticbrian · 23 August 2019 at 1:07PM

If you look carefully, the original poster is asking what is the legal ramification of stating or admitting what he did, which is a legal question, as opposed to what eBay will do with the debt.

soolin · 23 August 2019 at 1:13PM

ballisticbrian wrote: »

If you look carefully, the original poster is asking what is the legal ramification of stating or admitting what he did, which is a legal question, as opposed to what eBay will do with the debt.

Which has been answered, there is zero chance that eBay/PayPal will call the police.

There is also a very slim chance a buyer might, but since buyers will have been repaid I can't see the police being interested at all.

This is of course the pay day loan scenario from the sellers point of view.

i owe ebay money

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