Selling on ebay warning

chrisj1602

Wow, eBay and Paypal are getting ridiculous, I might have to start keeping the guitars I buy.

On a serious note, I agree with the small claims idea, that could put him off.

armitaan

Absolutely rediculous. I’ve never sold anything on eBay or reverb, but have bought stuff . Do both insist that  PayPal is available or are you able to specify you won’t accept  ? I once took a deposit on PayPal cos had to take half day off work waiting in for guy who never turned up and he was able to claim refund of deposit. 

wesker123

The last time I listed item for sale on Ebay they would not accept advert without Paypal payment option. 
Not sure if this is still the case, probably puts off sellers and after reading this thread I can see why.

DB1

I think you have to specify that you will accept PayPal, but then you can state in the ad that you won't. That's what I do anyway. It can make life a bit more difficult in terms of selling anything, but I won't accept or hand over cash/transfer without seeing the whites of the sellers eyes, so to speak. 

clarkefan

DB1 said:

I think you have to specify that you will accept PayPal, but then you can state in the ad that you won't. That's what I do anyway. It can make life a bit more difficult in terms of selling anything, but I won't accept or hand over cash/transfer without seeing the whites of the sellers eyes, so to speak. 

That's interesting, didn't know that, thank you, I was wondering what people were on about not accepting paypal, when eBay gives you no choice.

Fretwired

chris78 said:

l

I did exactly that. eBay simply say they aren’t guitar experts and their policy is to allow a return. Their justification is that if the buyer had paid on a credit card, they have similar rights, or in the case of Amex, even longer.

Amex is standard UK long distance selling rules. I have first hand experience. It's like getting blood out of a stone. This policy makes no sense and I'm not sure it's legal.

robgilmo

Tell him you will pop round and collect it, see how those apples go down.

shrinkwrap

My wife sold a vintage Moroccan cushion to a photographer on Etsy. Bastard used it for a prop in a shoot and then sent it back saying it was unwanted. It's not just Ebay - I don't think any of them want to upset their buyers.

JezWynd

chris78 said:

MikeS said:

I would contact the buyer, and let them know you dont accept a refund after all that time, and tell them as soon as the guitar arrives back and paypal refunds them, you are simply going through the small claims court. Tell him you will be recovering the full amount 'plus' interest accrued on a daily basis dating back to the original day of purchase, 'plus' all fees.

Let him know if he follows through with that return that this is what you will do. And if and when he does return the guitar, do exactly that, start a claim online. The fees are reasonable, and the process is simple.

Stick up for yourself and don't let these chancers abuse loopholes.

Quite like the idea. I used small claims last year against our builder. Just over £100

Let PayPal know that this will be your course of action as well. They might not be keen to have their ridiculous practices aired in court.

If the video he made is still online. Download a copy of it, might be useful at small claims.

Whitecat

DB1 said:

I think you have to specify that you will accept PayPal, but then you can state in the ad that you won't. That's what I do anyway. It can make life a bit more difficult in terms of selling anything, but I won't accept or hand over cash/transfer without seeing the whites of the sellers eyes, so to speak. 

No, you can get your listing pulled for “discouraging valid payment methods” if someone chooses to report it. Accepting PayPal is a hard condition of listing anything you are willing to ship. 

Fretwired

Checked PayPal's terms and conditions and the OP has not been given the true facts.

In theory a buyer can claim a refund for up to 180 days after they sent a payment. However, there are conditions attached. The length of time is to allow a dispute to be investigated and resolved. It's not designed for .. 'I've changed my mind after using an item for 6 months'. If a buyer hasn't made a complaint or registered a dispute in a reasonable amount of time from receiving the item then tough.

DB1

Whitecat said:

DB1 said:

I think you have to specify that you will accept PayPal, but then you can state in the ad that you won't. That's what I do anyway. It can make life a bit more difficult in terms of selling anything, but I won't accept or hand over cash/transfer without seeing the whites of the sellers eyes, so to speak. 

No, you can get your listing pulled for “discouraging valid payment methods” if someone chooses to report it. Accepting PayPal is a hard condition of listing anything you are willing to ship. 

Thinking about it, I don't say 'no PayPal', but I do specify cash/transfer only, as do a lot of people. I don't ship, either. I'm currently in a dispute with eBay, as it happens, but that's because they've sent me a 'invitation to sell outside eBay' notice after I told an enquirer (who didn't get back to me) that an amp had sold (it had!) and I was consequently unable to sell it to him, for obvious reasons. 

I've always specified cash or transfer on delivery/collection, so assumed there's no issue with it. If PayPal was mandatory, I wouldn't be using eBay, that much I do know. 

Whitecat

DB1 said:

Whitecat said:

DB1 said:

I think you have to specify that you will accept PayPal, but then you can state in the ad that you won't. That's what I do anyway. It can make life a bit more difficult in terms of selling anything, but I won't accept or hand over cash/transfer without seeing the whites of the sellers eyes, so to speak. 

No, you can get your listing pulled for “discouraging valid payment methods” if someone chooses to report it. Accepting PayPal is a hard condition of listing anything you are willing to ship. 

Thinking about it, I don't say 'no PayPal', but I do specify cash/transfer only, as do a lot of people. I don't ship, either. I'm currently in a dispute with eBay, as it happens, but that's because they've sent me a 'invitation to sell outside eBay' notice after I told an enquirer (who didn't get back to me) that an amp had sold (it had!) and I was consequently unable to sell it to him, for obvious reasons. 

I've always specified cash or transfer on delivery/collection, so assumed there's no issue with it. If PayPal was mandatory, I wouldn't be using eBay, that much I do know. 

If you don’t ship I think it’s a grey area - because eBay/PayPal themselves discourage PayPal + collection since nobody can prove anything. 

I usually state that if people want to collect then they have to pay cash, and if they *insist* on PayPal then I have to *insist* on shipping. All seems to be above board that way...

DB1

Whitecat said:

DB1 said:

Whitecat said:

DB1 said:

I think you have to specify that you will accept PayPal, but then you can state in the ad that you won't. That's what I do anyway. It can make life a bit more difficult in terms of selling anything, but I won't accept or hand over cash/transfer without seeing the whites of the sellers eyes, so to speak. 

No, you can get your listing pulled for “discouraging valid payment methods” if someone chooses to report it. Accepting PayPal is a hard condition of listing anything you are willing to ship. 

Thinking about it, I don't say 'no PayPal', but I do specify cash/transfer only, as do a lot of people. I don't ship, either. I'm currently in a dispute with eBay, as it happens, but that's because they've sent me a 'invitation to sell outside eBay' notice after I told an enquirer (who didn't get back to me) that an amp had sold (it had!) and I was consequently unable to sell it to him, for obvious reasons. 

I've always specified cash or transfer on delivery/collection, so assumed there's no issue with it. If PayPal was mandatory, I wouldn't be using eBay, that much I do know. 

If you don’t ship I think it’s a grey area - because eBay/PayPal themselves discourage PayPal + collection since nobody can prove anything. 

I usually state that if people want to collect then they have to pay cash, and if they *insist* on PayPal then I have to *insist* on shipping. All seems to be above board that way...

It's a shame, really, that scammers spoil it. I probably go OTT with it (I drove over 900 miles the other weekend to deliver three guitars!) but they were a total of about £8000, and I couldn't afford to take the risk of being conned. Besides that, I don't mind the driving and I met three more nice people! 

I did have to specify (on account creation) that PayPal would be an acceptable method of payment but, as I mentioned, just add the cash/transfer bit in the ad text itself. No problems with that so far, apart from with one prospective buyer whose name has graced these pages recently, and not in a good way.  

King85

Did he give you any more info or was it simply 'not as described'?

It'll be really interesting to see what condition it's in when you get it back. Please update us when you do get it.

boogieman

shrinkwrap said:

My wife sold a vintage Moroccan cushion to a photographer on Etsy. Bastard used it for a prop in a shoot and then sent it back saying it was unwanted. It's not just Ebay - I don't think any of them want to upset their buyers.

How is that allowed? If the buyer tried that on with a bricks and mortar shop he’d most likely be told he’s entitled to an exchange or credit note (at the shop’s discretion). Some shops wouldn’t even do that... if the goods aren’t defective he’s not actually entitled to anything. I don’t see why an Etsy sale should be any different? 

Sporky

Fretwired said:

Amex is standard UK long distance selling rules. I have first hand experience. It's like getting blood out of a stone. 

That's not my experience - for me they descended like the fury of an elder god. Might depend on which card you have, but they took no prisoners when I got them involved. 

crunchman

Stuff like this is why the guitar I'm selling at the moment is on consignment at Charlie Chandlers.

He will take 18% commission, but Ebay is 10%, plus 3% Paypal fees.  A reputable shop like that will get significantly more for the guitar than I can get on Ebay, so I'll probably end up seeing more money.  I also don't have to deal with the rubbish that goes with selling on Ebay.

I'll only use Ebay to sell small stuff these days as a last resort.

JezWynd

crunchman said:

Stuff like this is why the guitar I'm selling at the moment is on consignment at Charlie Chandlers.

He will take 18% commission, but Ebay is 10%, plus 3% Paypal fees.  A reputable shop like that will get significantly more for the guitar than I can get on Ebay, so I'll probably end up seeing more money.  I also don't have to deal with the rubbish that goes with selling on Ebay.

I'm coming around to this way of thinking. Ebay offering £1 fees (while still getting a hefty chunk via Paypal) seems like their last hurrah before they morph into a mess of bad faith buyers, Chinese importers and general chancers with a taste for ferraris.

PVO_Dave

I'm torn with eBay at the moment, got stitched up the other week; sold 2 pairs of 3D glasses from my old TV, used a handful of times, kept in the plastic containers etc.. forgot I had them until we moved house and unpacked. Sold them via the global shipping program. 

The guy asked for a refund as one pair was faulty - I ask what the fault is, I get a reply in French that just says they don't work and accuses me of knowingly selling him faulty goods - rude and unhelpful. I find that hard to believe as they were in really good condition, but either way I offer him half the money back as he only complained about one pair and if the others work, why go through the hassle of sending them back. He ignores my message and escalates to eBay, they side with him regardless of lack of evidence - I'm convinced at this stage he bought the wrong pair for his TV as why wouldn't you keep the working pair, even if you wanted more off, counter my offer? I rang eBay, they promised a call back, never happened. Sent them a load of messages too and just got a load of guff back (in French).

On the other hand, somethings you just can't get as much for outside of eBay. Sold a water softener we had removed from our house, could have got £100ish on the Facebook group, went for £330 on eBay! 

Definitely won't be using the global shipping thing again, if you get a complaint you have to log into the eBay page from wherever the buyer is and rely on google translate which really doesn't help either.