What’s going on here then (eBay)

prlgmnr

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Ebay doesn't either prohibit collection of items (given that they want Paypal to be an option for payment as a matter of course) or come up with a way of verifying collection of items if using Paypal (as simple as both users making a declaration that the thing's been collected, surely?).

SouthpawMark

prlgmnr said:

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Ebay doesn't either prohibit collection of items (given that they want Paypal to be an option for payment as a matter of course) or come up with a way of verifying collection of items if using Paypal (as simple as both users making a declaration that the thing's been collected, surely?).

Stop talking sense.

prlgmnr

It sort of feels like they don't want to change things up for fear of alienating the customers who like to scam people.

Voxman

BRISTOL86 said:

Listed two guitars on eBay this morning once the £1 fee offer kicked in. Despite saying cash on collection only, and being very clear that I won’t post, the same person buys both guitars and pays in full with PayPal. 

I ask him to call me as I need to tell him that I won’t accept PayPal for collection. He doesn’t call after a few hours so I refund both payments by PayPal and think I’ll give him a few more hours to make contact. He’s clearly a guitar trader and has 100% positive feedback so I think I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and give him chance to contact me. 

12 hours later and still nothing - despite having found time to change his eBay user name since buying my guitars and now, he’s not bothered to call or reply to my eBay messages. 

So something doesn’t smell right, but what’s the scam here if it is one?! The high volume positive feedback doesn’t scream scam to me but the situation is very odd. I’m annoyed at the wasted time and now have to either faff about cancelling and relisting and risk losing what might be completely genuine sales or do nothing and wait it out. 

Weirdly he’s also selling the same guitar as he bought from me for a crazy high price. It crossed my mind that he bought mine just to remove ‘competition’, knowing he’d ultimately get refunded, but when I say that to myself I think I sound like a crazy person! 

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’d just been busy but sorry, if you’ve been on to eBay to change your username then you’ve clearly read my messages and seen your refunded payments and you’re just ignoring me. 

All very odd. Small wonder I try to sell on here and despise going to eBay 

I was under the distinct impression that eBay rules didn't allow cash only and refusal of PayPal because ( and I understand the arguments for and against) it provided an audit trail and protection for all parties and allowed ebay to intervene on disputes.  Has this rule changed?

danishbacon

Block and relist. PayPal for delivery only, no exceptions. 

clarkefan

danishbacon said:

PayPal for delivery only, no exceptions. 

Not possible, that's the problem with eBay and collection only.

BRISTOL86

Voxman said:

BRISTOL86 said:

Listed two guitars on eBay this morning once the £1 fee offer kicked in. Despite saying cash on collection only, and being very clear that I won’t post, the same person buys both guitars and pays in full with PayPal. 

I ask him to call me as I need to tell him that I won’t accept PayPal for collection. He doesn’t call after a few hours so I refund both payments by PayPal and think I’ll give him a few more hours to make contact. He’s clearly a guitar trader and has 100% positive feedback so I think I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and give him chance to contact me. 

12 hours later and still nothing - despite having found time to change his eBay user name since buying my guitars and now, he’s not bothered to call or reply to my eBay messages. 

So something doesn’t smell right, but what’s the scam here if it is one?! The high volume positive feedback doesn’t scream scam to me but the situation is very odd. I’m annoyed at the wasted time and now have to either faff about cancelling and relisting and risk losing what might be completely genuine sales or do nothing and wait it out. 

Weirdly he’s also selling the same guitar as he bought from me for a crazy high price. It crossed my mind that he bought mine just to remove ‘competition’, knowing he’d ultimately get refunded, but when I say that to myself I think I sound like a crazy person! 

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’d just been busy but sorry, if you’ve been on to eBay to change your username then you’ve clearly read my messages and seen your refunded payments and you’re just ignoring me. 

All very odd. Small wonder I try to sell on here and despise going to eBay 

I was under the distinct impression that eBay rules didn't allow cash only and refusal of PayPal because ( and I understand the arguments for and against) it provided an audit trail and protection for all parties and allowed ebay to intervene on disputes.  Has this rule changed?

They don’t, like I said they force you to accept PayPal as a payment option, even though they allow you to state that you won’t post an item.

Thus they are forcing you to accept a payment method that actually only offers protection to the fraudster. 

alexh

So is his listing at 3x the price him preemptively flipping your guitar?

TINMAN82

Sounds like he’s trying to turn a quick profit. If he’s got a good eBay rating that’s more likely than fraud. He reckons your underselling it.

I sold an ES335 on this forum a few months ago, listed as used but excellent condition with some minor signs of play wear. Within 48hrs it was up on gumtree, new photos, described “mint, as new” at around £600 more than I sold it for. Watched it for a while and it looked like he was struggling to sell at the inflated price. It’s “business not personal” I guess. I personally couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of trying to flip guitars like that.

BloodEagle

TINMAN82 said:

Sounds like he’s trying to turn a quick profit. If he’s got a good eBay rating that’s more likely than fraud. He reckons your underselling it.

I sold an ES335 on this forum a few months ago, listed as used but excellent condition with some minor signs of play wear. Within 48hrs it was up on gumtree, new photos, described “mint, as new” at around £600 more than I sold it for. Watched it for a while and it looked like he was struggling to sell at the inflated price. It’s “business not personal” I guess. I personally couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of trying to flip guitars like that.

its not that much hassle though I wouldnt have thought - 5 minutes to write some bullshit, 10 minutes to take some decent pictures and list it (slightly inaccurately), and you might be able to get a couple of hundred quid on top of what you paid. Its not my cup of tea, but you can see how for some people who are enthusiastic about the whole process it would be pretty good if they want the cash.

BRISTOL86

alexh said:

So is his listing at 3x the price him preemptively flipping your guitar?

No it’s a different guitar - same model etc but a different instrument. 

Update on this. Buyer contacts me last Sat basically saying it was my fault he had to pay by PayPal as I had ‘immediate payment required’ turned on. Says he’s coming one day this week to collect. 

I apologised and said I’d refunded the payments as obviously can’t accept PayPal on collection and for him to let me know when he’d like to come. 

Since then, not a dicky bird. Messaged him on eBay on Monday AM to say I was working from home all day on Tuesday should that be convenient. Nothing. 

Messaged him again yesterday PM asking when I can expect him to come. Nothing. 

He lists his phone number on all his listings, so tries calling it. Nothing. 

Think its time to pull the plug and cancel both transactions. 

Philtre

Get the hell out of there.

BRISTOL86

Philtre said:

Get the hell out of there.

My every instinct tells me that, but I can’t reconcile it with his 100% feedback! He’s been trading since 2010, best part of 1,000 transactions as buyer and seller of guitars...you’re not going to keep that up by pissing people about left right and centre. It’s all very odd indeed.