ebay/PayPal; a reminder...

[cragger89]

...to always cover yourself. If selling something, if you wish to severely reduce the chance of backlash for yourself, always write "Delivery is at your risk, if you choose not to pay for an insured delivery method, it is your responsibility should anything happen once it has left me and I have proof of postage/courier service."

 

PayPal is always going to side with the consumers/the buyer.

 

I sold a phone last week on ebay with a crack in the screen. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141661908474?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649

 

The auction is honest. Pictures point out clearly there is a crack, it is in the description and I linked to a youtube video of the handset to prove it still works fine. Final price reflects the condition and no returns is specified, the delivery specified is a low end one without insurance. All of this is agreed to when placing your bid.

 

Saturday morning, I get a dispute raised saying it hasn't arrived, even though tracking says it is delivered. Supposedly, it was "delivered to porch" and I guess, someone has taken it (or, more likely, he just wants to steal the phone.) Paypal have put my account into negative balance whilst they "investigate" the issue. I have sent 2 emails to the buyer saying it'd be worth checking with neighbours to ensure someone else hasn't taken it in by accident. I've also pointed out the terms of the auction and confirmed that it is not my responsibility and certainly will not be giving him a refund. To cover my own back in case he is pulling a fast one, I have a copy of the IMEI number, so have advised that if it doesn't "turn up" by Friday next week, I'll have the handset blacklisted so no one can use it.

 

Drives me mad. Serves me right for not writing a more strict disclaimer, but it really, really drives me mad. I have tracking which proves I have posted it so all my work is done, but I have already written off the £41.00 I got for the sale.

[cragger89]

Forgot to mention that I have been lenient and advised the buyer that if he didn't realise the screen had a crack that I will on this occasion give him a full refund, once I have received the phone. 

[ImBleu]

Which is why i never heckle with Ebay. At all.

[cragger89]

I don't blame you. I think if I get hassle once more with a very concise disclaimer, I will give up with it.

[catbutts]

ouch

in the US there's an option to require signature upon arrival which relieves 99% of my ebay anxiety, do your couriers have that option?

[cragger89]

They do, but it costs extra. Whenever a buyer has asked for a signature or insured delivery method I've always obliged, on the basis they pay for it themselves (which is fair.)

 

Never mind. 

[MeepLikesToBuildPc's]

was there alot of money on the paypal account?

 

I never have any money on my account unless i just got paid.

 

But it does indeed suck.

[Enferk]

Thanks for telling. I'll remember that if I sell something in ebay!

[cragger89]

was there alot of money on the paypal account?

 

I never have any money on my account unless i just got paid.

 

But it does indeed suck.

 

No, I spent it immediately on pizza.

 

Thanks for telling. I'll remember that if I sell something in ebay!

 

Yup. My usual disclaimer when selling more valuable items is as follows:

 

"Due to the value of this item, cash on collection (NO paypal) is preferred for both our peace of minds, you will see the item before you part with your money and there will be no possibility of an issue. If not collecting, PayPal ONLY. Item will be well packed and the delivery method mentioned above is as costly as it is due to it being insured. If you do not wish to pay as much as this, please let me know and I will work out a cheaper option. This will be entirely at your own risk and I will not be held responsible for any problems once it has left me. Bid with confidence, 100% feedback here from a well versed seller who cares and provides a service he would expect himself.

 

No returns on this due to you changing your mind - if you're unsure, please collect and pay cash. Good luck and happy bidding!"

It's especially important to point out that if you sell something and the buyer wishes to collect it, you simply must insist on cash for payment, not PayPal. I got caught out doing this last year when I sold an old laptop. After a month, the buyer decided bidding £71.00 on a Sony Vaio which was specified to have a Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM was a rip off, so he raised a dispute saying that he never received the item.

 

Perplexed, I obviously responded asking why he was doing this when he collected it. Luckily for me, he responded telling me that I had "sold him a dud" and that he wanted a refund. I explained that he had been in my house and tested it before he took the laptop away and it worked perfectly and I even advised that it'd need more RAM to perform at its best. He responded again telling me the hard drive failed, so I said if you want I will replace the hard drive with spare stock I have. Then he accused me of selling laptops with counterfeit Windows licenses and he'd be reporting me to the police.

 

In the end, the dispute went in my favour because he proved straight away he had actually received it, so PayPal/ebay said his dispute was void and I didn't lose my money. If he stuck to his guns from the stand point of "I've not received it" - it would have gone in his favour, because I had no proof of postage. This is evidence enough in PayPal and ebay's eyes to prove that I did not send the item and the buyer is correct to complain.

 

Play safe, guys.

[cragger89]

Finally had a response from the buyer:

 

"I understand it is not your fault from your point of view because you did not do anything wrong as you got tracking number but also it is not fair that I just wasted £45 just because the parties involved, hence parcel2go couldn t do their job properly. And I already talked to my neighbors and they say nothing was left at their place. I still cant believe that someone would just leave the parcel all wide in the open.. And I appreciate if you could block the phone or even give the imei to me but I want to wait for the response of parcel2go and ebay. Maybe a mistake happen because I cant just let it slide like that."

 

Responded with:

 

"I agree completely, it is not my fault and it is also completely unfair that you are expecting me to issue a refund. I am not a shop, I m a single person covering his own costs in life and I have been ripped off by people buying things from me and saying they haven t turned up before, even though they collected it from my house.

 

The auction you bid on and therefore, agreed to the terms of, clearly detailed ordinary 1st Class Post which is NOT insured, hence why it was £3.30. You could have requested an insured delivery method, but you did not.

 

I am not prepared to issue a refund to someone when as you say, I have done NOTHING wrong and also, I have no proof that you don t actually have the item."

 

Will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[cragger89]

He's responded again:

 

"I have been buying things online for years so this is the first time this has happened to me. For now I will wait for the response from customer service of hermes and parcel2go and it would be helpful if you could help me to strenghten my claim to get a refund from them. Also could you give me the imei I will try tracking it down just in case my neighbors or someone else did stole it considering the item the item was left and the porch.."

 

Interesting stance...what could I possibly do to strengthen the claim?

 

"How can I strengthen the claim? I sold you a phone, according to the tracking, it has arrived.

 

Having the IMEI number for yourself is not going to help you track down the handset in any way.

 

If you can't find the phone by Friday, I will simply report it as stolen so it is blacklisted. The money has already gone from my account from because of how you have gone about dealing with this, so I feel I have no obligation to do anything else for you.

 

I can see from your feedback that you have had negative experience from selling your own items and not packaging them properly, so I can't help wondering why you didn't value the chance of insuring the delivery  after winning the auction."

[GlassBomb]

Here's one of the reasons why I always look for local pick-up's whenever buying stuff from the internet from another person. Transport of the item becomes easier (depending on its size), and you're able to receive the items quicker.

 

As a tip for when dealing with people who wants to pick up the stuff locally from you and wants to use PayPal, not cash. Take a picture of them with the product and some kind of ID. This will give you proof that they were there in person to pick up the item in question.

[cragger89]

Here's one of the reasons why I always look for local pick-up's whenever buying stuff from the internet from another person. Transport of the item becomes easier (depending on its size), and you're able to receive the items quicker.

 

As a tip for when dealing with people who wants to pick up the stuff locally from you and wants to use PayPal, not cash. Take a picture of them with the product and some kind of ID. This will give you proof that they were there in person to pick up the item in question.

 

Exactly, GlassBomb.

 

I just don't accept Paypal on collection listings at all anymore, it isn't worth the risk and even if you have proof, while the transaction is in a dispute stage, the money is taken from your account anyway.

 

I hate dishonest or unfair people. To say you understand something is not one person's fault, but you still want a refund from them, is moronic. 

[cragger89]

For the record guys, this did thankfully end with no refund being issued to the buyer.

 

ALWAYS send using tracked methods and a signature being required. It'll make your life a lot easier, though you won't appreciate it until you go cheap and end up out of pocket as a result.

[beach_boy98]

I always keep the receipt I get from the post office. Ebay counts that as proof of shipping.