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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

or is the e bayer ??

23 replies

recall · 09/03/2012 23:13

I have bought a piece of furniture on e bay. It is for collection. I live in Devon, and am working in London tomorrow, so am trying to arrange collection as I travel through London, in between appointments.

The seller has said after 2pm. So I said is 7pm ok? They said no, too late, and got stroppy and said it will be dark then, and no one here to help me load it. And why was I mentioning Devon anyway etc..

I have tried to be friendly and said that could I come at 1pm ? I have appointments in Watford at 12, and Ipswich at 3pm. They have in effect given me a window of 3 hours...

What do I do ?

OP posts:
pinkyp · 09/03/2012 23:17

Depends how much you want it,? I'd tell the seller when you can come and let them pick. I normally give different days, rather than just one.

Original poster
recall · 09/03/2012 23:27

Its a bloody nightmare. I am dreading it now because they have been off with me and I have to meet them face to face, I will be embarrassed. They are making it impossible really. I have paid for it by paypal, so I realy need to collect it. they even complained about that, that it was such a small amount, but that was on the e bay page, so I just paid for it straight away - it gave me the option.

OP posts:
saltcod · 09/03/2012 23:38

PayPal is always an option as you can't list an item without putting it on the auction. TBH, if I'm collecting an item I always ask if they'd prefer cash as it can save them £££ on PayPal fees.

DamnBamboo · 10/03/2012 00:04

You are perhaps being a little unreasonable in expecting that a seller should be able to accomodate your very small window of time in which to pick item up.

Sorry!

Aribura · 10/03/2012 00:08

You just know half of Mumsnet would be the first in line to slag off a customer who wanted to come at 7pm ("won't somebody please think of the children!")

So yes YABalittleU but how badly do you want the furniture?

squeakytoy · 10/03/2012 07:38

You can list certain items, particularly large pieces of furniture without paypal.

The seller is daft to have allowed payment by paypal, and you are not really giving them much of a window yourself really.

buttonmoon78 · 10/03/2012 07:42

I sold some greenhouses but wasn't allowed not to offer paypal Confused

OP - YABslightlyU. I am often very busy, especially on weekends, so if someone said they would come to collect I would expect them to be flexible to suit me. And I'm not sure I'd want a stranger turning up in the dark wanting access to my house as I'm normally a few glasses down by then.

fergoose · 10/03/2012 08:13

A seller should never accept paypal for collection items. They should refund you and request cash.

sharenicely · 10/03/2012 09:01

Why shouldn't a seller accept PayPal for collection ? It's up to the buyer if the option is there.
As a seller I've accepted either.

buttonmoon78 · 10/03/2012 09:03

I was going to ask the same question!

fergoose · 10/03/2012 09:07

becaause the buyer can claim item not received and get their money back. seller has no online proof of delivery. so buyer pays with paypal, collects the item then does a chargeback to get their money refunded and seller has no item and no money.

Unfortunately eBay do not warn sellers, and tell them they have to offer paypal on their listings, but they don't tell them they are leaving themselves wide open to scammers and chargebacks.

fergoose · 10/03/2012 09:07

*because

SydSaid · 10/03/2012 09:09

Because the buyer could raise a complaint, and the seller would have no proof of delivery, so the buyer would get their money refunded. At a guess.

SydSaid · 10/03/2012 09:09

Cross post!

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 10/03/2012 09:10

I think it's because there is nothing to stop an unscrupulous buyer starting a dispute and reclaiming the money from PayPal after having collected the goods.

sharenicely · 10/03/2012 09:11

Aah right, never thought of that!

buttonmoon78 · 10/03/2012 09:12

Oh! I always get them to sign a receipt if they collect after paying with paypal. Is that not good enough? If not I shall revise my descriptions pronto...

fergoose · 10/03/2012 09:32

no a signed receipt is utterly worthless if they do a chargeback - I mean who's to say you didn't make the receipt yourself. (not that you would but you know)

Just write in cash on collection on collection items, and if buyers do pay by paypal just refund them via paypal and ask for cash

buttonmoon78 · 10/03/2012 09:36

Righto. Worth knowing. Thank you - I'm reasonably new to ebay!

troisgarcons · 10/03/2012 09:38

You should have sorted out the logistics and collection window before bidding - but we all make mistakes when first ebaying.

Do a PP claimback for non delivery.

ragged · 10/03/2012 09:40

But sellers have to offer Paypal, don't they? I'm very confused about this, because I think Ebay policy might be that sellers MUST accept Paypal if that is what Buyer states that they want.

I loathe Paypal & would like to not offer it at all, & get all my buyers to pay using direct bank transfer, but Sellers not allowed to do that, are they?

squeakytoy · 10/03/2012 09:42

a receipt is absolutely worthless... nothing but trackable signed delivery counts with paypal..

to give you an example, I sold something to someone abroad. I had a receipt from the post office, but had not charged for, or paid for, signed delivery.

The buyer emailed me (through EBAY!!!) to say they had got the item but it was damaged in the post .. (highly unlikely, and the "photo evidence" appeared to be of a different item than the one I had posted to them, so I refused to refund and told them to send it back. They then started a dispute to say that the item had not been received!. I fully expected that to be laughed off by paypal, as I had ebay emails to prove otherwise from the buyer but no, no proof of tracked/signed postage... the buyer got the item, and I was £40 out of pocket too!

fergoose · 10/03/2012 09:47

yes Ragged that is the flaw - eBay tell you that you have to offer paypal but don't tell you it is not safe for collection items

The community boards are full of complaints about it, yet eBay do nothing

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/27/is-paypal-safe-protection

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