To ask for full payment or report this Ebayer? WWYD?

[Flossyfloof]

I sold a pair of boots at the weekend on EBay, they only went for a couple of quid but they weren't dear to start with (brand new).
The buyer has messaged to say could I reduce the postage (post sale) to second class as they are buying them for their neighbour who is a pensioner. I only offered first class postage at the rate EBay suggested. I don't know how much second class would be and I don't really want to have to go to the PO to find out and message the buyer, create a new invoice etc, for a total of 4.49 less my time money and postage.
I messaged them to say I thought it best for them to pay the full amount then if I could get the postage down I would. That way I could check second class postage cost, send the boots off and refund if it worked out.
They have messaged back to say they only have £5 and I can either wait or accept the fiver.
To be honest for this money I would rather just cancel the whole bloody transaction and give the boots to charity.
I know EBay is generally on the side of the purchaser but I don't think I am being unreasonable in expecting the purchase to be completed, am I?

Royal Mail is terribly expensive - I can really recommend Hermes. All tracked and you can check progress on line. If you have a local drop off point it's just £2.80 for a parcel under 1kg. You can pay extra for more compensation, signature on delivery etc. I've been using them for two years and had two lost parcels - all compensated without fuss, in cash (not stamps like RM sometimes does) i.e. straight back to your Paypal or however you paid.
Always always send tracked - there are just too many jokers out there. Don't let this put you off - it's worth sticking with it!

you need to file an unpaid case to ensure the buyer gets a strike and to stop them negging you too. Mutual cancellation is just too risky. Buyer can refuse it, you are stuck with fees and they can neg and trash your stars too. Not worth the risk.

I do mutual cancellations quite often. If the buyer and seller agree to cancel what's the problem?

The problem is the buyer probably does it every other auction. They piss about, win, refuse to pay and then get seller to cancel. Seller then has to relist and wait another 7 days for an item that should have sold, meanwhile, buyer has moved on to the next poor sod.

If you refuse, file a Non Paying Bidder buyer will get a strike/defect, call it what you will. Ebay has an option for the seller to block buyers who have more than a couple of unpaid strikes.

So the next time you have a buyer who changes their minds and wont pay for the item they have won, think on. If the buyer before hadn't done a mutual there is a good chance they wouldn't have been able to win your auction in the first place.