Many purchasers on Ebay are complete tosspots.

[Getmeoutahere5]

I'm really put off using Ebay again in the future. Two weeks ago I Ebayed a whole pile of furniture that needed shifting as we're moving house. So far so good, but not one bugger has been to collect in all this time - that's despite me clearly stating they needed to be collected by last Sunday at the latest. People don't even bother to reply to your messages. I've had 3 back out after the auction has ended - due to a change of heart & that's been frustrating. I've had many pay but not reply to any contact I've made to collect. I'm just sitting here like a bloody moose waiting for the time they feel they finally can be arsed to do something about it. & there's nothing I can do, I just have to sit and wait however long they decide to take, which is making things difficult my end because I need the stuff shifted. I wouldn't mind if they at least answered my flippin' messages & make some sort of arrangement. & then there are a few who haven't paid yet either. Who leaves it over two weeks without contact or paying? And after all this hassle I'll have to leave positive feedback...

Rant over. As you were.

Firstly, NEVER accept Paypal for collection items. It leaves you wide open to a chargeback. Refund what you have been paid and ask for cash on collection.

Secondly, I really wouldn't bother personally. Just call a local charity and get them to fetch it. Far less stress and no dealing with idiots/

You can put cash on collection on your listing but you can’t list an item without including PayPal.

I’ve had a much better time with Shpock recently. Sold 2 car seats for £20 which would otherwise have gone to the tip. They would have fetched £5-£10 on eBay if they’d sold at all. They were listed for a while. Had one enquiry per item, agreed on a price and a collection time. You make a formal bid on Shpock which Shpock says is a binding contract (although I’m not sure if that’s enforceable).

Maybe that’s what weeded out the time wasters.

The problem I've found with Shpock is people don't seem to get the idea of bartering and have often got items on there ridiculously over priced. The binding agreement isn't enforced either, oh and word of warning, when you do get a time waster and leave less than perfect starts Shpock will happily remove that feedback if you email them, which kind of defeats the object really.

I put a table on Shpock and the Facebook free sites this weekend, just a table, clearly nothing else. The first 3 replies went like this..

Can you deliver for free?

What are the chairs like?

Will this fit in a newer BMW 3 Series?

I took it the charity shop.

I doubted how enforceable the contract would be. I must’ve been lucky to have sold to 2 non time wasters.

I thought the advice was opposite with regards to cash on collection. With PayPal it offers protection for the buyer if the item turns out to be defected in any way. I always pay PayPal regardless.

Anyway I fully understand the frustration. I once reluctantly had to sell beautiful Mexican pine wardrobes that wouldn’t fit up the stairs in the new house. We waited hours for a couple to collect only for them to turn their noses in the air and say they didn’t want them . I haven’t really bothered with collection items since.

@OutPinked it offers no protection as a seller as to win any case you need to prove delivery. Nothing stopping someone paying with PayPal, collecting say a £200 TV then filing a not received claim.

People have tried the old sign receipt tricks and the like, but ultimately it's quite simple with PayPal, no proof of delivery and you'll lose a claim.

We had very similar recently with eBay. Selling a telly table.

First buyer emails 4 days after winning, he's buying for his daughter and she's decided on something different in the interim. Cancel and relist.

Second buyer pays straight away, contacts to say arranging collection. Hear nothing for a few days, then a message saying she thought it was a corner unit (listed as straight). Then one saying it's fine. Another week goes by and she cancels as she can't find a courier.

Lose the last vestiges of my sanity, Relist again, and finally get a non time waster.

I will loads of stuff on eBay but I never use it for collection only items, it’s far too much of a headache.

Gumtree, cash on collection only, for me.

Gumtree, cash on collection only, for me.

Yup

Just decided I've sold my last item on eBay after having a nightmare couple of weeks selling my old baby items, winning the bid then not paying or replying to messages asking if they want to cancel so I have to wait for the resolution centre to cancel it, parcels getting lost with the courier and having to mess around locating them and redirecting, buyers expecting replies to their messages within an hour of sending when I clearly state I'm not a professional seller and can't reply when I'm at work etc. Have spent hours sorting everything out for £100.

I came off Gum Tree as was sick of waiting in for people who never turned up to collect, but in hindsight it's less work. Will give Sphock a try!

Yep, second Gumtree for these sorts of items.

Gumtree and Shpock for me. Cash on collection only and no seller charges! I have used eBay in the past but it's just too much hassle I find.

(Paypal) offers no protection as a seller as to win any case you need to prove delivery

Exactly There was something said about them no longer accepting "I didn't receive it" claims on collection only items, but reports suggest they're still issuing refunds to chancers

Total waste of time, and interesting that they seem to be doing a lot of advertising now. At one time that wouldn't have been necessary ...

I also find that there are plenty of sellers that don't have a clue too, but have had a few stupid buyers who haven't read the listings/measurements which include very single bloody thing they need to know because I try to pre-empt stupidity.

As a seller you need to explain everything in minute detail and big letters and put it in a place in the text where it can't be missed.

Open an unpaid dispute as soon as you can, it can be set with the unpaid item assistant to do it automatically or you can do it yourself. I think it is 2 days, then a wait for them to ignore it, then you get your fees back and can relist and they get a black mark (supposedly) and you can report them.

I have seen many items that assume people will know everything, you can't do that any more on Ebay, you have to spell it out very clearly if you want to sell.

My experience of Shpock is people wanting something for nothing.
I'll put something up for a fraction of it's original price, then I'll get people offering £5 and want me to deliver it to the other side of the city!
Even though I could do with the money, it's all going to charity now. Too stressful for too little money.

Puzzled PayPal will be advertising as they will no longer be a part of Ebay and will need to attract business for themselves.

@WishIwas19again, some of those things can be avoided, using a courier is not a good thing, some of them are appalling.

If people don't pay open a UPI dispute (see my previous post).

Put full details in the listing and change your dispatch time so that it allows you more time to post before a dispute can be opened and ensure you send tracked to prove when you posted in case of a claim or bad feedback.

You just need to be fully aware of how it works and get it to work for you. I get the odd arsehole buyer since 2002 and have worked out how to do things as I go along, am still battling on with it, could sell more but I have it all buttoned up as tightly as I can which means not taking chances if I can avoid it.

PayPal will be advertising as they will no longer be a part of Ebay and will need to attract business for themselves

You're right, but it was actual ebay advertising I was thinking of ...

Daysofcurly that's interesting about the courier, I always thought it would be more secure with tracking etc than Royal Mail. My experiences with My Hermes have been rotten the last couple of weeks so definitely won't bother with them again!