To never use eBay again

[Pencilandpaper]

Used to use eBay loads but haven’t sold anything for over a couple of years. I have a sofa I need to sell due to moving house, it’s branded and in excellent condition so fairly high value. I listed it very clearly as collection in person with my town.

Anyway, item ends and the winning bidder immediately messages me telling me wrap the sofa “like a newborn baby” I messaged back stating that I hadn’t included packing materials cost, so no it won’t be packaged. She then tells me it will be collected by courier on one of two days! So I reply again, saying as stated it was collection in person and I’m not sending a high value item unwrapped with a courier, nor am I staying in for two days waiting for it to be collected.

Since then I have had no end of grief trying to sort. She messaged me constantly, being very rude. I reported her but have heard nothing on my report. Whenever I try to get hold of someone at eBay, their website is like a maze - eventually you stumble on a live chat who may or may not be able to help. I tried to refund the buyer but it kept saying there was an issue with my account. Finally got through to an agent who managed to refund for me so i thought all resolved..only to find today I have been stung with final value selling fees and negative feedback from the buyer.

Aibu that eBay is such a stressful experience. I’m closing my account!

I've bought something that needed collection in person and sent a furniture removal company. It was slightly banged up and the removal team called me to confirm that was ok (it was a reclaimed wood table, it was meant to be a bit rough looking!).

I think you could have replied that you wouldn't be wrapping it, did they still want to send the courier? Or they could pay their courier to wrap it? Or you would wrap it at a cost. You didn't need to wait in for two days. You could have told them what time suits and then It's their problem to find a courier that accommodates it.

I think you blew a perfectly good sale (apart from the presumptive message directing you how to wrap it, I agree that was rude).

I don't blame you. eBay is shit these days. I closed my account too.

Never ever take PayPal for a collect in person item. Ask for cash when collecting. If you use PayPal then after collecting the item the buyer could add a item not received claim. You would lose ad you have no postage proof or tracking and therfore they will have the item and the refund

Really? It's only three words. How could you misinterpret them to mean something other than collection in person? No wonder people are always in here complaining about eBay and Facebook buyers!
Collect in person literally means the seller will hand the goods over on the doorstep, rather than get involved in the delivery 🤷🏻‍♀️
If you want to send a man with a van (and who the hell has a car big enough to transport a large sofa?!) that counts as pickup.

Yanbu. I’ve stopped using ebay too. It’s fine for professional sellers but if you just want to get rid of a second-hand item quick for a bargain price, it’s way too much hassle and too in the buyer’s favour now. I don’t like that sellers have been forced to accept electronic payment and that eg ebay can decide anout refunds. It feels to me that ebay want to compete with Amazon but that is so far from where ebay began.

For context the last item I sold cost me £800, was a few yrs old but in as new condition (furniture) and I was letting it go for £50 to get rid of it asap due to needing the space. I wanted to put it on ebay but was too much hassle. When selling stuff at bargain prices, I want to do cash on collection and no refund or messing about. Happily I was able to arrange that through local facebook and 2 hrs later the item was gone!

Goodbye ebay!

I don't use it to sell any more either. I use FB marketplace or gumtree. I was stung too many times by ebay favouring scammers!

I strongly dislike selling on eBay, I get ridiculously tense and anxious about the whole thing in case I inadvertently have to deal with an asshole.

I don't generally mind buying something for collection, most people I have met have been lovely.

But generally buying from private sellers is a nightmare. Last year I bought antique from someone who thought it was acceptable to post it out in a bin bag, then got upset when I asked for a refund when it arrived smashed.

Also fed up of sellers not cleaning things before posting. Who things it's acceptable to post out their grime

Interesting to read those who think I’m being unreasonable. It genuinely never occurred to me collection in person could also mean courier is ok. I wouldn’t be happy to accept someone else’s courier personally, especially not wrapped (I missed out to say this seller said the courier was her “friend” which also raised alarm bells that he/she would be fine saying it was damaged already when collected). Also, no courier can give a specific time so it would definitely mean waiting in.
All around too risky for my liking especially as not paid cash and no wrapping. But have taken thoughts on board and decided eBay clearly isn’t for me!

Sounds like a scammer to me, although they wouldn’t usually draw this much attention to themselves. Unfortunately there’s always 1% of users ruining it for the decent 99% eBay are pretty good on the phone - if you can find the right page! It’s better on desktop site than mobile site I find.

I use couriers booked through AnyVan. They offer two or three hour timeslots and communicate well. I co-ordinate with the seller and book a suitable time. Simple, effective and the risk is mine.

I don’t think it’s great for anyone these days, I received a coat recently that was absolutely not as described, was more like a petite fit and not even the colour was the same as in the photos. I was refused a return and there seemed to be no way of appealing ☹️ I have had bad experiences selling too and think you can get more on Facebook Marketplace for less hassle most of the time.

eBay /PayPal have stolen still collecting thousands of pounds supposedly for not sending valuable coins He did I believe a group of collect got together and told ebay they had not received the goods they’ve blocked his account so he cannot contact them and they’ve put it in the hands of a debt company .Police day they are awful

eBay can be hard work but recently I’ve tried buying from Depop and Vinted and when I’ve had issues as a buyer it’s been really hard work.

I got annoyed on eBay this year when I had a buyer who claimed I didn’t send her the right item and I couldn’t find a way out of refunding her, but overall it still offers better options (for me) for buying / selling / communicating than the other options.

I sometimes sell on fb groups as no fees then but my god, the drama in some groups if you pass to the next in line ‘too quick’ or people change their minds after saying yes.

Have been on both sides of this. Where it goes wrong is when buyer pays for the cheapest courier and then expects the seller to wait home for the whole day as they can't guarantee when the item/furniture will be collected.

If it's a courier who rings the seller and asks what time they can collect them it's a different story.

I once deliberately listed something on eBay as 'collection only' as I didn't want the faff of mailing it, only for the buyer to then email me a postage label and asked me to box it up and take it to the post office!!!

@Not2daySatan you’re absolutely correct only take cash for pick up. I learned the hard way and no one wants to help an honest seller.