Ebayer paid but not collecting or communicating

[OneRealOchreHiker]

I sold a big money item on EBay 10 days ago, they paid the money but won’t respond to any of my messages asking when they want to collect. Isn’t this quite odd?

AIBU - wait for them to get in touch

AINBU - I just cancel it and refund them

Life is too short. Message them that if no contact within the next 5 days you will refund and cancel the sale.

Someone paid £50 for a table of mine in 2019. No sign of them since.

@OneRealOchreHiker what does ebay say..

Maybe they had an accident or died?

Someone did this to me, in the end after a few weeks of trying to get her to collect it I had to cancel the sale as she just could get round to arranging a pick up. Really annoying.

Keep it for a coupe of weeks at least. She's paid and she may be ill or having some crisis. If you don't hear, better ask Ebay what the procedure is, or you may end up in trouble with them. How annoying for you though.

This is one reason why cash on collection is much better all round for items that aren't being posted - worth bearing in mind for another time.

If they pay upfront and then come to collect it, they can then claim to eBay that they haven't received it, so eBay ask you for proof of posting, which of course you don't have, because they collected it in person as agreed - so then eBay can take the money off you and 'refund' it to the thieving 'buyer', who also now has your item.

Similarly, in your case, if you had insisted on cash on collection only, you could just have treated them as a timewaster and advertised it again. Having received their money whilst they have no interest in collecting their property does, as you've found, make it a lot trickier.

I googled it and apparently some scams run this way, but I’m not sure how? I may get charged for cancelling it? I tried it (without actually doing it) and it said no fees payable

It is really annoying, if they don’t want it then fine, but why pay me? I can’t take the money, I still have the item, I can’t relist it currently. Is it a scam where they turn up on day 29, take it and then ask eBay for a refund?

The seller - how long have they had the profile, how many sales or purchases, have they used the account for longer than 3 months, are they within a reasonable distance from you for collecting, what’s their eBay rating like?

quite a few similar posts on the forum. Just contact eBay and explain. They will probably advise you to cancel using same reason suggested in post ‘buyer failed to collect’ and buyer will be refunded and you should recoup the sellers fees. Block the buyer after that so they can’t repurchase.

I'd cancel it now. If you're selling on eBay for collection, it's always better to do cash on collection. Otherwise the buyer can send you the money, collect the item and then tell eBay you didn't give them it. You'll have no proof you handed it over so eBay will side with the buyer and insist you refund them.

There's a code number now that buyer and seller exchange now I believe when collecting an item to prove that the right person came for it.

Ok so I think I’ve found the person on Facebook who bought it. Seems a bit weird to message them?

It is weird. EBay also says don’t go off official channels. And it’s just weird.

@OneRealOchreHiker Do not contact them off eBay all your rights are through eBay they tell you not to go off site.
You need to contact eBay also i would be screenshot-ting everything .
The buyer has more rights than you in situations like this I believe
Could be a scam
There is a phone number for eBay to speak to real people it's a bugger to find though

That's good news. It's been a while since I sold on eBay, tend to stick to Vinted or FB marketplace. But good to know, thanks.

This is what eBay say…
After a careful review, I can see that you are sending multiple messages to the buyer, however, they are not responding. I can see also that the buyer purchase the item12th of November. Nothing to worry about as if the buyer will not be communicating with you until 12th of December, the buyer will no longer be covered with our eBay money back guarantee. As the buyer can only be covered within 30 days since they purchased the item. You can also cancelled the transaction until the given date above.