urgent - if accepting cash instead of paypal, how do I confirm on ebay that it's been paid?

[Lexilicious]

Hi,

I'm expecting a buyer's husband to come round this evening to pick up an item she won. Have received no payment yet via the (only) payment method I listed. She says would cash on collection be ok, and I said I'd be more comfortable with paypal (all this through ebay messaging). But gave her the address and that this evening would be a good time to come and get it. I didn't exactly say no to the cash.

If he turns up, with £25 proffered, and I accept that, how do I show the item as paid and collected on ebay? Where do ebay take their cut from? (presumably my paypal account?)

Should I get a signature or something as proof of collection? I have her name, so I'll ask him to identify who he is, obviously, but who else would know to come to my house, know what the item is and wave the right amount of money?

Should I hold out for paypal even if that means I make him come back another time/day?

My very first sale so sorry I'm sounding like an idiot!

I only take cash if they are collecting.
If they pay by paypal and collect you have no proof that they received the item and they can claim as not received. Also you will save the paypal fees so another good point! EBay will already have added to your account the listing and final value fees.

If you go into My EBay you can mark the item as payment received and despatched in there.

Ebay send you an invoice at the end of the month which be be taken from your paypal account.

Cash is good as you won't pay paypal fees. There will be an option by the item which you will be able to click to confirm payment

ok but couldn't they claim as not received anyway?
thanks for the point about marking as payment received, I haven't read all the instructions...

Be careful Lexilicious...don't let them pay by PayPal and then collect in person as you have no proof they've had the item!
If they turn up and pay cash, that should be fine, you can easily mark the item as paid on eBay..it's easy to see how to do this.
The money for eBay's fees will come from your PayPal account, as all sellers now have to have an agreement that they can take the money from you when due!

They could claim that, in which case you could claim you've had no money, so no fraudster would do it!
The main pitfall is if you'd been paid by PayPal and then the buyer claims no item (as they picked it up). Don't fall for the PayPal payment/collection in person scam. Cash should be fine though.

ooh, this is all a bit more dastardly than I thought!! but the vast majority of sales are trouble-free, right? do you get a special member's badge once you've had your first bad experience!?

you can mark the item as paid in ebay can't you - or the buyer can themselves.

I agree never take paypal for collection only items. The buyer could collect and pay by cash and claim not received, but ebay would do nothing as they paid by cash but if they had paid by paypal you have no online proof of delivery and you would lose the money.

also don't let the buyer offer you less money - you agreed a price and that's it, it is non negotiable.

Yes, there's almost certainly no need to worry, I'm sure 99% are trouble free. No badge, sorry! Positive feedback is the top reward and a lesson well learnt for bad experiences!

Just remember, no PayPal payment if collecting in person, cash only!

right, plot thickens - paypal received, no pickup has taken place. I should send her a message shouldn't I.

I thought you had to offer paypal - how do I remove it as an option for something I'm closing on tomorrow? do I just have to say cash on collection only?

I thought they were coming tonight?

Oh sorry you mean you have another item finishing tomorrow?

refund the payment from paypal - log into paypal, find the payment, click on it and hit refund

then email them and say as it is collection only you will only accept cash

you can't remove the paypal option from a listing - but you can write in your listing cash on collection

Tragically - I thought they were coming tonight to pick up the item, but no sign. I have sent a message saying got paypal money thanks, when are you coming.

Have three more things closing tomorrow. Two of them I will post (well, courier) another I absolutely can't (it's a bathroom suite!!). So, I need to decide whether to change that to cash only, and as I've made loads of revisions to add more info, I think I can't be arsed - to be honest, if they took it away and then claimed not to have received it, I'd chuckle at the cheek, refund the money and be thankful they'd taken it off my hands.

I'm actually more at the paying but not collecting!! Or potentially turning up at an inconvenient time. I feel like I'm now in the customer service position of being unable to refuse any demand in case I get a bad score...

just email at then end of the auction and state cash only

you should refund the paypal and ask them for cash, plus you are being charged fees on the paypal money.

for anyone who wants to know how it turned out, buyer's DH turned up yesterday for it, asked if she'd paid because if not he had cash in his pocket. All good.

The three things which closed on friday night all went to the same buyer, who had struck up quite a conversation with me beforehand - asking for measurements etc. So although I had put postage costs on two of those, as she's got to collect the big thing she'll collect them all, and pay cash. Expecting her tomorrow. Was a great entertainment watching this lady snipe all three in the very last seconds!