HELP! Buying outside of ebay?

[20wkbaby]

I made an offer on an item on ebay for £40 plus p+p, the seller declined my offer but said he would accept £50 including postage if I paid by Paypal outside ebay.

Should alarm bells be ringing - is he just trying to avoid ebay fees and save on postage (which is priced at £5) and therefore meeting me half way? He has 100% positive feedback over the last 12 months.

Just not sure how much legal protection I would have if he decided not to send the item at all.

You would have no legal protection - and his ebay rating will not reflect any deals he has done like this outside ebay.

I would report to ebay - the seller is trying to avoid paying their fees (so he gets to keep more of the money) and you will not have any legal protection if he doesn't send your item.

I have done it before but it is risky, if theres anything wrong with the item or if it doesn't turn up then you have no come back (your money will be gone), i wouldn't reccomend doing it unless you are collecting the item.

You could make a claim through paypal but this is tricky because without it being linked to a e-bay listing there is no proof of what you bought.

Thanks, that is what I thought and just not worth it to me.

Thanks for your quick replies I will avoid like the plague!

You should be covered by Paypal if you are sending money as purchase of goods, and put a clear description of the item in the message box.
The seller will still pay a paypal fee for doing it this way (but will save their ebay fees)
If they request you send money via paypal as a gift or personal payment owed, they wont pay any fees but you wont be covered.

Make sure he sends a paypal invoice to You saying what it is for. Do not just put the money in his account as that can been seen as a gift. I do a lot of sales outside of ebay (I have an ebay shop) and not everything I sell is listed so when people ask for things I send them a paypal invoice. I ALWAYS send an invoice stating what it is for and it protects both myself and the buyer. I bought something of someone from facebook a few weeks ago and I would not pay unless he sent an invoice through paypal stating what it was for, i paid and goods were delivered but if by any chance they did not arrive I could have claimed through paypal whereas if I just put the money across to him he could have said it was a gift. Hope that helps.

He is avoiding eBay fees, pure and simple. eBay don't like that kind of thing! But Paypal should still protect you, read here.

you won't have eBay protection this way plus seller is conning eBay so you should avoid tbh.