buyer telling me she can't pay - what should I do?

[foosty]

I sold a pair of jeans a week ago, and promptly got a message from the buyer saying that her paypal account had been blocked and she couldn't pay me - she was very pleasant in the letter but I get the feeling that she's changed her mind

I asked her if he could pay me another way, ie cheque or bank transfer and her response (2 days later) was that she didn't ever pay anyone any other way as once she did that and the seller didn't mark the item as paid and she lost her money and didn't get her item.

I don't know whether to open an unpaid item case considering she has been in touch with me and been all very jolly in her communication. Should I just let it go? Her feedback has been made private, btw, but it is 100%.

How odd. Ask her how she plans on paying you then. If no response within 48 hours yes, open an unpaid item case.

I would make it an Unpaid Item case - she's the one who is being awkward about paying, after agreeing to buy them. The fact that she's being friendly and chatty in her emails doesn't change that.

yeah - I've asked how she plans to pay, and told her that I will send her my address/bank details if she needs them. I've also told her that if she isnt going to pay, I'll open an unpaid item case. My feedback is 100% from nearly 700 transactions - probably half of them from selling, and I've never had to do that before, hence my reluctance!

I would open an unpaid case now, she still has 4 days to pay after opening it - if you don't you won't get your final fees back and she will still be able to leave you feedback. Also if she makes a habit of this, unpaid strikes will limit or close her eBay account too.

Definitely open an unpaid item case and follow it through.
Her excuse about a "blocked" Paypal account seems suspicious. Possible that she has reached her limit and the account requires verifying, but that only takes a day or so.
If she was asking you to wait until she had sorted her issue out then I'd probably say to wait, but it sounds like she wants you to cancel the transaction so I would say use the unpaid item route and issue a strike.

I did ask her when the block on her paypal would be lifted but he ignored my question. That's why I got suspicious! I've asked her to respond to me today otherwise I'll open the case. I'm probably too soft but I like to give folk a chance!