Ebay buyer - has already paid but false address. Help please

[EdieBlizzard]

Something doesn't feel right with a sale I have just made. I put on our old sofa at a cheap buy it now price as I wanted rid of it. It is collection only and Buyer has paid for it via PayPal. Their ebay address is obviously fake and links to a Bulgarian account. There is no response to my messages... Anyone have any ideas? I'm feeling uncomfortable giving out my address details. Gggrrrr....

ok - first of all you need to refund in full - never ever take paypal for collected item - cash only with no exceptions. And they will already have your address so too late to feel uncomfortable.

Then message and ask them to pay in cash when they collect, and give them a timeframe. If they don't contact or collect send cancellation request and get your fees back. And block foreign buyers in the future so this doesn't happen again. Plus add them to your blocked bidder list.

Sorry for being Pooh bear, but why can't you take money by paypal for a collected item?

Because if the buyer claims he never picked the sofa up you've no proof he did

So paypal will refund

you can also report a buyer for false contact details if their address and phone number are incorrect.

Ah, of course, thanks. Guess that even if you got a signature on collection they could simply say it wasn't theirs.

I think they can look up your address no problem, OP, you can't deny them that (I think).

I would contact Ebay CS about this. They may side with you. If it's more than £5 then probably worth risking a neg if you're really certain.

You can't deny them right to pay by Paypal, can only ask them to pay cash instead or you can take risk of Neg FB & being reported as a non-performing seller.

Buyer asked me to post the sofa stating it said 'free'. I referred them back to the original listing. They stated they no longer wanted it so i offered to refund and have done so. Thanks for the advice.

make sure you send a cancellation request to get your fees back too.

If you list anything cash on collection, make sure you stipulate that anyone who pays via PayPal must arrange a trackable delivery method. Seems to work so far. Refund the PayPal payment.

if a buyer pays by paypal you must always organise the courier yourself, never ever let the buyer arrange their own courier. You have no tracking and no way of claiming for loss or damage- so buyer keeps the item and can get a refund from you plus claim for the loss from the courier too. Plus you have to pack the item plus wait for the courier to turn up for when they book it.