Hi all,
Don't really know very much about e-bay at all but have used it quite frequently over the past 2 months as we have just moved, are on a very tight budget and have found some good furniture bargains! So far all has been fine apart from a damaged table which was refunded quickly and seller was more than helpful.
So we are in urgent need of a garden shed as we have alot of stuff to be stored outside which is currently in the house. Can't afford a new one and second hand ones seem very hard to come by. Had a look on e-bay and just happened to spot one ending that night in my town.....instructions were for buyer to dismantle. It has pictures, looks ok and description says it's currently on an allotment.
I contacted the seller to see what kind of price he was hoping for...he messaged back pretty quickly saying £75.
We put a max bid on for £101 not expecting to win as all the others were going for alot more but that is the very max we could afford.
Anyway, had an unexpected family emergency and had to travel, totally forgot about the shed. Came back 2 days later and discovered we had won the auction.
Contacted seller again to said 'Hi, we've won your shed. Do you want us to pay by paypal or cash on collection. Where is it located? When can we come to get it?'
Seller didn't reply for 3 days and then just said 'pay by paypal'. We replied saying 'ok, will do. Again, where is it located and when can we come?'
Another 2 days passed and no reply.
The thing making us suspicious is that it says it's located in my town but it also says 10miles away, and it can't be both, it's a very small town. Also, I know where the allotments are and they're just down the road from us.
I realise we haven't paid yet, and he probably wants his money before arranging anything. However, the location details are odd and he won't answer any questions.
Ideally we would have arranged to look at it beforehand but the auction was ending that night so we took a chance.
£100 is alot to us right now and I'm afraid of losing the money if the item doesn't even exist. Will we get the money back if this happens?
We want and need the item ASAP and nothing else has come up. What would you do? Am I just being paranoid as we are so short at the moment? Are we being crap buyers?
Any advice welcome