Please may I have some advise Re what to do next?

[happytodayhappytomorrow]

I sold an item on furniture in September Collection only.
Buyer mucked me around a bit re the collection date. Finally paid via PayPal 4 days later and collected the next day. Buyer collected in person and transported home in own car. No protection/padding/anything to support item.
3 weeks later buyer contacts me wanting to return item and claiming a fault. This is categorically not true.
I refuse and state my reasons why.
Buyer escalated to EBay who side with buyer and tell me that I am to accept the return of the item and refund.
Apparently, if the buyer chooses to return the item by post, I am liable for the cost of postage!

I’ve contacted EBay to contest their decision.
Do I stand any hope of this being reversed or would I be best to contact the buyer and arrange to collect the item myself before they try to post it and I get the bill?

I have such a horrible bad taste in my mouth about all this (lucky me huh? Means I don’t have Covid) as I truly believe I have done nothing wrong yet I am going to be the one who is worse off.
It seems so unfair.
How can the buyer collect it in person, keep it for three weeks and then make a spurious complaint that EBay uphold?

I don't know if eBay will agree with you or buyer, but if you selling for collection only, always insist on cash. If they pay via PayPal, refund them immediately messaging them it's cash only, or don't give the PayPal option when you list the item.
Good luck OP.

For future you shouldn't accept PayPal if they're collecting. There's nothing stopping them opening a "item not received" case after they've picked up. As far as ebay and PayPal are concerned they can see you've been paid but you have no proof the buyer received the goods because there's been no proof of postage involved. If its collection, take cash.

First rule of EBay - cash on collection, never ever PayPal.

Never accept electronic payment for collection items. Cash only. Then it's done.

You dont even have any proof that the person has the item; no recorded delivery. He could have picked it up and then told Ebay you didnt answer the door. They would give the money back and there isnt anything you can do.

In the situation where he has told Ebay he has it and it is faulty, they will side with him and refund him. You need to collect it before he arranged a courier and charges you.

Hang on: did the buyer have a code they had to give you for collection? DP sold something recently for collection only. He accepted payment by PayPal despite me telling not to. The buyer had a QR and numeric code he had to give DP to confirm collection.

Ring eBay and speak to someone - don't just do everything by email/messaging them.

This is why I hate selling things on EBay. I always take a picture of the person collecting the item and only do cash on collection. But I worry every time. Ebay basically don't seem to care as long as they get their cut. Sorry.

Thank you all
It’s been a huge and horrible learning curve.
The consensus seems to be that I’ll get nowhere with Ebay and I should contact the buyer and arrange to collect the item ASAP so that I don’t risk postal charges.
Is that correct?

yeah collect yourself if you can -- you also don't want to rely on them wrapping it up well enough to prevent damage in transit.

X my fingers it arrives back to you in decent condition.

I have another question please.
The same buye

Try again.
The same buyer bought a smaller, matching piece of furniture in a separate auction but paid for the items together as one PayPal payment.

Am I obliged to take back the second item?

What were they refunded by PayPal?

The full amount is on hold according to my PayPal account.

You have to act like a marks & spencer business & fall over backwards to be accommodating, if you want to sell in future on Ebay. So yes take both returns if they say they want that.

Is crapola, for sure.

ps: put them on your blocked bidders list for future. Google how.

I assume you have a full history of the transaction in your ebay messages - does that include the messing around over collection so you can show you were being helpful at that point? In that case it is probably worth a try with a conversation with ebay - if you go into the queries section and say you have a question with your ebay fees they will always come up with an option for them to call you - which is usually within 5 minutes of making the request. (Once they are on the phone it doesn't matter that you are actually raising a different question.) If you explain what has happened they are usually pretty helpful - especially if you have a good track record as an ebayer. I've had a couple of dodgy buyers and in both cases ebay found in my favour and prevented them from leaving negative feedback.

You are far more likely to be supported by eBay if you call and speak with them.

Thanks for the extra posts. I did speak to Ebay but they refused to budge. My rating is 100%, the buyer's is 97%. Sadly the messages re delivery slots arranged and cancelled were by text message and once the item was collected, I deleted the message history as funnily enough, I didn't think I'd ever hear from them again!!!

It's been a huge learning curve for sure but I think I will probably just steer well clear of Ebay after this so I'm not that fussed about keeping this buyer happy to get a decent score/review.

I'm going to collect the item tomorrow, a 2 hour round trip. Fingers crossed the buyer is actually at the meeting place.

I think I will probably just steer well clear of
Ebay after this

That seems a bit dramatic, just learn from it, don’t accept PayPal for collection items...... cash only!

Ebay is a great selling platform, you just need to make sure you know how to protect yourself when selling.

19lottie82, I obviously did say that in the heat of the moment as I’ve resisted the item today

Fingers crossed