Seller will not release item for collection until payment clears

[Mxflamingnoravera]

I won and paid for an item by paypal last week. Instead of going for postage, I chose to pick up because the item is in my city. The seller will not release the item to me until the payment has been cleared by ebay. She has asked me to mark the item recieved but I won't do this as I have not recieved the item and if there is a dispute I would have no grounds for dispute. If I had opted for posting, surely she would have posted the item immediately and I would have it by now. I have sent her numerous messages to follow up and she says I have to contact ebay as she will not hand the item over until the payment clears. This feels all wrong to me, I have paid, I want my item. What can I do (or what can she do to get her payment from ebay)?

I only opted for collection because the postage was sky high (£8 for a pair of jeans) and I live two miles away from her, so picking up should have been easy.

How do I contact ebay to get her funds cleared or get her to give me my paid for item?

Maybe click on the “item not arrived” but then type about how seller won’t give you the item? Presumably ebay will then look at the messages between you and see she is refusing to hand it over.

Why cant you just hand over the cash when you pick it up?

This is the obvious solution. Cancel PayPal, pay cash on collection.

Can I cancel PayPal?

You need to inform ebay that the seller will not hand over the goods. As you have used PayPal you are in a good position. PayPal eill refund your money. Do not mark as received. Good luck.

Sorry if you know this already OP, but what’s happened is PayPal have put a hold on the money - usually the case for a new seller or if they deem a transaction “high risk”, but sometimes the algorithm just does it. The seller will have been told to still send/hand over the item, but it seems here they don’t want to - you marking it as received speeds up the process, otherwise I think the default is like 3 weeks or something like that.

I would personally just cancel the transaction as they’re messing you about; but depends on how much you want the item I suppose.

The seller is protecting herself - a lot of scammers collect and then put in a claim saying not received, there is no proof of postage so eBay and PayPal refund the buyer.
For both parties always best to do cash if collecting.
Look into cancelling the payment you've made by pp and give her the cash. Tell her what you are doing though.

You have been emailed a qr and number code with your order confirmation. The seller either scans the qr code or enters the number code when you collect. This will release her money and it should literally clear whilst you’re still there.

If not convinced she can process a refund and you can pay cash when you collect. Once you’ve paid online the only way to get a refund without her assistance is via a case. Since you want the item it’s best to try and work with her even if she is a pest.

Speak to ebay this is not your problem to solve personally I would cancel the transaction and block them as a seller

Are the jeans worth the hassle?

If the item is being collected in person it has to be cash only.

It's a well known scam for buyers to pay by paypal, collect in-person and then tell paypal the item wasn't recieved. The seller has no proof of delivery so they lose the item and the money. It's theft. It's totally reasonable for this seller to refuse your request, they have no way of knowing whether this is your plan.

Cancel the PayPal transaction and go and collect the item with cash. Check it thoroughly before handing over the momey as you will have very few rights in the event of later dissatisfaction with your purchase.

OP can't just cancel the PayPal transaction from her end in this scenario.

OP? Ask the seller to refund you via eBay and tell her you'll pay cash on collection instead. Then everyone will be happy.

Qr codes have been used to protect sellers from collection scams for a couple of years.

Paypal only cover collection items when you use goods and services with a qr code I.e they don’t cover ebay collection listings at all and haven’t for a few years. Cover is pretty negligible anyway as you’re expected to have inspected and accepted the goods.

You can’t cancel a completed PayPal payment. The seller has to refund or you need to launch a “request” (case).

Even though she'd have had to post them by now she'd have proof of postage so no risk to her by sending before payment clears whereas if you collect before it has you could cancel and mess her paypal up.

I always refuse PayPal when something is collected in person. Ask the seller to refund you and then pay her cash.
I refund PayPal if people are collecting in person

Contact eBay to tell them the situation. They will investigate and you should get the item quicker or a refund.

Do not mark as received if it hasn't been

As above ask her to refund and offer cash on collection instead. If she refuses then I'd just buy elsewhere

This is still ongoing. I've asked ebay for a refund and they say I have to ask the seller, but she has not had the money from eBay, so (understandably) she won't refund me. Ebay have my money, the seller has the jeans. I'm stuck. I've asked ebay to refund me and explained this, but so far, nothing. What else can I do?

Is there an option for you to say the item has not arrived? If it's passed the estimated date of arrival.

Report it to eBay as item not received. Tell them the seller won't give you the item. eBay should issue a refund in a few days. If they don't claim through PayPal. Give up on the jeans!

The seller should still be able to refund/cancel the transaction. I had this happen albeit directly via PayPal and the seller refunded despite not having the funds as PayPal was holding it. Perhaps a bit more complicated seeing eBay don't seem to run directly through PayPal anymore though....

All sorted finally. I escalated it with eBay and they finally refunded me. Then I went round and paid cash fir the jeans. We are both happy.