Would you buy off this ebay seller?

[tracyk]

dh bid on a camera and won it - £310.
He hadn;t looked at the deal closely enough and the seller only takes postal orders or bank draft - not paypal.
He hasn't sold anything in the past year and had a few 'niggly' feedbacks in the past.
I have emailed him a couple of times to see if he will take a personal chq and wait till it clears.
I have had no reply - I am dubious about sending money to someone who won't answer my emails.
Can bank drafts be traced if the goods don't turn up.

NO!!! Well, i wouldn't. If they said they didn't want a cheque then that's final. Also, not answering emails. Dodgy!

I wouldn't do it. I would only buy from someone with over 97% positive feedback and the niggles would have to be about slow delivery or a damaged box for example for me to ignore them.

I'm not sure whether bank drafts can be traced or not. It does sound slightly dodgy - what kind of comments were made? Can you do a link to his ID?

I wouldn't have bid on something from that seller, but your DH has bid on it and won it, which is a slightly different situation.

I don't suppose he lives close enough for you to go round in person?

Or you could just send a personal cheque, and then he'll have to either accept it or at least contact you to send it back.

why would sending a cheque be any different? if he banks it and doesn';t send the camera yoiu're still stuffed.
Bankers draft will cost you money to get (think it's about £25)

TBH there is nothing you can do except pay by the means he says. You've entered into a contract with him by bidding and winning the auction.
so you have to pay by an agreed method

the bank said they'd do us a draft for free. I'm just not sure we'll see the camera!

If he doesn't reply to your messages, after 7 days (I think) you can appeal to ebay to get your purchase annulled. Click on the safety centre and they'll tell you what to do.

I've had to use this a couple of times for people not replying both when buying and selling and it does work. The seller will either be spurred into getting in contact with you or continue to ignore you in which case you're protected from a possible negative feedback.

FWIW bank transfers are protected to a certain extent and are useful as proof of payment if the item doesn't arrive and you have to go through ebay to contest it. Cheques are a major no-no as it's his word against yours that the cheque was even sent. Also, it could be cashed by a third party and the seller could still insist he hadn't received it.

HTH

Does the seller live a long way from you? If the journey is not too bad I would be inclined to go and test the camera and pay with cash. That way you will be safe.

Good luck.

Unfotunately - they are in Kent and we are in Glasgow!

I thought a bankers draft could be cashed by anyone??

i wouldn't send the money until he replies to your emails. even then i wouldn't send that amount of money unless you are completely happy. just make sure you check the small print in the future. don't loose this much money worrying you will get negative feedback !!