Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)
  • Bloody EBay
  • luketracey
    Full Member

    I sold my first item on eBay and it’s been nothing but trouble, I put a road bike I’d used for a year on with a description of well used, and stated a spoke was missing from the rear wheel, a buyer asked me a few questions and then bought the bike at a buy it now price. The bike has been collected in person. Now I’ve had an email saying their is deep scratches etc. well yes it’s a used bike! And I stayed bike was well used.

    I am extremely new to eBay and unsure what to new next, he has paid through the correct buy it now procedure, what protection do I have, or is PayPal just gonna give the buyer their money back if they open up a dispute?

    Any advice and piss taking accepted

    iamsporticus
    Free Member

    Hmmmmm, I dint want to worry you, but……..

    If they picked it up in person why did you allow them to use Paypal and get stung with even more commission?

    More scary is that you have no proof of postage and delivery (obvs) so if they open a “not received” complaint you cant prove that you sent it – which you obviously didnt as the (potential) shyster collected

    Best of luck 🙂

    luketracey
    Full Member

    Oh crap, people really go through the this for the sake of £90?

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    masher
    Free Member

    It doesnt sound like you’ve fallen for the paypal-and-collect scam as that would be the opening gambit.

    But: non-piss-taking: an unhappy buyer has you over the barrel. Probably start by being firm and fair and trying to keep them sweet but – if you think they are chancing their arm – offer them a full refund: dont tolerate discussions for £20 off etc.

    Remember if it gets to a paypal dispute the the usual outcome anyway is a full refund. Almost 100% odds against you if its your first sale.

    Just make sure to refund them the same way they paid you, and obviously only once you get the bike back. And only communicate via ebay messages.

    Dont give up on trying again though – 90% of buyers are decent: probably more than the percentage of sellers.

    Ooops – I just saw your post about £90: offer them a refund, get your fees back, relist and move on.

    nwill1
    Free Member

    As above…I’m very careful, I’ve had people pay PayPal then ask to come and collect…I refund PayPal and tell them to bring cash, check the item out ad only pay I they’re happy.

    I do the same on here, everyone I’ve dealt with on here has been great but if they want it posting its PayPal gift, I know that’s against all advise but I need to protect myself. Anything I sells over £50 is normally cash on collection only (not from my home address, I don’t want to advertise where my bikes are kept).

    This way people can have a good inspection of the goods before parting with their cash. As above did the buyer not look at it? Did you not ask “Gave a good inspection, are you happy with it? everything ok?”.

    The other thing I do and I may be a little OTT is write a letter saying ‘I can confirm xxx has been received and following inspection the item is as described’ and get the buyer to sign even on a cash sales (eBay only). Might not be legally binding but it’s something to show eBay in a dispute!

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    Actually, assuming that the buyer is genuinely unhappy, then the fact that they collected it could work in your favour.

    The simple answer is to just refund the money. No big deal. You can get eBay to reverse the transaction and you’ll get a final value credit note and then re-list the item. Perhaps at that point it would be worth being very specific about the scratches (assuming you weren’t before – simply saying it’s been ‘well used’ isn’t really enough).

    The more you point out the issues with a thing, ironcically, the more you raise the value to the buyer because you’re removing the element of risk associated with buying something you can’t see in person. The lower the risk, the more people are prepared to pay.

    Don’t do collect in person and Paypal as pointed out above. Personally I never sell anything that the buyer has to collect; it’s not worth it. There is far more cost associated with having to wait around for someone who might not show up.

    http://www.parcel2go.com is a great service and gives you access to mainstream courier services that you can’t otherwise buy as a consumer. You can easily ship a bike in a box for reasonable money. The hard part really is finding the box and packing the bike.

    As for is it worth it? I couldn’t be bothered to sell a bike for £90. Too much hassle in shipping. I’d try to sell it here first and then I’d break it up into parts, but if the whole thing is only worth £90, that’s a pointless task.

    I routinely get rid of stuff that’s been accumulating in the garage. Last round of acutions I did netted £2k and paid for a new time trial bike (although I was getting rid of stuff other than bike kit).

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    First of all ask them to return the bike and you will give them a refund, eBay will look at your messages to see if you have done this.

    They have to return the bike to you at their expense, so stand firm don’t off any partial refunds, just off the refund on return of the goods.

    barkm
    Free Member

    g from the rear wheel, a buyer asked me a few questions and then bought the bike at a buy it now price. The bike has been collected in person. Now I’ve had an email saying their is deep scratches etc. well yes it’s a used bike! And I stayed bike was well used.

    I am extremely new to eBay and unsure what to new next, he has paid through the correct buy it now procedure, what protection do I have, or is PayPal just gonna give the buyer their money back if they open up a dispute?

    You don’t really deny the scratches actually exist, so a refund is in order and accept the lesson. Don’t see how that is ebay or the buyers fault to be honest. Saying ‘well used’ isn’t enough, especially with bikes. You just have to be honest and manage expectations.
    Obviously don’t refund until you have the bike back.
    I sell loads, never really have any issues, key for me is communication, do it early and do it a LOT.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    Call their bluff. Offer full refund. Sell on gumtree.

    bookwyse
    Free Member

    What a load of bollocks. The bike was collected in person therefore it was accepted as being satisfactory at that time.

    It is no good the buyer taking it home and then complaining that its scratched as he has accepted the physical condition of it by removing from the sellers house. If it fails mechanically then that is a different matter. The buyer had the chance to reject the goods at the time of collection or haggle for a reduction which it sounds as if he didnt do.

    However by letting him collect it after using paypal to pay for it will cause problems.

    I would just offer a full refund, get the bike back and resell it detailing the scratches.

    luketracey
    Full Member

    Thanks for advice all,

    Offered a full refund if bike returned.

    Think I’ll find a local free cycle place to send it if it gets given back. Cant be bothered with all the questions and farting around again

    Cheers

    captainsasquatch
    Free Member

    The bike has been collected in person. Now I’ve had an email saying their is deep scratches etc. well yes it’s a used bike! And I stayed bike was well used.

    Caveat emptor, the buyer had an opportunity to check the bike over, they did and were satified enough to complete the purchase. Tell them to jog on.
    PayPal should side with you providing you can document that you’ve done nothing wrong.
    As a seller, I had a Paypal dispute opened, several hundred pounds taken from my account and held for the duration of the dispute. I was able to demonstrate that the buyer had ignore any advice that I had given them regard the product and PayPal returned my money.
    Not all sellers are scammers, not all buyers are angels and PayPal know this.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Why on earth didn’t they inspect it before taking it away?

    I’d tread carefully because you’ve no evidence of them taking the bike. Absolutely don’t refund it until you’ve got the bike back, or they could just go “what bike?” and you’ll be down 90 quid and the bike.

    joshvegas
    Free Member

    Except its difficult to claim they haven’t received it if they are complaining about scratches!

    luketracey
    Full Member

    Oh my god, he’s still bloody going on! What was he expecting for £90?

    Hes now using terms like “issues not advised to me”

    Im going to give up, refund and tell hem him to keep the sodding thing. I cannot be arsed with this all-over again.

    Is their a way to report the buyer to ebay for abusing the system?

    the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    Im going to give up, refund and tell hem him to keep the sodding thing. I cannot be arsed with this all-over again.

    Tell him to make claim through Paypal. And do all correspondence through them from now on. Don’t correspond with him personally anymore.

    The worst that can happen is what you are suggesting above and he gets his money back.

    the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    Saying ‘well used’ isn’t enough, especially with bikes. You just have to be honest and manage expectations.

    If I saw ‘Well used’ in an eBay description I’d assume it means trashed! This is often described as ‘mint’ by most sellers!! 😀

    Anyway the bloke collected. It’s a bike, not a car or caravan. It takes a couple of minutes to see if a bike is any good or not.

    bonchance
    Free Member

    just tell him he must return it first – no further comms – don’t give up, don’t get involved!

    one by one the feedback and snad scammers shall be smited from the bay!

    I could have sympathy, but he picked it up in person!?!

    edit Actually why not just try your luck with ebay? HE picked it up, if your thinking of writing it off any way, why not?

    DezB
    Free Member

    Is their a way to report the buyer to ebay for abusing the system?

    Not really.
    I was going to say let them raise a dispute and you’d probably win, but then saw the rest of the thread – yes, go through the ebay messages channel and offer a refund on return of the bike.
    Don’t make it easy for them by saying they can keep it!!

    cheekymonkey888
    Free Member

    please dont give up as this thieving git will try it again and again..

    7.3 Ineligible Items. Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Buyer Protection:

    Items which you collect in person, or arrange to be collected on your behalf, including at a retail point of sale

    see https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en_GB#7

    Make it right as Jackson says when stuff sucks!

    DezB
    Free Member

    – or get in touch with eBay via the chat and ask their advice.
    Tell them you’re prepared to offer the full refund or a partial refund (£20 or something). I’m sure they will then put the onus on the buyer to accept one of these options.

    And that (cheekymonkey’s post!) ^^^

    cheekymonkey888
    Free Member

    There is a report buyer option when you hit the more options under the sold items list on the right.

    tallmart10
    Full Member

    Keep a copy of all of their emails. Somewhere in there will almost certainly be wording that implies they have collected the bike and taken it home – this can be used as evidence that the buyer actually has the bike.

    Offer a refund on return of bike.

    Whenever they send you any email, just keep it simple, don’t rant and restate the offer.

    They’ll either return the bike, in which case you MUST refund via PayPal NOT in cash, or they’ll go away and leave you alone. You have made a reasonable offer of resolution, it is up to the buyer to determine whether they want to keep the bike or return it.

    And don’t give up on Ebay, I have made 100s of transactions, only 1 was sheister. In fact my whole bike is built from Ebay, pretty much.

    tallmart10
    Full Member

    Also, you could add to your offer that it stands for 2 weeks. After that you will assume they have decided to keep the bike. This sets a time limit on how long they can prevaricate over the purchase. I think there is a law about returning items purchased over t’internet within a timescale, but I am not sure what that timescale is. Someone on STW will know.

    Good luck!

    luketracey
    Full Member

    Every message is on ebay, I will report him using the report buyer option.

    I use ebay for buying a lot, The bike I bought to replace it was from ebay, I never realized the effort that goes into selling things before. Defiantly not worth it for a £90 bike.

    Thanks for advice everyone

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