Words of wisdom.
If you are based in the UK, sell only in and to the UK.
Sure you lose a big chunk of your potential market, but anything goes wrong, and you at the very least will be trying to track down a parcel in a language you dont speak, and a system you dont understand.
made a generous offer. He then paid me £200 directly into paypal. I can see it in my PP account.
I would be interested to know if you replied with a positive, meaning the transaction was agreed, or if he just sent you the money off the bat without any agreement. If theres nothing in any email to say you were wanting him to send you the funds, then if you sell via ebay, you've broken the contract with the first 'buyer' and could then be subject to German law, which we now know from the radio case to supersede EU laws or Ebay rules.
If he's sent you the money off the bat then i cant see that any contract has been agreed and sending him a refund and a short note instructing him where he can place his funds, wouldn't be out of place.
But due to this radio case, i should be very wary of whether the actual money is legitimately yours. As you say it sounds to coincidental, to be anything other than suspect.
If you contact ebay they're going o be unhappy you broke their contractual rules by dealing outside their site.
Refund on ebay, then post to buyer A who paid directly and can't claim a refund later on.
paid directly and can’t claim a refund later on
Only if they sent it friends and family as a ‘gift’. Otherwise PayPal will view it as a purchase and will likely side with the buyer in any dispute.
Refund on ebay, then post to buyer A who paid directly and can’t claim a refund later on.
eh??! quite possibly the worst advice on this thread!
This feels like a simple coincidence to me. Item only listed for a short period of time garners sufficient interest for multiple querys and someone happens to buy it on ebay whilst someone else is paying outside of ebay.
I can't see what the scam would be for the 2 purchases.
Update. I refunded Buyer A (paypal outside ebay). I also droppped him an email explaining i was going with the ebay buyer as my hands are tied. He's quite upset that i've not sold it to him "you agreed... we had a deal...now its all gone to shit" etc. But he's not claiming hes not been refunded or anything, just upset hes not got the record. So i think he was legit and just wanted to circumvent any import fees he was going to get charged to Germany (his reason for not wanting it through ebay delivery)
Seems like an overly-complex approach when they could just go down the tried and tested 'it was damaged, send back Bucks Fizz Greatest Hits for refund' approach.
Yea, that's what I imagined. For you at least, better the pi**ed off seller is the one of the two that can't give you negative feedback
I've had things advertised simulataneously on eBay and elsewhere in the past (even now, come to think of it), as while it is (I think) allowed, I've always been worried something like this will happen and leave me in an awkward situation
I had some bars for sale on Ebay that weren't shifting so I put an ad on here as well. Someone made me an offer, which I was going to accept, checked ebay and they'd just sold literally a few minutes before!
I'm not sure how he would circumvent import duties by not using eBay, except they may top up the rates slightly using global shipping program. Does sound shady.
I refused to sell a horse saddle recently, a buyer bid on it and you can't do anything that close to the end. They asked no questions, no measurements, very unusual for selling a saddle. 2 month old profile +2 feedback as a buyer and 1 neg as seller (fake item). I told them it was damaged and the reply was pretty aggressive so clearly not going to mutually agree to cancel. So I just left it, thankfully they didn't pay within 5 days so I didn't lose nearly £200 of fees, however they would have earned themselves a non-paying bidder strike.
I was concerned about it enough to gamble the £200 fees rather than end up paying £50 to get the saddle posted back and possibly not in the condition it was sent. The stroppy reply just reinforced that I was doing the right thing. Going off eBay for high value items, if you are uncomfortable with a seller your hands are tied.
Im also selling an electronic drumkit. Got a good price. Buyer was a new profile with zero history. Action ended friday and they still have not paid 🙁
So now i have to wait for 4 days, cancel the item, then relist when ebay next do an 80% final sale fees offer.
Bloody annoying but what can you do?
Bloody annoying but what can you do?
I've had more success with Buy it Now rather than auctions. And if using BIN, don't accept offers as that also provides the opportunity to not pay.
I’ve had more success with Buy it Now rather than auctions. And if using BIN, don’t accept offers as that also provides the opportunity to not pay.
Yes, this feels like a good approach