Phew! Not done Ebay for a while as you may gather.

Anyway- I’m selling a bike. A potential buyer with good feedback seems interested, but has asked me to do the following:

‘What kind of deal can you do if I were to pay you directly (no fees) through paypal?’

Scam, potentially, or just someone trying to save us both money?

As in PayPal gift?

Or normal PayPal away from eBay?

Collection or delivery?

Ive asked sellers to do this in the past as eBay will take around 10% in fees and PayPal another 3.4%. So if we can do it outside it can be cheaper. By going outside eBay, the buyer is the one taking the highest risk whether he collects or not. If he is collecting the bike, just make sure you get a photo of him with it and/or the car used to collect it.

There are still potential ways to get swindled, he could attempt a chargeback for example, but that could also happen through eBay.

PayPal no chance. Posting a bike no chance. Sellers come to me or I meet them and cash or bank transfer only.

Yeah, he’s wanting PP with no fees and me to post the bike.

Thats gives huge opportunity for him to scam you. Run away

It’s not really a scam – if you know what you want for the bike ask him to pay it via PayPal. Once you have the money in PayPal end the auction on eBay. No more chance of being scammed than selling through PayPal at any time. Make sure he’s genuine first and you could potentially save paying eBay fees of 10%. He’ll avoid paying the overinflated price sellers put on eBay to account for the 10%.

Ebay take a very dim view of this and if there are already bids on the bike they will now charge you a percentage if you end the listing early. PayPal is not an issue but using the gift option removes any protection for the buyer so is foolish for him rather than you.

You’re the one paying the fees, they just don’t wanna pay what your asking, it’s over complicating and a bit dodgy, I’d rather have peace of mind and no stress and go through Ebay. The fact that they’re happy to take the risk arouses suspicion IMO.

Just be careful, if he messaged you through eBay they now check and will send you a final value fee.  I actually got caught on a pair of suspension forks someone messaged me about asking for a ‘cash price’. I didn’t sell them to him and after a couple of weeks took them off eBay and fitted them to another bike!  eBay charged me 10% of the BIN price and there was nothing I could do about it! Nowadays I don’t even bother replying to the Cash bids.  If it’s on eBay then I price it to allow for the fees and that’s how it will be sold

Thanks all. Like anyone else, I’m keen to avoid paying out for things I don’t need to, but there again I do need some protection.

Seller hasn’t responded to my ‘I’m not sure about doing this’ response, and I suspect I’ll hear nothing else.

Comment for richwales; you said: “Make sure he’s genuine first and you could potentially save paying eBay fees of 10%.”

Thats the kicker, though- how does anyone know that someone else is genuine?

Auction or fixed price, what price range.
Why does everyone assume you’re using auction, I’ve sold hundreds of items and never bothered with it.

Just be careful, if he messaged you through eBay they now check and will send you a final value fee.

Yep, I got a warning a few years back as buyer collected and paid cash but never actually clicked buy it now on eBay so I cancelled listing. eBay then got stroppy, as they saw mail from buyer asking to collect.

There is also an element of integrity to it all. You have used eBay to find a buyer but now want to dodge the fees. Avoiding the Paypal fees is fine if they pay cash/direct payment but eBay fees should be paid.

If he’s sending the money through Friends & Family with no fees, then all the risk is with him. The only potential fallout from that is if the PayPal account isn’t his.

I’m holding off putting mine on eBay for the moment to be honest.

Can’t wait for someone to eat eBay and Paypal’s lunches.

PP fees are around 3% and eBay fees are 10%, so 13% total via eBay.

How would you sell if it was listed on here or Pinkbike? You’d use normal PP (not gift) at 3%. Which can allow a lower selling price.

I often have my items listed on eBay and on PB, which might be mentioned to potential buyers sometimes.

Can’t wait for someone to eat eBay and Paypal’s lunches.

facebook marketplace is taking a decent chunk I’d have thought. It’s the Wild West of fee-free selling.

Sounds sensible to me – once you have the money in your account, how is he going to scam you? You could scam him by sending a piece of wood and he has now lost the cash, but it’s not like he can go to eBay and say “I never received my item!”
It’s just like selling through Gumtree or Pinkbike.
Of course ebay take a dim view, cos you’re using their site to advertise and not paying the fees. Sod em, fees should be lower.

Don’t do it. When I sold my trigger I had FedEx delivery who had been lied to, police involved and paypal suspended for 6 months while investigated. PayPal were amazing, eventually got money back even though bike never showed up.

let him send paypal gift.
move the cash to your saving account.
send him the bike recorded delivery.

when I sold lots of bikes this was how I sold them.

how can he scam you??

As a side but picking up on Dez’s comment ….. If the messages have come in via eBay you may still get hit for the 10% as an arrangement fee should eBay ever look ……

As many have pointed out- I could do this, but there would be a risk to me of Ebay wanting their fees anyway. Thats the nature of the beast.

10% ebay fees? i’ve only paid a £1 FVF for the last few years..
watch out for the offers, you’ll get a message or on a desktop version click on selling, and scroll to the bottom for the offers.

the £1 fee is listed every other weekend it seems.

hence now i always deal on ebay and not elsewhere. less chance of getting scammed, if they pick up cash on collection if they want it posting only to the address on paypals email (confirmed address)
if they start asking to post to their mother in laws house or dog sitters
I refund the payment and ask them to send the payment with the correct address

sod em, fees should be lower.

Maybe they would be if people didn’t keep ripping them off 😂

how can he scam you??

famous last words. It is possible to do a chargeback on a PPG payment via your credit card. And then of course you’ll have no buyer protection from PP.

how can he scam you??

Buyer uses a hacked account to pay.
Seller sends bike.
Hacked account investigated and gets fraudulent payment returned.
Seller loses the money and the bike is long gone.

Fraud generally gets investigated a lot more thoroughly than a stolen bike.

I got scammed in a similar way although not through ebay.

Listed bike.

Contacted by ‘buyer’ and deal agreed.

Money sent by gift (I did not ask him to). The name on the PP was not his although he explained away by saying he was buying on behalf of a ‘mate’.

I send bike to address given, job done.

Few days later chap contacts me asking where his bike was. This chap was the bloke who payed but not the ‘buyer’. Turned out the ‘buyer’ had sold a spoof bike to the other chap and given my PP details to him.

Thought I was safe as the seller but the chap’s bank refund him as it was online fraud, then billed PP who in turn billed me. Ended up £850 out of pocket.

Be very, very careful is my advice.

sell bikes on pinkbike, cash on collection,

Oh,and the Police, Actionfraud, ebay and Paypal did nothing even though the bike was then sold on via ebay in plain view, even using my original pictures. Twots.

Yeah just don’t do it.

Sell via eBay and take the hit on the fee’s is my advice.

So, imagine it was on the Classifieds, you’ve stated in the listing that you’ll post and the buyer wants to pay by Paypal for security. Do you say no?

To be honest nowadays I try and sell everything cash on collection.  If someone isn’t willing to travel to collect thousands of pounds worth of kit then I’m not really interested in selling it to them. I used to like the classifieds here as I could sell smaller items and trusted many of the STW buyer base, it’s harder nowadays.  So I tend to find I stock pile or give stuff away.  I have been listing stuff on eBay. But it’s a hassle.

So, imagine it was on the Classifieds, you’ve stated in the listing that you’ll post and the buyer wants to pay by Paypal for security. Do you say no?

If the buyer pays regular PP (not gift), you send it to the registered address & use a tracked delivery (i.e. follow the rules!) then you are covered under Seller Protection. So, massively different to the OP scenario.

The Classifieds here also allow you to vet the buyer to some extent i.e. established member or classifieds only/new account

I’d rather have peace of mind and no stress and go through Ebay.

LOL.

Changed my mind. Don’t do it!

Yeah, the only way I’d sell an EBay item outside of EBay (and I have done this) is if you’re meeting up and the buyer is paying cash and taking the item in person.
Then you go home and go through the “agreed to not go through with the sale”
process (after having agreed this between you in person, not on ebay’s email system).
Remote buyers – full Ebay backing.
Apologies for changing my mind, I know it’s not the sort of thing one does online 😀

zilog6128

If the buyer pays regular PP (not gift), you send it to the registered address & use a tracked delivery (i.e. follow the rules!) then you are covered under Seller Protection. So, massively different to the OP scenario.

That could be exactly the scenario above. We know the buyer wants to avoid ebay fees and pay by paypal, He may well not send as a gift (I wouldn’t) and so the scenario you describe would be identical to the OP.

The Classifieds here also allow you to vet the buyer to some extent i.e. established member or classifieds only/new account

Only if you are familiar with the user/username, the Classifieds is not linked to the Forum and there’s no way to search.

I would say always always do a sale as you are supposed to and Pay the fees. You have used their services, found a buyer and knew what the fees would be so just pay them, its much safer that way.  Avoid anyone who tries to go outside the buyer/seller rules – they are there for a reason.

Can’t wait for someone to eat eBay and Paypal’s lunches.

Everyone moans about eBay but I’m happy to pay their fees. If you know how much something is worth then sell it elsewhere. If you’re not sure eBay means both you and the buyer get a fair price – no haggling. Well worth a 10% fee.

Everyone moans about eBay but I’m happy to pay their fees.

So am I. I easily get more than 10% extra due to the number of users buying from eBay and I also get protection as I only ever follow correct selling method (send to confirmed address).

But then I have only sold £46,000 of items through eBay with no hassle on any of them.

I know I dont understand why people moan either. They are happy to use all the ebay infrastructure and find a buyer amongst the huge worldwide audience (Its very easy and pretty safe) and yet after using the service dont want to pay for it.. complain about being ripped off in charges – well you knew the charges before you posted the item if you dont like them find another method of selling.

/\ what is this 10% fee people talk of, set an alert on HUKD for ebay £1 promotions,
I’ve sold £250+ in the last few days and its cost me £3 (£1 per item) i hate paying 10% fees

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/1-ebay-max-selling-fees-on-up-to-100-listings-at-ebay-3380312