As above really. We bid and won an auction , but can’t get any reply now. Before it finished the seller was answering questions, but now nothing. He said he would accept cash (it’s collection only), which is fine for me, although the listing says Paypal only.

How long do I wait before reporting it?

Should I pay just a bit on Paypal as a sort of deposit?

Personally I wouldn’t pay anything on PayPal until you’ve spoken to them

How long ago did you win it ? If its been won at a silly price the buyer might be unwilling to let it go…there’s really not much you can do then. But that’s worst case scenario…likelihood is that they’ll be in touch soon enough. Ebay say 7 days before raising a dispute.

Could be a genuine reason he’s not replying – on holiday, work, family emergency. Annoying I know but give it a few days.

Should I pay just a bit on Paypal as a sort of deposit?

No, absolutely not – don’t hand over any money at all until you’ve spoken to the seller.

As it is, you’ve lost nothing – better to still have your money and no goods!

OK, thanks for the replies – I will wait a few more days before doing anything. I didnt realise there was a ebay suggested time period – so thanks for that.

When you list something for sale, the ‘paypal only’ accepted payment option is the default. As well as mentioning cash on collection in the free text blurb, you have to swallow this:

We’re making transactions safer for eBay members by updating our accepted payments policy. The policy requires all sellers to offer PayPal as a payment method in their listings.

…and tick a little box that allows you to accept other forms of payment in addition to paypal. Likely the seller just overlooked this bit. Easy enough to do, the listing page is pretty busy.

If the seller is stiffing you because it didn’t sell for what they were hoping for, there little point in you giving a paypal ‘deposit’ as that is all you will get back when the seller finds some reason to cancel the sale. You could leave bad feedback i suppose but for low-volume/occasional sellers this is probably still ‘worth it’ if seller feels like they are missing out on the money they thought their listing should have sold for.