Sold eBay item local pickup only, buyer paid with PayPal, is interstate and not responding to messages

peteru on 21/12/2018 - 02:50
Last edited 21/12/2018 - 08:49 by 1 other user

tl;dr

Interstate eBay buyer paid for local pickup item, wants it delivered, but is unreachable. What to do?

The full story

A week ago I sold an eBay item for $50 that was listed as local pickup only. There were no shipping options included in the listing and payment methods were either PayPal or cash on pickup. In the item description I said:

"Would prefer pickup, but if you really want it posted, send a message so we can work something out."

There was a single bidder and they paid using PayPal 4 hours after the auction ended. One minute later they sent a message asking to provide postage costs, but without supplying the shipping address. In the meantime I sent them the pickup details. Since then I managed to get their shipping address via PayPal and have supplied them with a shipping cost estimate. First I sent a message with an approximate cost and then later a message with exact cost and a request to pay that cost via PayPal. In total I sent the buyer 4 eBay messages in the last week, provided my contact details, including phone number and left them one voice mail message, but I am getting no responses at all.

Shipping costs will come to about $42 on a $50 item. The buyer got lucky with the purchase price, similar items have sold in the past for a lot more. On the other hand, we wanted to clear up some space before Christmas, so didn't mind selling it cheap. Didn't expect it to drag out and become a headache.

So, what do I do next? As far as I can see, eBay doesn't have an option to cancel the transaction because the buyer has gone AWOL after paying. Do I just keep their money and wait for them to make contact? At the moment I have 100% feedback, but only about 100 transactions. I don't particularly want to get a neg because the buyer is stuffing about.

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Comments

  • altomic on 21/12/2018 - 06:13
    +12

    Cancel sale as "there is a problem with the buyers address"

    That should the refund the buyer.

    Repost item.

    • whooah1979 on 21/12/2018 - 07:00
      +7

      That's right. The best option is to issue a refund.

      Since then I managed to get their shipping address via PayPal and have supplied them with a shipping cost estimate

      Never do this. There is no eBay seller protection if the item is shipped.

    • FireRunner on 21/12/2018 - 09:37

      Would the buyer have grounds to leave a neutral/negative feedback? I guess not for lack of communication?

    • Ocker on 21/12/2018 - 09:44
      +4

      Once you cancel the sale the buyer is given an immediate refund from your PayPal account (plus 30c PayPal fee).
      As the transaction is cancelled the buy cannot leave feedback - there is no transaction on which to leave feedback.
      Then block the buyers name from making further "nuisance" purchases.

      • FireRunner on 21/12/2018 - 11:08
        -1

        As the transaction is cancelled the buy cannot leave feedback

        This is not true. I've left negative feedback for seller who just canceled for no reason.
        I've just checked it now on an item canceled and refunded and you can though its hidden and quite difficult to find.

        • Ocker on 21/12/2018 - 13:16
          +1

          Guess after running an eBay store for 10 years, with over 5.000 transaction pa I have been under the wrong impression all this time?

          • FireRunner on 21/12/2018 - 16:36

            @Ocker: I guess so but I admit most buyers wouldn't know how. Even the first result in google will say no, its not possible.
            But if you dig a bit deeper, you will find that there exists a page for leaving feedback which will show the canceled and refunded items.

  • HighAndDry on 21/12/2018 - 10:32

    What to do?

    Cancel sale - problem with address or something. Refund. Sell to local buyer, cash on pick up.

    This one smells fishy.

  • peteru on 21/12/2018 - 10:45

    Thanks for the advice. I cancelled the order.

    After a bit of research, it does not sound like Paypal + pickup is a safe option for the seller. Is there a way of listing an item without Paypal as payment method? If I'm going to relist, I want to make sure that I minimise the potential for future complications. I'll delete the offer to arrange postage.

    • FireRunner on 21/12/2018 - 11:13

      You should be able to remove paypal as an option and choose cash on pickup is an option but I don't think local pickup is ever 100% safe as a buyer can claim they never received it through eBay with any payment method.

      • peteru on 21/12/2018 - 11:37

        I tried removing PayPal from the list of payment options, but it threw up an error. Something about requiring at least one eBay approved electronic payment method!

      • armdrags on 21/12/2018 - 11:47

        It would be even better if the buyer did that. The seller can then cancel the ebay transaction and be refunded in ebay fee for the item sold. I wish all my buyers would do that when picking up my items and paying with cash.

  • Topdog on 21/12/2018 - 12:26

    cancel sale, refund seller, no contact.

  • Randxyz123 on 21/12/2018 - 13:26

    Cancel sale and refund via eBay. Select “seller asked to cancel sale” therefore no negative points on either side even though the buyer deserves them for not reading the damn listing…

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