How to avoid paying for something you have won on eBay

[Henners]

I have just fallen foul of this little rouse and thought you guys may want to be aware of it.

I sold an Omega Speedmaster watch early in November and as I did not hear from the buyer I dropped him a polite line after 3 days. He replied, apologised, said he was currently in Japan and wouldn't be back until 18th November when he would pay me and i could send him the watch. (At this point I felt a little uncomfortable because I did not understand why being in Japan stopped him making a PayPal payment but I let it go ~ big mistake).

19, 29, 21st of November come and go ~ no payment. I send the standard request for payment and still no reply. I then issued a non~payment report to eBay. Immediate response: He's now in Scandinavia (no country mentioned) and won't be back until the new year, would i please cancel the sale? No says I, please pay for the watch and I'll send it to you when you return.

Another request to cancel the sale to which I decline. Then nothing. The time limit on the no~pay report looms for him so he pays me including a note that he is only paying to prevent a flag being put on his account (business seller) and that he still wants to cancel. I refuse and state that I will send him the watch when he says he's back at his UK address.

Another week goes by and he issues a not received notice through PayPal who immediately take the money out of my account and starts a case against me. I respond, provide all the information and wait. PayPal find in his favour and he get's a refund, sale cancelled. Turns out he's a solicitor and he states that the sale was not enforceable because although he won the watch and paid for it the contract only become legally binding when he receives the item.

So there you have it. If they do not receive the goods they can cancel the sale and get their money back. Always send the goods and get a receipt whatever they say about being abroad (it transpires he was lying because he continued to send out goods from his business account during the dispute). In 12 years on eBay never came across that one before. When you look at the process the seller is on a loser from the start because non receipt is apparently indefensible.

[andy griff]

Sorry for your pain.
Had a similar issue last week when a buyer bid and won a sofa then emailed and said she was in trouble with hubby and needed to cancel. I said 'You bid to buy' etc etc but ultimately let her off as it wasn't worth the hassle ( I couldn't exactly send the item !)

Thing is you cannot leave a buyer negative feedback so i cannot tell everyone that she is a time waster.

This is a change that Ebay made some while back and the system is set up in favour of the buyer.

[Blackal]

It would be more accurate to use the title "How to bail out of a purchase without losing money" ?

At least you still have the watch - so just wasted time?

I read most of the post, thinking you had actually been scammed out of the watch.

Still - a valid warning.

Al

[Droptarotter]

If you send out the goods, then it sounds like you would not get payed either???
How do you protect yourself when selling on Ebay??
I have bought a few things on that site and mainly have had good experiences. I have never sold anything with them, but was just going to start to thin out all the unused stuff I have collected......so what' the best way to make sure the deals work out??

Cheers

[Blackal]

Only sell within your own country, and send by courier who gets signature of recipient.

Treat every communication that is unexpected - as suspicious and don't acquiesce to any requests to make it anything other than a straight sale.

As you say - most transactions are seemless

Al

[andy griff]

DropaTrotter

To adds some balance

I have used Ebay 379 times and 99.9% off transactions have been great.
I have disposed of stuff that would still be in my loft and bought stuff for very reasonable prices. Overall its a huge success story. For a small fee you can reach an audience of millions and use the competitive nature of humans to get a best price for unwanted goods.

[Henners]

I agree Andy although the fees are quite high if you actually use it as an auction house.

The point is that the rules favour the Buyer and if they don't want to complete the sale you can't make them

[boxerscott]

I agree Andy although the fees are quite high if you actually use it as an auction house.

The point is that the rules favour the Buyer and if they don't want to complete the sale you can't make them

Likewise if you win an auction the seller will not be" forced" into honouring his end of the agreement as per ebays rules. You have gotta except that some ebayers. not all, are absolutely feckless and nobody wants to waste time chasing up a" wrong" if there is no financial remuneration involved. On the whole I think ebay is great and the majority of business users DO care about how they are percieved.

[stevesilver]

Ebay does need a wee bit tweeking IMO, I sold a car earlier this year on behalf of a friend. Long story short, friend sells car off ebay the day before auction due to end.

As he does not fully understand the concept of ebay, he doesnt realise he needs to tell me that he has sold it so I can end the auction. I find out on the day the auction ends, too late for me to actually end the auction.

I rang ebay to tell them, and to ask what can I do to stop the auction.

Apparently all you can do is, cancel any bids currently on the item, and cancel any future bids, which is going to be tricky to say the least.

Luckily there was just the one bid on the car, I cancel it, and send a message explaining what had happened and apologizing.

I'd had a message from ry-horn asking a few questions early on in the auction, and the same guy messaged me shortly after the bids were canceled to ask me why the bids had been canceled.

I explained the car had been sold off ebay for £1100.00.
With 5 seconds to go the same twat bids £1000.00 for the car.

FFS what is wrong with some people? What didnt he understand about the fucking car is sold?

So he can leave me negative feedback, my first ever, and I cant leave him any feedback telling the world what a fucking moran he is.

I can reply on my feedback to his comment that I'm conning the human race for not selling him a car.
The same car that 4 hours earlier I told him was sold.

He then opens a dispute with ebay, and despite the fact I'd told ebay earlier that day the car had been sold, I get a strike awarded against me......



ry-horn you are a fucking idiot, other bayers be warned.

AAhhh feel better for sharing that

[dave the german]

I've only ever bought off ebay and all bar one have been positive experiences. The one that wasn't was for a fairing panel from Germany. The guy said he would only post to Germany and as it's the last panel I need for a paintjob on my 1200s, I decided to contact him and ask if he could post to UK.

No problem says he, 20 Euros - it was a bit steep for what it was but I accepted his offer. He then came back with a buy it now and free postage price which I agreed to. Anyway, he hadn't changed his add or re listed to send to UK. In the end I didn't get it cos I couldn't pay. I have 100% positive feedback for buying and ended up having to contact ebay as I didn't want to be seen as a non payer. Bit of a fuss but not happy at the time with the amount of my wasted time and I'm sure the seller regards me as someone who was trying to con him

[GerryB]

I wonder whats going on ?

I've been buying & selling off E Bay for years , never a problem .

However this year I've had a bit of grief ...
I bought an item , free postage etc .

It doesn't arrive .

I open a query and I get a short message from seller saying it was delivered into postal slot by Hermes !!!!!

First !!! No ways it would go through the slot , secondly my neighbour , who never ventures out , curtain twitcher of note , shares same front door as me , told me she'd never seen any thing .

She also always signs for me , so why would she suddenly need a motor cycle part ???

So E Bay have told me to wait until 10 December before I can take it further .....

Earlier this year , I advertised a model motor cycle for sale .

Person who won it took for ever to pay , then I couriered it , signed for .

A week later it comes back opened and re-packed with a complaint to E Bay that it was not as described .... ????

It was brand new, never been used .... but hey hoe....

My Suzuki Supermotard was on sale earlier this year .
One wheel kicker sent me 10 or 12 questions , which I answered .
Then he wanted me to transport it to his location .

I agreed to do this for £50 .

The bike eventually didn't sell , I wasn't giving it away for nothing .

Any how , after the sale ended I was bombarded with messages from the same multiple questioner , he wanted the bike ...

So I agreed , the date and time was set , but then strangely he went quiet ???

After 3 days , I eventually got a message , dont want the bike , got another one ......

Well , this is another typical nobber waste of time and space .


Is it just my experience with E Bay this year , or is it a general scum bag approach growing in UK ???

[GerryB]

Just got notification from E Bay , they have instructed the seller to re-fund me for the missing product .

Never mind, I'll go to Lucas Motor Cycles and buy it myself ....

Support the local dealer , always a good thing any way .

[Blackal]

Delivery companies hardly ever re-deliver, if no-one's in.

Years ago - I got a bike jacket on Ebay. Never appeared, so called Yodel. Apparently it was signed for by "Jim at No 71" No neighbour called Jim, and no 71. I suggested that the driver had either left it on the doorstep and it was subsequently lifted by someone delivering leaflets, or the driver had nicked it. "He's one of our best drivers - neither would happen".

Then found out from the postie - that a yellow bag had sat on my doorstep for about 3 days before disappearing.

The driver was subsequently sacked for procedural irregularities, but I got a refund from the seller.

Nowadays the drivers are under even more pressure to get rid of all their deliveries - so will happily leave items anywhere they can.

Al