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Main Section => Welcome to our virtual Pub Meeting ... => Topic started by: kingkay on December 12, 2022, 03:34:54 PM
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Hi All,
After a bit of advice please if anyone has any experience.
I've just sold a capstan winch on Ebay and am looking to post it to central london. The buyer is new to ebay (less than 2 months) their account says they are outside the uk and they have 0 feedback. They've paid straight away with paypal and everything might be fine, but I'm a natural pessimist and a bit nervous (How many people in central London need a capstan winch?) its a high value item and don't want to lose it.
I can insure the parcel up to the full value but just wondered if there's any scams about that I don't know about that might be applicable?
thanks
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Tough one.
On the one hand it screams scam, where the buyer claims a refund via eBay/PayPal due to a "fault" with the goods, but...
On the other hand I've sold parts both via eBay and Facebook to folks overseas who have a UK shipping address (usually a friend or family member who receives it, combines various lots and ships it one go to save money).
My advice would be to make sure you send it fully tracked and keep all receipts and messages for at least six months.
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I've just read of a scam where the recipient says the box was empty/full of bricks etc and then demands a refund.
No way of proving anything either way so I'd lose the money and the item. It seems far fetched but apparently has happened and ebay not helped the seller at all.
I like ebay, Ive sold many many Landy bits through it, many abroad and never had an issue, but this customers lack of feedback feels a bit suspicious. I know we've all got to start somewhere but.......
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Despite thier reassurances Ebay are little to no help when things go wrong.... Not much help in your situation but other than to advise to exercise caution
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Personally I wouldn't have accepted his offer on something like a capstan winch.
I'd have sold to a UK buyer with feedback, even if I received less money.
For me, there's no price on peace of mind.
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Why don't you offer to deliver it?
No idea of what you mean by 'high value' item but the round trip is only 160 miles and a modern tin top would probably do it in less than 4 gallons. Deduct that from what the courier is costing and ...........
Little chance of a scam then - especially if you photograph the goods, recipient and premises?
Just a thought.
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I’ve sold some antique door handles quite a while ago on eBay. The buyer claimed they were faulty as they didn’t fit his doors. I had posted photos and measurements in the ad. Nevertheless, eBay gave in to his claim, ie I lost the money and I never got the items retuned.
I was unable to reach a human person on eBay, or at least a person with a human-like level of common sense and understanding.
This and the fees they charge put me off eBay.
Don’t count on eBay taking your side of a possible dispute seriously and count almost surely that, if this is a scam, then you will end up getting ripped off and be left with no money and no goods either.
I’d be very careful.
On the other hand, you entered a transaction and so far the buyer has met the terms, so there’s probably not much you can do …
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If you are going to deliver, you may as well refund the PayPal and take cash
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sold a winch on ebay a while back, collection only. they paid with paypal even though i said cash on collection only. about 25 days later they said it was broken and demanded a refund. ebay refunded them from my account. so they got a winch for free. never again
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This whole situation stinks. I don't sell on Ebay anymore, final straw was a load of ballcocks from purchaser saying it was damaged, so had to refund and the courier would not accept a claim either. I get my sister to fire stuff on Facebook market place now - for example, I sold my 6 wheeler Land Rover a couple of weeks ago within half an hour !
I would tell the purchaser you have just damaged it / dropped it whilst packing it, or just noticed some damage on it, come over very apologetic etc etc. give refund in full as you couldn't possibly send a damaged item to him/her !
Calum
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sold a winch on ebay a while back, collection only. they paid with paypal even though i said cash on collection only. about 25 days later they said it was broken and demanded a refund. ebay refunded them from my account. so they got a winch for free. never again
Seriously ! I hope you got his address for a "follow up visit" :Popeye
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It doesn't affect me. I've never used eBay and never will. For heavy items collection only and cash is the best way. I have sold a couple of items to members via the club sales and wants column and both transactions went smoothly. Both items were sent by Parcel force.
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I had a suspect sale on eBay for more money than I wanted to lose through any number of possible brick in the box scams so I just cancelled the transaction and refunded, incurred a very angry message and negative feedback but who cares, it drops off your history after a year.
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Why not contact the buyer and discuss your concerns? Might be a bit if a naïve approach, but might just allay any concerns. I've always been lucky with eBay and the only ripoff has been eBay's own charges...
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This whole situation stinks. I don't sell on Ebay anymore, final straw was a load of ballcocks from purchaser saying it was damaged, so had to refund and the courier would not accept a claim either. I get my sister to fire stuff on Facebook market place now - for example, I sold my 6 wheeler Land Rover a couple of weeks ago within half an hour !
I would tell the purchaser you have just damaged it / dropped it whilst packing it, or just noticed some damage on it, come over very apologetic etc etc. give refund in full as you couldn't possibly send a damaged item to him/her !
Calum
This sounds the best advice ... cancel the sale.
Wait ... and sell on a better platform.
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A big ticket item like this is not suitable for eBay. If they want it enough, they'll collect or send funds via other means. Walk.
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When you sell anything on eBay get the buyer to organise the post once it has been picked up if anything goes wrong then it’s the buyer who has to sort it out even if you have to leave the box opened on pickup to prove what’s inside then tape it up and your side of the bargain is done
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Pull out, when something smells wrong, it’s fishy.
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It isn't just eBay. Anyone in business will tell you that 95% of customers are honest and reasonable. 5% are not. And this smells like one that knows how to play the system. Some do.
eBay and all consumer legislation is very much biased in favour of the consumer, to protect the consumer from the the 5% of unscrupulous businesses. This is good for the consumer and makes the law makers look protective. But 5% of consumers are unscrupulous and businesses have to protect themselves from them, normally by building it into their pricing so the 95% honest pay a little more so when the 5% rip off the business it is covered. It is the way of the world we have created.
You cannot afford the loss, you have not protected yourself with 95 other buyers paying a little more. Don't take the risk. You could hand deliver, photo it and because the consumer has all the power, eBay may well still fall on their side.
In our business, we encourage our people to pipe up when they smell a foul. And often then refund deposits with some excuse as to why we cannot fulfil.
But my wife tells me often that dealing with the consumer for so many years has left me with a jaundiced eye..... :shakeinghead I also recognise that I only every encounter the wrong kind of consumer because they are the only ones that get escalated to me. Hence the jaundiced eye. I then come home to see my S2, my eye clears and the world is all good again! :cheers
Paul
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My rule with anything on ebay is only sell it there if you can afford a total loss of the money.
Otherwise you're better off with classifieds gumtree facebook etc, where you get cash or a bank transfer.
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Just looked, if this is your Fairey Capstan Winch Series Land Rover Land Rover MAP Superwinch Mayflower which sold for £1750 + £40 P&P, looks a really nice winch!
I would definitely recommend cancelling the sale, refunding, you can quoting damaged whilst packing. I believe that this kind of item is really cash on collection. You could always 'repair the damage' and relist later with 'Cash on Collection Only' or list an Land Rover Forum or another site.
ebay used to be a fair place to sell, but now it is very much on the side of Buyers, 1st, Business Sellers Second and they don't care about Private Sellers, ebay have a connection to your Bank, so they'll just take the money back and refund the buyer if the buyer complains for any issue.
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About right.
About 15-20% of our eBay sales are returns/refunds, and near always these stink of non-genuine reasons. Amazon report higher. The bigger the ticket, the greater the returns. It's a cost of business. You can't always cost for it. There is no way in hell I'd put a relatively rare, heavy and pricey item out on eBay without real cash.
Mr Bezos is a billionaire on the back of what he calls 'Customer focus'. What this 'actually' means is... he forces his sellers to refund, redeliver etc, at nil or near nil cost to him. This makes him very rich... Well, you work it out. It's cute.
eBay/Amazon will side with the crook, sadly the crook is usually the buyer.
Private sale? Be wary of bank transfers to non-business accounts, if the buyer claims the sale was fraudulent (easy to do) you've a job to prove it wasn't, and if it 'was' woe betide you getting banking again.