Payment by Paypal for collection only item

[TheGreatSoprendo]

I've just sold a bike on eBay for just over £500. It's listed as collection only and the buyer paid immediately by Paypal. This strikes me as unusual and it concerns me that the buyer may be able to claim the funds back after collecting the bike.

eBay lists the sellers feedback as (25) 0%. Delving more deeply, he has 25 pieces of feedback, all positive but all listed as being from "more than a year ago". None of this proves he's a scammer, of course, he could just be a bloke who doesn't use eBay very often, yet I still feel uneasy. Any advice appreciated.

[technodup]

No no no no no no no.

Refund it.

[randlemarcus]

eBay now seem to have an answer for this. Bought something the other day, paid PayPal before thinking about it, and the paid item has something called a collection code on it - 6 digit number the buyer has, and you need to get off them. I can only assume that's proof of collection to the nice eBay folks?

[siovey]

Personally I'd never do this. Buyer turns up, bike goes. Claims he never received the goods. PayPal/Ebay sides with him. Money gone too!

Refund him, asap!

Send it guaranteed delivery only as I imagine their insurance would cover any inevitable loss!
Good luck!

[Fore Left]

randlemarcus said:

eBay now seem to have an answer for this. Bought something the other day, paid PayPal before thinking about it, and the paid item has something called a collection code on it - 6 digit number the buyer has, and you need to get off them. I can only assume that's proof of collection to the nice eBay folks?

This.

"After you’ve completed your purchase, we’ll send an email with a collection code (a QR code and a 6 digit code) to your Messages. You can either print off your email or show the seller the message on the app when you collect your item. The seller will scan or enter the code on the eBay app to confirm you’ve collected your item."

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/postage-deliver...

Don't give them the bike if they can't give you the code.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

randlemarcus said:

eBay now seem to have an answer for this. Bought something the other day, paid PayPal before thinking about it, and the paid item has something called a collection code on it - 6 digit number the buyer has, and you need to get off them. I can only assume that's proof of collection to the nice eBay folks?

Interesting. There is a "Scan to confirm collection" option which takes you to a QR code scanner.





Does anyone know how effectively this mitigates the risk?

[markcoznottz]

Chargeback scam, I nearly got done last week. Refund him and find a genuine buyer.

[dundarach]

It's a pain, I often paypal and collect, but then again they're small items scammers probably won't target.

Not sure what you can do here, except caution as others have said.

Why not explain this to the buyer and insist on dropping around and being offered a cup of tea

[boyse7en]

markcoznottz said:

Chargeback scam, I nearly got done last week. Refund him and find a genuine buyer.

That's one hell of an assumption.
If the seller (OP in this case) offers PayPal as a payment option why not use it? It's already been shown that eBay has a system in place to confirm that the item has been collected

[T6 vanman]

I've had this with no problems - use the e-bay scan tool & also issue a receipt (photo handover if really concerned) and had no problems,

Also had a strange one where the buyer would not accept me delivering but wanted it shipped by Royal Mail (he said to protect him from scam???) - he'd already paid by PP???

Again no problems.

YMMV

[technodup]

boyse7en said:

That's one hell of an assumption.
If the seller (OP in this case) offers PayPal as a payment option why not use it? It's already been shown that eBay has a system in place to confirm that the item has been collected

It's an assumption based on it happening over and over for the entire time Ebay/Paypal have been in existence.

The fact they're finally got around to cobbling together some system to negate it kind of proves the point. Not that I'd even take the chance on it.

[red_slr]

Fore Left said:

randlemarcus said:

eBay now seem to have an answer for this. Bought something the other day, paid PayPal before thinking about it, and the paid item has something called a collection code on it - 6 digit number the buyer has, and you need to get off them. I can only assume that's proof of collection to the nice eBay folks?

This.

"After you’ve completed your purchase, we’ll send an email with a collection code (a QR code and a 6 digit code) to your Messages. You can either print off your email or show the seller the message on the app when you collect your item. The seller will scan or enter the code on the eBay app to confirm you’ve collected your item."

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/postage-deliver...

Don't give them the bike if they can't give you the code.

This. The code is a new thing but make 100% sure they do the code whilst collecting, not after or before. Take pics of the bike when they are there just so they know you wont mess about.

I would also move that £500 from your paypal account asap. Yes they can still try and take money from your bank but its easier for you to have recourse with your bank if it comes to it. For this reason my pp account is linked to an old bank account with about £20 in it.

[anonymous-user]

Remember that a refund won't necessarily show up in the buyer's account for a few days.

I've listed stuff as cash on collection only, stated 'please don't pay by PayPal' in the listing, still had the buyer paying by PayPal and then had them accusing me of being a scammer when the refund didn't show in their account immediately.

The problem is caused by sellers being forced to include PayPal as a method of payment, and eBay have obviously decided its more profitable for them to create this QR code tracking system rather than allow you to remove PayPal as an option.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Thanks for the responses so far. The buyer messaged me aboutn 20 mins ago saying he was on his way to collect and could he have my address.

Having read through them and this thread on MSE:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/49...

I've decided to refund his Paypal payment. I've messaged him back and asked if he is willing to pay by cash on delivery or by bank transfer to be completed while he's here. Waiting on his response....

[JakeT]

Just to add here, I sold a few bits last month and the buyers paid by PayPal and I scanned the codes on collection. PayPal released the money to me a few hours later and that was it. I thought it was quite good if I'm honest, since it meant both parties were satisfied the collection had taken place.

I was a bit nervous though, as one item was £1,200.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

JakeT said:

Just to add here, I sold a few bits last month and the buyers paid by PayPal and I scanned the codes on collection. PayPal released the money to me a few hours later and that was it. I thought it was quite good if I'm honest, since it meant both parties were satisfied the collection had taken place.

I was a bit nervous though, as one item was £1,200.

I can imagine! Did the payment not show in your paypal balance until after the collection? The money for my sale was showing in my balance as soon as he made the payment.

[JakeT]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

I can imagine! Did the payment not show in your paypal balance until after the collection? The money for my sale was showing in my balance as soon as he made the payment.

I think it showed, but was not available to me. Then, once the collection was registered it then showed up as available, and I did a transfer out to my regular bank account.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Final update (hopefully). Buyer was fine with paying cash. He turned up checked the bike over throroughly, handed over the money, had a bit of a chat about my other bikes and generally seemed very genuine. It's a Christmas present for his son apparently. Very relieved to have a happy ending (stop sniggering at the back).