Ebay - sold speakers - buyer won't collect

[VeeReihenmotor6]

Hi,

Odd one and perhaps not the right subforum, apologies if so.

I sold some Monitor Audio Bronze stand mount speakers back in June on ebay. The guy paid for them straight away and we arranged collection. The day came and went and he didn't turn up. Messaged him again, radio silence but eventually (weeks later) he re-arranged. The date came and went and he didn't turn up.

I messaged him again in early September, he said sorry and that he'd pick them up last friday. Again he didn't turn up.

What can I do - I've got his money and I'd like shot of them now. They've been sitting in my hall way for 3 months. I'm sure someone on the freecycle groups will take them but I don't want to get stung by ebay in 6 months time because the guy hasn't picked them up.

Cheers for thoughts.

[M4tt-H]

Open an Ebay case for non collection. After a while they will probably just write off the case and you can keep them (and the money).

[VeeReihenmotor6]

Cheers Matt, nice one.
Matt

[OutInTheShed]

You could talk to the buyer.

Suggest that if he doesn't really want them after all, you could re-list them and split the proceeds with him?
Or maybe he'd like them posted with a P&P charge that makes it worth your while?

In future, cash on collection only and if they don't show up as arranged, do a second-chance offer to the runner-up.

[M4tt-H]

OutInTheShed said:

In future, cash on collection only and if they don't show up as arranged, do a second-chance offer to the runner-up.

I don't do this much (depends on item/buyer) as there is then no hard incentive for the seller to collect, and you can end up with tw@tty haggling on collection too as a bit of a risk. I'd rather be holding the money and the goods on sale, than just holding the goods and a hope they turn up and pay.

I've rarely seen second chance offers accepted, and I rarely accept them when offered to me as I get alarm bells ring as to why the original sale may have fallen through.

[OutInTheShed]

M4tt-H said:

OutInTheShed said:

In future, cash on collection only and if they don't show up as arranged, do a second-chance offer to the runner-up.

I don't do this much (depends on item/buyer) as there is then no hard incentive for the seller to collect, and you can end up with tw@tty haggling on collection too as a bit of a risk. I'd rather be holding the money and the goods on sale, than just holding the goods and a hope they turn up and pay.

I've rarely seen second chance offers accepted, and I rarely accept them when offered to me as I get alarm bells ring as to why the original sale may have fallen through.

Ebay is more confrontational now, but when I used it to sell a fair bit of stuff, I had a few disorganised customers.
One bloke was being difficult about picking up something he bought, I was glad I cut him some slack when he eventually turned up in a wheelchair.
Other times I was selling boat and motorbike stuff, it can be a small world and it's not worth becoming known as a git over the price of a round of beers and a pile of old tat.

The OP's case is pushing well into 'annoying' territory, but sometimes it's worth taking a deep breath and pretending to be the nice guy.
Some people have much bigger problems in their lives than quibbling over a small purchase.

[markiii]

Stick them in the loft and forget about them until the makes an appointment and sticks to it

[dickymint]

Just sell them again! At worst you'll just have to re-fund the first sale?

[Timothy Bucktu]

You've inadvertently opened yourself up to potentially being scammed here...
Buyer pays with PayPal
Buyer collects
Buyer raises a case saying they were never received.

You have no proof they were collected. eBay will issue a refund.
You need to refund this buyer, apologise, and relist as cash on collection only. If the new buyer does send you the money via PayPal (you can't stop PayPal as an option)...refund it straight away and remind them its cash on collection.

[Stick Legs]

I thought this was about me!

I bought some Mission bookshelf speakers a couple of weeks ago & haven’t collected yet.

I have since contacted the seller & apologised thanks to this thread.

[Actual]

Timothy Bucktu said:

You've inadvertently opened yourself up to potentially being scammed here...
Buyer pays with PayPal
Buyer collects
Buyer raises a case saying they were never received.

You have no proof they were collected. eBay will issue a refund.
You need to refund this buyer, apologise, and relist as cash on collection only. If the new buyer does send you the money via PayPal (you can't stop PayPal as an option)...refund it straight away and remind them its cash on collection.

This can happen so use the collect option where eBay provides a barcode which the buyer scans on collection to prove receipt of the goods.

[smokey mow]

Timothy Bucktu said:

You've inadvertently opened yourself up to potentially being scammed here...
Buyer pays with PayPal
Buyer collects
Buyer raises a case saying they were never received.

You have no proof they were collected. eBay will issue a refund.
You need to refund this buyer, apologise, and relist as cash on collection only. If the new buyer does send you the money via PayPal (you can't stop PayPal as an option)...refund it straight away and remind them its cash on collection.

EBay haven’t used PayPal for payments since June 2021.

The buyer also only has 30 days in which to raise a goods not received claim with eBay so I think the OP can sleep easy with this one.

.

[Tony1963]

I’m pretty sure PayPal can still be used, it’s just not the default method now.

[Hawkshaw]

If you have messaged the buyer and not heard back, ebay will have a record of that, so you have covered yourself. Just cancel the sale and issue a refund.

[Defcon5]

Call eBay - their customer services are really good in my experience. They can see all your messages and can sort it out there and then.

I had an issue where a large product was faulty, and the supplier was supposed to collect it but they never turned up when scheduled.

I called eBay, they clicked a few buttons and that was that. I got a full refund and they told me the item was mine to keep (I took it to a repair place who fixed the issue)

[smokey mow]

Tony1963 said:

I’m pretty sure PayPal can still be used, it’s just not the default method now.

It can, but as you say its not the default so there’s a fair chance that the OP’s buyer didn’t use it in this case and they paid with either their bank account or CC which are now the preferred methods.

[paulrockliffe]

I sold a Lexus IS200 on eBay last year, someone paid a deposit on it and then vanished. In the end I just relisted it, sold it for more and kept the deposit. Never heard a peep about it, it was very strange.

[Deranged Rover]

Mark them as collected on eBay. If the buyer ever turns up, act all mystified and assure him that they were collected weeks ago.

[Stick Legs]

paulrockliffe said:

I sold a Lexus IS200 on eBay last year, someone paid a deposit on it and then vanished. In the end I just relisted it, sold it for more and kept the deposit. Never heard a peep about it, it was very strange.

I had something similar.

Turned out the bloke realised that by the time he travelled to collect, then messed about with my old car it would be easier to buy a better one closer to home.

Let me keep the deposit as he was sorry to mess me about.

Folk are strange.

[VeeReihenmotor6]

Cheers have continued to message through ebay (and have been nice about it) although as it's past the 3 months it has disappeared from "current" sold items, no refund option.