Buyer refuses to pay because i use Paymate not Paypal

[prince*planet]

Hoping someone can help me understand this as i'm a relatively new seller.

You must offer Paypal or Paymate so after reading many horror stories and scam stories involving Paypal i chose Paymate. A bit like choosing a Mac over a PC i thought.

I had one potentially bad experience with Paypal early on when a buyer claimed "not as described" which is when i switched to Paymate. Fortunately Paypal correctly found in my favour at that time but i read enough forums to know i didn't want to be exposed to that risk again.

So i sell a chainsaw local pick up but will also post. Message me for quote. i have 6 payment options but it's Paymate not Paypal.

Winning bidder lives on the other side of the country so it's a postage job and she wants to pay by Paypal or nothing "if you want your money"...

Firstly she's a real slow one. Had to send the postage quote twice...had to ask her to read the invoice twice...and she obviously never read the ad and doesn't know Ebay well as she's accusing me of being a potential scammer and not following Ebay rules by not allowing Paypal...So...

Next thing is i will probably have to kill the sale and re list the item or offer second chance but how to do so without getting a neg? the new Feedback revoking thing for unpaid item disputes has a clause where it doesn't apply if the item had local pick up offered. ??? I can't for the life of me figure out why when a buyer is refusing to pay it matters that the listing offered local pick up and therefore....the non paying buyer can still leave negative feedback even with an unpaid item dispute going just because local pick up was offered. Insane.

The sale was only 2 days ago so i obviously haven't opened a dispute but i can already tell this buyer has turned and it's all gone pear shaped. How can i get out of this? any suggestions?

[bsal6160]

The obvious solution...offer paypal. One bad experience should mean not offering paypal. you could offer both forms?

[leader-of-the-band]

Simple, only communicate with the 'buyer' through eBay messages (you can use those messages to support your case).  After 4 days open an UnPaid Item claim, and judging by what you have posted I would think she will go bananas and neg you.  Stay calm, don't respond, close the UPI case after another 4 days.  Then, message eBay and ask for the neg to be removed. DO NOT leave her feedback as it can only be positive, and if you leave +ve with negative tone you will cop a violation.

After the case is closed you are free to relist.  Put her on your Blocked Buyer List (come back here if you need help with that).  In fact, put her on your BBL immediately.

DO NOT offer a cancellation of the tranbsaction as the 'buyer'  WILL be able to leave you a neg and eBay will probably not remove it regardless of whether she had no intention of paying or not.

[leader-of-the-band]

tranbsaction = transaction

[prince*planet]

Thanks Leader that gives me something to work with. So now she's saying you better take Paypal if you want your money. Should i give a short reply indicating that i'm following all the rules and she is mistaken or should i just shut up until the 4 days is up and go through the process?

Also...will Ebay remove the neg if she leaves one? i've read elsewhere that they often don't.

And i have to wait until all that is over until i relist the same item corect? So i can't even offer a second chance because that person would have bought elsewhere by then so now i'm stuck with my Chainsaw that i can't relist for another 6 days or so...well that's a pain but not crucial as i have umpteen other things to sell.

I can of course offer Paypal but since i've stopped i noticed the system tries very hard to blackmail you into using it at every turn and they actually scare buyers off intentionally. it's not a fair playing field. Sometimes i will use it but the problem i have is selling a tool like a chainsaw to people who have no experience or knowledge of how to use one. You only have to get a goose put the wrong fuel in or any number of things go wrong in the first few uses and there is potential for INAD cases. therefore i'd rather discourage paypal intentionally and offer Paymate whereby i can deal with the resolution process without the obbvious bias and limitations of the Ebay/paypal juggernaut. Thanks Leader...If you have any more advice i'd appreciate it.

[bsal6160]

I thought this selling thing was supposed be all about customer service? Seems i am wrong again. Did you think that maybe, just maybe, the buyer only has a paypal account?

[prince*planet]

Yes that's cool mate but she can open a Paymate account in under 5 minutes for free and get the same...no....much better buyer protection. the buyer should have read the listing properly. She also has 5 other payment options. Sellers shouldn't be blackmailed into using Paypal by anyone.

[leader-of-the-band]

message the underbidder and let them know that you are having problems with the winning bidder.  Let them know that there is a good chance that the item will be available for a second chance offer once the UPI has closed.  Let them know the timeframe AND stick to the 4 days/8days for the claim.  That will mean it is available in the quickest time.

If you back down and let them pay with PayPal I think they will hit you with a negative anyway SO DO NOT BACK DOWN. Also, if you back down and then send the item and they do make a PayPal claim you will have to refund the postage they paid in the payment which for a chainsaw I would think will be considerable. 

If they say something like "oh, I didn't realise that the postage would be so high, can we do a mutual cancellation?" JUST SAY NO.

I would take the minimalist communication approach from here on in.  You don't have to explain things in detail.  The more you write the more chance she will find something to try to trip you on.  Short, factual, non-judgemental replies to any message they send.  In two days time do UPI claim.  If they message you with terse/abusive comments then do not reply.  Close the case after four days.

[prince*planet]

Thanks Leader, Very helpful. Hopefully i can ride it out. For the record i won't be selling chainsaws after i get rid of my current stock. The goods i sell are fully serviced and in perfect condition but as i said above...it's an item that depends too much on the user being adept with them. Cheers.

[leader-of-the-band]

I thought this selling thing was supposed be all about customer service? Seems i am wrong again. Did you think that maybe, just maybe, the buyer only has a paypal account?

the buyer has a responsibility to read the listing, all of the listing including payment methods.  If the biyer only has a PayPal account then they should have messaged the seller before bidding.  Also, no Paymate account = no problem as they can pay by Bank Deposit or, as already said, open a PayMate account.

This seller has not done anything wrong.  In fact, they have done everything right . . . . even to the point of coming here to seek advice before proceeding.  I'm with the seller on this one, 100%.