Here is why you should never accept PayPal for pick up items

[bjmonty28]

Heres an interesting thread on Whirlpool about a seller that got defauded of $1900...

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2550554

[black*poppy]

I just got a policy violation for stating cash preferred on pick up. Except for vehicles and motors etc, apparently sellers can't say anything to discourage preferred payment methods except to say if offering pick up 'please contact me to discuss payment options'. I only get a couple of pickups a year. I don't have pickup as an option in checkout so they have to discuss payment with me first or they pay the postage.

[lyndal1838]

That is a new one on me black poppy.  

While it has always been the rule that sellers are not allowed to discourage the use of paypal it has always been accepted that you can say cash on pickup preferred.

In fact I think a member was told that specific wording by an ebay rep.

It seems to me that ebay is changing the rules and making it up as they go along without telling sellers.

[digital*ghost]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

It seems to me that ebay is changing the rules and making it up as they go along without telling sellers.

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Looks to me like that's exactly what they are doing. 

The policy page used to explicitly state that saying cash on pick-up preferred was ok, but I went and had a look and now it says "Sellers who offer payment on pickup may include the following statement in their listings: "Contact me for payment methods for paying on pickup." "

For good measure, I checked recent (and archived) announcements going back a year, and none were ever made about this policy change.

Pretty low to introduce an new policy unannounced and then issue policy violations for it, but so flippin' typical. 

[go-tazz]

They probably changed it around the time that they posted about buyer protection was being introduced if paying

by PP for pick up items,(which is another push for money going to PP off course),

It may stop people selling pick up items via eBay and there may come a push towards Gumtree,(we've sold

bigger items via FB).

Listing items for pick up with PP as a payment option is fraught with danger for the seller,(but the buyer can

get the freebies).

[*tippy*toes*]

The problem that seller has is the buyer paid a postage cost, so eBay/PayPal would have no way of knowing it was then to be picked up. As far as they are concerned, the item should have been posted. As the seller has no proof of postage, as far as PayPal are concerned, the buyer didn't get it (despite the seller having CCTV proof they did, which is not acceptable to PayPal, but it is the FOS).

In regards to taking it to court, even if the seller wins and is awarded the $1900 back, plus all other associated costs, there is no way to force the buyer to pay up. The seller can then take the buyer back to court to force them to pay up, but they can still just not pay and there is no way of forcing them to, despite what the courts say. The seller could then end up out of pocket 2-3 times what the purchase price was and still not get the $1900.

That said, it could be different if it's dealt with in the criminal court, but in civil court, he has no way of getting the buyer to cough up. His best bet would be involving the FOS. If they force PayPal to refund the seller, then they can chase the buyer for lost funds.

[bimberiretrosystems]

On the 15th of July the Paypal user agreement was ammended to extend paypal to local pickup items on both ebay and gumtree-paypal advertised this change a few weeks before it came in.  We now have to accept paypal for local pickup items.

[davidc4430]

and with every 'minor' tweek ebay does we get another group of crims taking advantage.

but its all in aid of improving of the ebay experience.

[black*poppy]

I was just glad it was only one listing they dinged.  Took me ages to go through and change them all but I didn't get anymore pulled while I was doing so. Pretty low I thought.

Just to note, everything I sell is postable, so I get around the paypal thing by not offering pick up as a payment method, although my listing says that pickups are welcome.  This means they can't select it in checkout.  So they have to get in a conversation with me about pickup because their only paypal option is to pay the postage as well (and then I would post).  I send an adjusted invoice AFTER the pickup is completed.

If your item really is a pick up only thing like a bike or household appliance, then that would be trickier. Personally I prefer gumtree or FB for this stuff.

[lyndal1838]

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@bimberiretrosystems wrote:

On the 15th of July the Paypal user agreement was ammended to extend paypal to local pickup items on both ebay and gumtree-paypal advertised this change a few weeks before it came in.  We now have to accept paypal for local pickup items.

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Sellers have always had to offer paypal for Pick Up only items....and accept it if the buyer chooses to use it.

The problem is that ebay has altered their rules without notification.

It used to be the sellers could state that Cash on Pick Up was preferred even if they offered paypal.  Now that has gone from the rules and no-one knew about it.

[ozstockman]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

That may be so, but if the buyer initiates a chargeback for an unauthorised transaction, it's proof enough for the bank to see they are pulling a swifty.

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I do not think you will be able to reach a bank that opens a chargeback with Paypal. How are you going to send them your proof? Paypal won't care and they will put $25 on you as a chargeback fee. And they will refund back to a card holder. Of course they will tell you that Paypal will fignt for you but in fact you will be fined with $25 chargeback fee and loose your money and a product.

The only party that will help you is Police. If you have a proof that your product has been collected and you have a buyer id they should accept your proof.