How can I arrange for the buyer to see the item before purchase?

[scott739739]

Hi,

Apologies if this is a FAQ. If so, please just point me to the link.

I want to sell a used desk, matching file cabinet (wood), and office chair. IMO, the buyer would want to see the condition of the product before agreeing to a price.

My understanding is that eBay no longer allows the exchange of contact details between buyer and seller before the item is actually purchased.

Is this correct? Is there NO WAY the buyer can view the items before actually transferring money for the product? If so, then wouldn't Gumtree be a more effective marketplace? This isn't trolling, it's a genuine question.

To be perfectly clear, I'm not trying to avoid the commission to eBay. I'm quite happy to pay eBay to create an effective marketplace marrying buyers and sellers. I just question the effectiveness of that marketplace if the buyer can't view the used product beforehand.

Thanks!

[kopenhagen5]

Yes it's all a bit silly really.

I have in the past taken a pic of my phone number and put it in the listing for a short time telling the buyer to retrieve it.

Then if the buyer has internet on his phone he can click buy if he wants it there and then upon the viewing.

[countessalmirena]

@scott739739,

The links are here: Member-to-member contact policy, and Offers to sell outside of eBay policy.

This thread addresses some of the issues.

This post includes suggested wording for the listings of pick-up items (so that the buyers will be aware of the necessary procedure).

In my view and in the view of probably everyone on these boards (to the best of my knowledge), it's a ridiculous over-reaction by eBay. However, a recent thread by a member (seller) who admitted quite brazenly that he had sold outside eBay to someone contacting him through eBay (with this seller getting into quite a huff about eBay's restricting his account for a week and suggesting that eBay overlook his behaviour) was certainly an eye-opener. There undoubtedly are sellers who try to avoid eBay fees.

I still think that eBay's blanket ban on contact details being given pre-sale on pick-up items is silly, stupidly cumbersome and likely to get many potential buyers of pick-up items seriously put off the buying process.

[digital*ghost]

Go to My eBay > Site preferences > Manage communication with buyers. 

On that page, scroll down until you see "What your buyers can do"

There is an option there for ebay to provide members with your phone number, and you can select to have it displayed before a buyer makes a purchase.

At least that way, if an interested party goes to contact you through messages, they will get your phone number, and call you if they want to make arrangements to view the item - it is the only "safe" way to give this info to members who have not already entered into a transaction with you. 

[purplemon18]

I guess the system they have in place is that a buyer selects pickup as the delivery option, and doesn't have to actually pay until they have viewed the item. Once they have seen and are happy with the item, they can pay for it through the ebay interface for paypal on their phone, or use cash on pickup as the payment type, in which case you would have to mark the item as paid in the sales record.

Just make sure you have the money before they take the item. This means that direct deposit is out, unless they happen to use the same bank, and if that's the case, check your bank account before they take the item.

If, after viewing the item, they decide not to go through with the purchase, you can cancel the sale and re-list it. For simplicity, I would probably use the "something wrong with the buyer address" option to cancel, but "customer asked to cancel" also works, the problem is that you have to get them to confirm the cancelation on their side or you are stuck waiting for it to time out and the cancelation to complete automatically.

[scott739739]

Thanks @countessalmirena. I had seen those first two links. I just couldn't believe them! Thus my post. Thanks for the other links, I'll review them asap.

[scott739739]

Thanks @digital*ghost. I'll certainly try that. Also, I accidentally first posted this to the US eBay site, so I've gotten some feedback there. They advised to list it as "pickup only", which may give me some additional options??? (assuming same process here in Oz).

[scott739739]

Thanks @purplemon18. All I want is for the buyer to view the item first (assuming he/she wants to). It sounds like this is possible by: marking it pickup only (which it is), the buyer "buys" it, but doesn't have to pay then and there, views the item, and I need to make sure I have the money before releasing the item.

Imagine if carsales.com.au had the same process as eBay - buy the car first, pay for it first, then you can collect it or trust me to ship it to you 😉

[purplemon18]

Honestly, all the moves ebay has made in the last 1-2 years paint a picture of a company that is terriified it's about to fail, and that it thinks amazon is the cause. For example ebay plus = amazon prime. Or more accurately, ebay plus < amazon prime.