Unpaid item by buyer

[foxenhoffer]

I received confirmation from paypal that an ebay cheque had been used to pay for the item. I sent the item. It was received. And then received another note to say the payment had been cancelled. Now the buyer keeps saying it was paypals fault. But I still have not received payment after 3 weeks. I keep getting excuses from the buyer.

[simple-eye]

It is really important to remember that an e cheque is just like a normal cheque, it can bounce.

From my experience, never post post until the cheque has cleared.

Hopefully the buyer will feel bad and send you the money. Other wise you will probably have lost everything.

I would send them a polite letter, letting them know you need payment.

Maybe some body else knows some thing that I don't.

[digital*ghost]

Sorry to hear that, but first and foremost it must be clarified (even though in hindsight you probably know this now) is that you shouldn't ever send the items unless the payment for it has cleared. So, in the case of eCheque's, you have to wait for the follo-up email from PayPal to inform you that the payment has cleared and the funds are in your account. Until then, the eCheque is little more than a virtual "promise". 

What you should do now is send the buyer new invoice via PayPal (if you log into your account, click the "send and request" link and follow the prompts to create a new invoice for the amount owing, and send it to the email address that was used when they sent the first eCheque).

Notify the buyer that the invoice is being sent and that they can resend payment that way - either that or they must return the goods. 

If they do not repay the money or return the goods, you can make a full report of the incident to ACORN (a federal agency dealing with online fraud). 

[englishrosegardens]

I may be wrong but I don't think they'd legally be required to return it until you've given them the postage money, and that's rather risky.  They could always post it without any postage on it so it's payable when the seller receives it, but that'd incur a fee for insufficient postage.  If it's been unopened they could put return to sender but  the seller could still have to pay.  

If you haven't got proof of delivery then I think you've probably got no chance of getting paid or getting your item back.  The paypal email usually says not to post the item until the money has cleared so you've learnt a hard lesson.  

[digital*ghost]

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@englishrosegardens wrote:

I may be wrong but I don't think they'd legally be required to return it until you've given them the postage money, and that's rather risky.  

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The buyer would be responsible for return postage because they have not upheld their side of the contract, while the seller fulfilled their side, and it's not the seller's fault the buyer didn't ultimately pay. 

Circumstances do matter, or course - if the seller had sent someone an item and then just demanded payment for it without any agreement from the recipient, then I'd say the seller would be responsible for return postage, but in this case the buyer agreed to pay X amount to receive an item, so now they are obliged to do so, or return the goods. 

[davidc4430]

as maxwell smart would say,

the old cheque is in the account trick

rule number one 99, never post until the moneys in your hand (or in your PP account cleared)

i had one of these a few weeks ago, buyer paid by echeque but didnt have funds in the account. took awhile but he paid in the end, a genuine error i believe.

i hope you get a good result too

[springyzone]

Do exactly what Digital ghost says.

Call me cynical if you like, but I suspect this buyer has no intention of paying if he can wriggle out of it and is hoping you will just go away.

He has his item and if questioned, I'm betting he would say, "Not my fault, I tried to pay, there's something wrong with paypal and they wouldn't accept it so I'm not going to put myself out."

What you need to do now is not go away. Offer him a very clear, very precise way to pay as DG suggested. He still may not pay though.

[englishrosegardens]

I'm no leg

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@englishrosegardens wrote:

I may be wrong but I don't think they'd legally be required to return it until you've given them the postage money, and that's rather risky.  

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The buyer would be responsible for return postage because they have not upheld their side of the contract, while the seller fulfilled their side, and it's not the seller's fault the buyer didn't ultimately pay. 

Circumstances do matter, or course - if the seller had sent someone an item and then just demanded payment for it without any agreement from the recipient, then I'd say the seller would be responsible for return postage, but in this case the buyer agreed to pay X amount to receive an item, so now they are obliged to do so, or return the goods. 

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The buyer didn't actually ask the seller to send it before their payment went through, so I'm not sure they really would be responsible for return postage.  I'm no legal expert and I wouldn't even begin to try and understand some things, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a loophole somewhere that states the buyer didn't really 'buy' it because they didn't pay.  Online shopping, especially on ebay, has brought out lots of things that weren't thought of when a lot of the legislation was written.  I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, just saying it may not be as clear cut as we'd hope or expect.  

[digital*ghost]

I'm not a lawyer either but I do know that the sale contract is created at the time of purchase. It's primarily a matter of practicality that goods aren't sent until payment clears.

This is not really any different to an INR or chargeback where the buyer admits to receiving the goods, and the seller has the same rights of recovery.