Buyer paid but did not pick up

[ozzyrcbay]

I sold an engine for 1200$
Buyer paid straight away via paypal.
Was pick up so then i didnt hear from him again till 2 weeks later i responded and then he went silent again

A month later he contacted me through the message service asking for my phone number.
I tried numerous times and wasnt able to send the message.
I presume as a fair bit of time passed since purchase.
So i went into his profile and found some for sale listings and contacted him like that again 3 weeks later he responds and finally i have him my number.
He sends me a message for pick up i advise him that day is no good can we do it another day no responce again.
He next contacts me 1 month later lol..
So this is 4 months after the sale and i had to have the engine out of there.
My friend told me to charge him storage fees for the 4 months seeing as i tried to contact this bloke many times.

Whats my options here ?

[brerrabbit585]

I meant retain any ebay fees, seeing it's too late to get them refunded.

[justkidzbiz]

Before you do any refund, email him and advise if the item is not picked up within 7 days by xx/xx2016 you will be refunding the payment and relisting  the item. Give him one last option to pick it up. Advise that you need the space and this has dragged on long enough.

[kopenhagen5]

I would send one last message outlining what will happen if it is not picked up in 5-7 days.

Work out the exact eBay n Paypal fees and add an admin/restocking fee for your time, perhaps $50 then refund the balance if no contact is made or picked up within the time.

[digital*ghost]

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things re: PayPal - you can only refund from the original transaction for up to 60 days after it's received.

If the item was marked as pick-up only (and this is reflected on the invoice details / PayPal payment), the buyer won't be able to lodge an INR claim. They do have the option to open a Item Not As Described claim, but that can be quite complicated (for them) if they didn't actually pick it up.

They can initiate a chargeback (on the full amount) if they funded their payment with a credit card (and unfortunately when the item is pick-up, there's no way to qualify for seller protection), though in saying that it doesn't sound like the buyer is super-keen on following up the transaction in one way or another, so while a possibility it doesn't mean it's likely.

As you can not issue a refund from the original transaction, you'll need to think about how to approach a refund because if you just send them funds, the original transaction will still have another 2 months or so to be disputed. Some credit card companies will allow chargebacks for up to a year after the payment, as well, so if you refund, it might be best to give PayPal a call and ask them how to ensure the payment you send is recorded officially as a refund for the original payment. 

[kopenhagen5]

PayPal - you can only refund from the original transaction for up to 60 days after it's received.

Wow, I didn't know that. So I guess the refund button just disappears.

Sounds like a call to PayPal to do a part refund is the best making sure it is married up to the original eBay purchase as you say.

[digital*ghost]

It does seem silly - it was 60 days when the time-limit for disputes was 45 days, but when they extended it to 180, the voluntary refund limit remained at 60, so while PP seem to acknowledge and cater for transaction problems 6 months down the line, it can leave a seller between a rock and a hard place (unless, perhaps, they advise the buyer to open a dispute, as then the refund option should become available, but it shouldn't be necessary and isn't really appropriate in a case like this, as that would make partial refunds a little more complicated. I know buyers can request a partial refund and $ amount for INAD cases, but I'm not sure if a seller can offer their own specified amount).