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?

[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?

I am a seller (on three IDs), and I offer PayPal as my safe payment method.  I have no problem doing that, but then again I am only a small time seller of cheaper items.  For me, potential losses due to buyer claims are small.

If a buyer messaged me and said "I don't have PayPal, but I do have Paymate, can I use Paymate?"  I would say "No, I don't have Paymate and I will not set up a Paymate account for one sale".  I don't consider that bad service.

It is not a question of customer service, the OP should not have to set up or use a PayPal account for one sale.

[lyndal1838]

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.

I would not advise you to tell your buyer to open a Paymate account as they have better buyer protection.  If you did it to me I would neg you immediately.

That is just so wrong.  If the buyer wants to open a dispute they have to pay for the privilege...I think I heard that it was $50.

There are sellers here who have offered Paymate for years but have stopped now as it is so much more expensive than paypal.

What makes you say it has better buyer protection than paypal?

[phorum_junkie*]

You obviously have not read all the Paymate terms and conditions.

If you post things using a Paypal qualifying method and a credit card chargeback is done anything up to 12 months later then you will have seller protection and any refund will not be paid by you.

If you read the Paymate T&Cs you will see that they provide no protection against a genuine chargeback for fraudulent use no matter what proof you have of delivery, they can also just take the money out of your bank account without even informing you.

As it is also more expensive and hardly anyone uses it any more most of us who used to offer it no longer do so.

Regarding your buyer I wouldn't have any further communication, I would just open a non payment dispute after 4 days and close it asap, if you didn't offer Paypal then you don't have to accept it.

[punch*drunk]

The buyer doesnt need an account, just a credit card.

Paymate is one of ebays acceptable safe payment methods and there is no reason you need to accept paypal if you dont want to. Its up to the buyer to read the listing correctly.

[prince*planet]

I haven't read all the T+C.

It's only a little more expensive i think. Paymate is 2.4% plus 50 cents and Paypal is 2.4% plus 30 cents...so 20 cents more per sale for a low end seller like me under $5000 per month maybe 10 transactions at most so an extra $24 per year at most on goods that i'm making thousands of % profit on anyway....I've weighed it up and that's what i want for various reasons. Thanks for the honest advice.

[lyndal1838]

Troublemaking Trolls?????  Gee thanks for the vote of confidence to those trying to help you.

If you are happy to cut down on your customer base then so be it, but the average buyer will not touch Paymate.  They do have the protection of their credit card provider, but if they use a credit/debit card through paypal they have the same protection as well as the protection provided by paypal...without having to pay to open a dispute.

[punch*drunk]

You're right, its only 20 cents per transaction dearer.

Like PJ said, you dont have protection against chargebacks, but chargebacks are relatively uncommon, especially when you take paypal out of the equation. I believe paymate will genuinely help fight a frivolous chargeback too, something paypal dont do despite their claims to the contrary.

If you dont mind a bit of advice, I clicked on one of your listings and the writing is HUGE, makes it kind of difficult to read. Also, when I use paymate in a listing, I make note of it in the actual listing, something like "I accept cash on pick up or can you can pay safely with your credit card via paymate" It might stop this kind of problem happening again.

[bsal6160]

It looks like NONE of your payment options offer any form of BUYER PROTECTION. Only what is available from a credit card. Enough to turn most buyers off i am sorry, You may want to reconsider you payment options, as like you, Buyers dont want to be BLACKMAILED into having a paymate account. 

[sexy*harley*chick]

Toms, as a buyer myself i would not use paymate to pay a seller, well if they only offered paymate i would not buy off them.

Reason? if anything goes wrong and i need to make at claim it will cost me $50 to do so, also I can only make 2 claims per year, so to bad if i run into 3 shonky sellers.

Buyers much perfer paypal as its free for them if they need to make a claim, and they can claim a lot more than twice a year.

[punch*drunk]

Bsal, you do not need an account to use paymate, just a credit card. And paymate is one of ebays 3 safe options.

Would you suggest people with merchant accounts ditch them in favour of paypal too?