Getting paid for an item when delivered?

[ammie636rocks]

Hi guys. I usually use ebay for buying but recently listed some items and sold a rare new old stock car headlight for around $500.

Ebay are telling me I will not get paid until the buyer recieves the item.

This is new to me as its never happened before & now has me worried if there's a  chance of being scammed here.

A buyer could swap the light for an old one & send it back. I'm sure it won't match the pics I put up but it could begin a long process whete I loose a rare part & go through a lenthy process trying to get money out of ebay.

An action like this by ebay really has me thinking of sticking to selling on facebook as I've had no issues there, and like ebay I have a long time profile & good feedback.

I'm on the mid north coast so can't send the item anyway due to the floods here so could easilycancel the sale anyway.

So is this a normal thing when selling now, where ebay with hold fees for an even longer time to squeeze more interest off our sales money ?

[countessalmirena]

@ammie746rocks, you’re a new seller, so yes - your funds will be on hold until your selling activity shows an established pattern of successful selling/delivery.

This isn’t new. It’s been in place for some years as a risk mitigation measure.

However, I have the sense that you don’t know how eBay payouts actually work. If you’ve never sold on eBay before, or only sold, say, five or so years ago, and haven’t kept up to date with eBay’s announcements about Managed Payments, you may not be aware that eBay require you to be registered for MP in order to be paid.

This involves specifying your nominated bank account for payouts (name on bank account to exactly match name on eBay account), verifying that bank account via either the login credential method or the micro-deposit method, and verifying your ID (photo ID such as driver lice or passport).

See https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/getting-paid/registering-seller?id=4792

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/payments-hold?id=481...

If you’re affected by the floods, then I agree with you that you be cancelling the sale anyway. Contact your buyer with a short message that due to the floods impacting postage, you’ll need to cancel the sake - then cancel with the reason that there’s an issue with address.

I’d suggest you end your other listings as well until

a) you have read through current selling information on the Help pages, Policy pages, and Seller Hub,

b) have signed up for MP and been fully verified, and

c) the floods no longer impact your ability to send items.

Post on these boards with any questions you have once you’ve started looking through the Help section. There’s a wealth of information and experience here.

[*casey*]

"This is new to me as its never happened before & now has me worried if there's a  chance of being scammed here.

A buyer could swap the light for an old one & send it back. I'm sure it won't match the pics I put up but it could begin a long process whete I loose a rare part & go through a lenthy process trying to get money out of ebay"

I like to think that most buyers are honest but yes, that's exactly what  can and does  happen from time to time.

[shoppingbag*]

Payments are held for new Sellers or those that have not sold recently.  Usually 30 days.  As for your other concerns, "don't cross bridges until you get to them"  As one famous person once said "I've worried about many things in my life and SOME of them actually happened" If you are worried about things being swapped then better to sell face to face on some other platform.

[*casey*]

As a general comment,  I'd advise all new sellers to be extremely cautious when listing a rare $500  +  item on eBay.

It may not happen often but when it does, the scammer usually wins

[springyzone]

Everything countess says!!

Yes, it is normal for sellers who don't sell on a regular basis to have a hold on their funds, usually about 30 days.

But more to the point, it is not like the old days, the money won't go directly to you, it will go to ebay and unless you are properly signed up for managed payments, you'll never see a cent.

Unfortunately, it seems people are able to list on ebay and sell even when they are not signed up for managed payments.

Your best bet is to cancel the sale. 

In fact, don't list anything till you've read up on everything, as others have advised.

Then if you want to sell a few things, maybe start with lower priced items.

The scenario you mention, where someone switches an item, does occasionally happen but you can forget the bit about 'lengthy process trying to get money out of ebay', in that if a buyer claims the item is not as advertised, they will most likely automatically win their claim.

Not only would you lose your money and postage costs but you'd also be up for the return postage costs plus the ebay fees.

The thing is, ebay has no way to prove a seller sent the item as listed in the ad, so they usually side with the buyer. Scamming can go both ways on ebay.

You've got a valuable item, the buyer is probably honest but you cannot count on it plus you're unable to post because of floods.

Cancel, sell it elsewhere.

[siddieswans]

Everything everyone else has already said.

PLUS if you do decide to continue to sell on eBay I would strongly suggest you do not allow International sales until you have had a lot more experience. While International sales can be profitable, they are also more problematical. Because there is no way to issue a return postage label for International sales, in the case of a disputed claim being raised and eBay finding against you (as will almost certainly occur as others have described), not only will you lose your sales money, you will also probably lose  the item, as there is no way to force the "buyer" to return it. Yes if you have an honest and helpful buyer, you may be able to come to some arrangement to pay them for return postage another way, but that outcome will be a rarity.

Unfortunately dishonest overseas people are aware of this, and will often target new inexperienced sellers with expensive items in order to take advantage of it. While problems can arise with domestic sales, at least you have the opportunity to issue a return label; the unfortunate scenario you describe may then play out but then you do have the opportunity to appeal to eBay. With International sales, you have usually lost everything.