Interstate buyer arranging courier for pick up only item wont pay unless I provide address first.

[nechen0414]

Am I obliged to provide my personal details before she pays? She wants my name, address and mobile number before she will pay. She has bid for and won an item that clearly stated pick up only. She can't pick up herself, therefore can't pay cash. She has to pay with paypal (the only payment opti9on I offered). Is right to withhold payment until I give her my personal details? Or am I right to withhold my personal details until she pays?

Thanks for any advice you have.

[digital*ghost]

All good 🙂 I would also say the buyer isn't exactly an innocent, wronged party in this case - particularly if they bid knowing they would need to make arrangments not offered in the listing, and not confirming with you if that's ok; my first post also included a reason for a seller not to be ok with that, and you have a right to stick to your own terms. 

I also think if the information was that important for them, they could have provided a proper explanation for the request (without being prompted) when it became clear it wasn't something you were comfortable with.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that ultimately, you maybe both could have done things a bit differently, but hindsight is 20/20 and the situation is what it is, now, so the best route to take from here is the unpaid item case. 

[nechen0414]

The first winner never asked to pay with cash. They never replied full stop. When I sent the email asking if they could make payment I would send through the address, they never replied. If they had and had asked to pay cash I would have agreed???

The second auction winner is interstate and doesn't even have the option to offer cash. If she liver closer and asked to pay cash, I would have also agreed. She has no choice but to pay with Paypal???

There was never a request from either buyer to pay cash.

I am not impeding her courier pick up. I'm very happy to facilitate that, and I've told her that. However she doesn't need to book the courier before she pays. 

[nechen0414]

That last post was in reply to foxette.

[lyndal1838]

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@nechen0414 wrote:

This buyer is interstate and can't pick it up herself, so she can't inspect before buying. Therefore this is not a reason to insist on my address before payment, she will be paying via paypal and sending a courier, which can be booked after payment.

You have complained that other buyers have baulked at paying with paypal which is why I explained why they may have backed out of the deal.

If you were OK with cash on pickup after inspection you should have said so in the listing.  The item would probably have been long gone by now and you woould not be still fiddling round with a buyer who wants you to fiddle round with couriers.

[nechen0414]

Thanks for your perspective but no buyer has said they didn't want to pay with paypal, no one asked if they could pay another way, and I don't think I've complained that other have baulked at it, because no one has. The payment method has never been an issue.

I didn't know I could still put in the listing that I'd accept cash on pick up. Years ago, that's the way I did it, but when you post now, you can't choose that option so I thought ebay disapproved of that method now. I simply didn't know that even though you can't choose it on the posting details that you can write in the details yourself. If I'd known that, I would have. ANd if any buyer had asked, I would have too. I thought I was doing the right thing by ebay, I thought that was no longer accepted. (I don't sell things very often.)

I agree if I'd know, it would be sold by now. WIsh I had known. Why do ebay not have it as an option of payment to tick in the set of of a listing?

[davewil1964]

You have no idea how many prospective bidders didn't bid because your listing insisted on Paypal, so Lyndal's point is relevant.

[countessalmirena · Accepted solution]

@nechen0414,

There's been some terrific advice (and quite a variety of it) on this thread! It's good to see that you are absorbing a fair amount of the helpful information here.

For future pick-up items, in terms of payment method:

• You do have to offer a "safe" payment method (which, at this time and in these circumstances means PayPal), but you can also offer cash on pickup in your listing.
• As long as you don't discourage PayPal, you can say "Cash on pickup preferred" (or words to that effect).
• The majority of buyers looking for pick-up items won't actually tell sellers who only list with PayPal that they won't be bidding on their items... but that doesn't mean that those buyers want to pay via PayPal for a pickup item. You may significantly increase your potential buyer pool if you offer cash on pickup.
• Cash on pickup is by far the best payment option for pick-up items. It means that no money changes hands until the buyer has arrived to inspect the item (after winning the auction or buying it now, depending on the listing format). Once the buyer's satisfied, he/she hands over the cash to complete the payment portion of the purchase. Payment should be complete BEFORE the buyer takes/carries the item.
• The buyer should transport the item from its location to his/her vehicle. (Note: do not offer to help carry it. I'll explain why further down.)
• You can mark the item in eBay as "paid" on the spot.

If the sale doesn't go ahead

If the buyer inspects the item before paying, and is dissatisfied, he/she can pull out of the purchase. Some sellers will attempt to send a cancellation request through on the spot, so that they can talk the buyer through the process of accepting the cancellation request. (However, beware of the buyer accidentally connecting to your internet connection on their phone or iPad or what-have-you; you do not want eBay to link your account with the buyer's on the basis of IP, as this may propel eBay into accusations of shill bidding or feedback manipulation. It can be avoided by reminding the buyer to turn off wi-fi in their Settings.)

Because the cancellation request process relies on the buyer physically doing something (accepting the request quickly - otherwise, if no response from the buyer, it's a lengthy process), some sellers will simply go straight for the cancellation process using the only other reasonable option that a seller has: "problem with the buyer's address". It's not accurate, but in lieu of eBay providing a reason that "buyer inspected pick-up item and decided not to proceed with the transaction", it's not hard to see why it's the best of a bad bunch. (Never ever choose the "out of stock/damaged" options if you can possibly avoid it, as the defects flung at sellers who choose this option are very sharp and very painful.) But there's no question that if you can get the buyer to accept the cancellation request on the basis of "buyer requests cancellation" before leaving, that is the best (most accurate) reason to choose.

Here's why you may want to avoid lending a helping hand in lifting, transporting, carrying, helping to support, etc., the goods from their original item pickup location/inspectionpoint.

Quoting from eBay's Money Back Guarantee:

❝🚫 Not covered

• Items damaged during local pick-up
• Items not delivered when the buyer arranges pick-up or delivery of the item (for instance, the buyer arranges freight)
  [...]
• Local pickup items that weren't collected by the buyer❞

Important to note: If the buyer damages the item during the pick-up, he/she has damaged their own item. It's not covered under the eBay MBG. You ensure that you can't be held responsible by not being a carrier who can be blamed if an item's damaged in the process. (Of course it would be your responsibility if the item were damaged at your hands, before the buyer arrived, for instance.)

Re this particular interstate buyer wanting your address, I do not see the harm in that (unless you suspect that the buyer is a blank-eyed knife-wielding psychopath determined to track you down and stab until his clothing is spattered and soaked with blood). I take your point that the buyer only needs to know the exact particulars after making her PayPal payment, as she doesn't need those details for the purposes of payment. However, it isn't an entirely unreasonable request and providing those details would very likely mean that the buyer feels secure enough to make the PayPal payment, organise the courier, and get that item launched on its way away from you and straight to the buyer.

(See the second point that I quote above in eBay's MBG "not covered" list to see why a purchase of a pick-up item where the buyer arranges pick-up/delivery of the item is a good result for the seller.)

[nechen0414]

Wow, lots of great advice there!

Countessalmirena, thank you so much for taking the time to post all of that. I will certainly take that on board for future listings. Fabulous!

Davewil and Lyndal, yes in hindsight, I can see more would have bidded if cash was an option, I just didn't know I could still put that in. Will do so in future.

This buyer, being interstate wouldn't have needed or wanted that option though, but I can see she may have been outbidded by someone else if i had of had the cash option, which would have avoided the situation I find myself in now.

I do also appreciate the advice that, even though I'm not required to give my address before payment, that it is still a forthcoming thing to do, however I feel it is too late now for this particular situation as communication has disintegrated. And yes, judging by the tone of her last few emails, I am even more protective of her having personal details now. But next time around (if there is one) I think I will be more relaxed about giving them out. Especially now that I know I can still offer cash option, which makes it necessary anyway.

I will also (next time) stick to my guns of no interstate buyers and no facilitating buyer booked couriers, it's a bit messy. If the goods get damaged or lost, the buyer could still ask for a refund I guess, as they didn;'t inspect before buying. Next time I will be strictly pick up only.

Thank you all for your advice!

[lyndal1838]

If the buyer arranges their own courier to pick the item up after paying by paypal it is still considered a pickup item and is subject to the rules of pickup.

That is the reason many buyers will not pay by paypal for pickup items.   It is too messy to get a refund if the item is not as described when it is picked up.