eBay issue - advice?

[Al Neri]

Spare the flames, posts that say "ebay sucks", "never use ebay", etc.

Thanks.


OK, I sold a laptop on ebay - bidding ended on 1/25/2009, I was going out of town on February 1st, I had it end on the 25th so that could leave the buyer 5 business days (7 calendar days) to send me the payment before I left. I only accepted paypal, so I think this was more than reasonable. Between Jan 25 and Feb 1, I emailed him several times, no reply came. I opened an eBay dispute on Feb. 4 and I got payment that same day (well well, someone was alive after all). I wouldn't be home until Feb 10 (tomorrow) so I figured that I'd just pack it up then and send it (seems reasonable, he took his time).

Now it's Feb. 9, a few days later and I get a paypal dispute case opened by him saying:

I HAVE PAID FOR THIS ITEM AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT. WILL YOU BE SENDING MY ITEM OR WILL YOU REFUND MY MONEY?

To me it seems like the guy just doesn't want the laptop, so I offered him a choice and put together an email (I have not sent it yet) :

Hello Mr. XXXX.

You won my auction, ebay # XXXXX, when the auction ended, on January 25th, 2009. I emailed you several times and you had not returned any of my emails until I opened up an unpaid item case with eBay on February 4th 2009. That is a 10 calendar day, 8 business day lag. I set up the auction to end on January 25th because I was going to be out of town from February 1-February 10, 2009. The intention was to have it shipped by February 1st, I had it end on the 25th so that could leave the buyer 5 business days (7 calendar days) to send me the payment before I left, which is more than reasonable. But that depending solely on receiving payment by then, which I did not.

While out of town I had very limited access to email, the first time I was able to check mail was February 4th (when I opened the unpaid case) and just now (February 9, 2009).

I think that it is very unreasonable that you opened a paypal dispute after 5 calendar, 3 business days when you took 10 calendar, 8 business days to send the payment.

I will be returning home tomorrow and I can pack up the item and ship it tomorrow. I will be sure to video tape the packaging and document it properly for insurance purposes since there is now a paypal dispute open. I'd like to have the majority of proof on my side in the case that this ends up becoming any more of a sticky situation.

It appears that you may not want this particular laptop, which if this is the case, I would ask that you cover my ebay fees and a service fee for my time which would total $30.00. So in short, I could refund you $XXX.XX of the $XXX.XX and we could each go on our merry way.

Please let me know either way and let me know should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

XXX

I want to cover myself as much as I can, because these Paypal disputes can be a real pain in the neck... what's my best bet? Should I send this email as it is?

Thanks,

Don R.

 

[SunnyD]

"ebay sucks"

"never use ebay"

 

[DeadByDawn]

My advice is to find a way to refund this guys money and bail on this transaction. You just know there's going to be more problems from the buyer.

 

[feralkid]

Just send him the item he purchased?

On second thought, maybe offer him a chance to opt out like in your letter; it's hard to judge whether he is a jerk or just slow and now is being paranoid or vindictive.

ebay does not suck.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

I sold a laptop on ebay ~3-4 years ago. An old woman bought it and immediately junked it up with spyware. I had her send it back, I formatted and re-installed the OS, sent it back (on my dime) with a letter briefly explaining what caused it to crash and that I could not help her if it happened again.


She ended up disputing the charge on her card, paypal and ebay wouldn't help AT ALL even though I had all of the shipping receipts and emails and etc. Basically my bank (wachovia) helped me out bigtime and wouldn't release any funds to paypal, thus forcing them to actually deal with the problem rather than outright screwing me (the seller)



A huge huge word of warning to anyone reading this thread - paypal protects the BUYER. As a seller you are really opening up yourself to get screwed imho.

 

[hclarkjr]

i would refund his cash and move on. on some of the auctions i have seen disclaimers stating if you do not pay for an item in so many days that it will be relisted and negative feedback left for the person that wins the auction. it is his fault for taking so long to pay for it.

 

[rise]

i'd offer him a way out if he wants but i think these two paragraphs should be re-worded as they sound... snooty? confrontational? condescending? i dunno. there's just better ways to say it.

I will be returning home tomorrow and I can pack up the item and ship it tomorrow. I will be sure to video tape the packaging and document it properly for insurance purposes since there is now a paypal dispute open. I'd like to have the majority of proof on my side in the case that this ends up becoming any more of a sticky situation.

It appears that you may not want this particular laptop, which if this is the case, I would ask that you cover my ebay fees and a service fee for my time which would total $30.00. So in short, I could refund you $XXX.XX of the $XXX.XX and we could each go on our merry way.

 

[Vette73]

p-p-p-p-powerbook?

 

[nanette1985]

If you ever do this again, insist on immediate payment. Beats waiting around for money to show up. There are so many issues with timing on ebay/paypal that it's useful to at least start out getting paid.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
"ebay sucks"

"never use ebay"

 

[alkemyst]

never knew a buyer only had 5 business days to send payment. has ebay changed the rules?

 

[abaez]

Yea, the whole timing on the op is just bad. Why did you sell 5 days before you were going to go out of town? Just wait until you get back and save yourself the headaches.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: DeadByDawn
My advice is to find a way to refund this guys money and bail on this transaction. You just know there's going to be more problems from the buyer.

this

relist it and sell it to a non-douchebag.

 

[Newbian]

Not responding for more then 2 or 3 days = automatic relist.

Would had been the buyers fault but sounds like you didn't inform him in time so kinda both to blame.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Just wondering, but I thought paypal required the buyer to wait like 30 days before opening up a dispute?

 

[spaceman]

id refund the full amount in paypal and be done with him.
not worth the headache
sell at a loss on cl...for CASHOLA

 

[Denithor]

Ditch the 3rd & 4th paragraphs, they're too confrontational and there's no reason to tell him you're filming the packaging (do it but don't tell him - CYA).

Give him the chance to complete the transaction but also cover yourself as best as you can.

And in the future - if accepting PP - require immediate payment so this doesn't happen again.

 

[FuryofFive]

cant blame the OP.... the buyer probaly did this on purpose to start problems. like others have said after 7 days... should have just opened the dispute to get listing fees back, and relisted it when you got back. i had someone who did this to me. but only for liek a 7$ game

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

You have seller protections under PayPal for taking up to 7 days to ship an item. Legitimately the buyer has no cause for opening a dispute with you in the first place as you have not violated any terms.

The best thing to do would be to respond directly to PayPal, explain the situation, and ignore that idiot buyer.

 

[Tweak155]

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
this is why i stay away from ebay !

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
eBay issue - advice?

Uh huh...