Selling high value item

[michelleelamac]

I have sold an item for a large amount of money and ebay as started asking me to update my info saying account is on hold, i have updated what has been asked but not been provided which any info about how seller protection works via ebay not paypal. I cannot even search the buyer to see there feedback as it wont let me. All seems very dodgy to me and i am quite worried about losing the item

[red_magpie]

All seems very dodgy to me and i am quite worried about losing the item

Quite worried is an understatement. If you realised the full risks, you wouldn't be sleeping at night! Especially as you even listed this £1750 watch for delivery by 2nd class post.

High value watches are a regular target for scammers, who will be encouraged by this proof that you don't know about the risks of selling here.

Not only will you have no postal insurance, but if it's even one day late being delivered the buyer can open a money back claim. EBay will give you just three days to agree to refund them (never mind that Royal Mail won't treat it as lost for three weeks!). If you don't, eBay will enforce a refund and do nothing if the buye then also keeps the watch when it arrives. One buyer recently opened a claim just two hours into the first day it was overdue! 

You asked about seller protection. There is only one meaningful seller protection on eBay: that the buyer can't claim not to have received the item if the postal tracking record confirms delivery. But for a £1750 item you must use a postal service that requires a signature. And you must upload that tracking number to eBay before the latest estimated delivery date.

The big danger, of course, is that the buyer will just claim that it's faulty in some way, and return it for a full refund under eBay's money back guarantee. They can then return a worthless, broken watch from a boot sale. EBay will then freeze your payment, accept that they have returned it, and enforce a full refund. If you appeal, they will say that as they never saw the watch you sent the buyer they "can't take sides". EBay's idea of not taking sides is to support the buyer.

EBay has become a horrifyingly risky place to sell anything of value. One member who allegedly had a £1,000 item stolen this way is threatening to sue eBay, and good luck to them. EBay is now telling sellers in this position that this is "a risk associated with selling online and the costs associated should be built into your selling plans. I compare it to how the high street stores have a budget put aside for theft, damage or items being returned in a lesser condition then sent". So according to eBay you should have set aside a £1750 fund in case someone abuses eBay's guarantee to steal your watch!

It's your call, but in your position I would think seriously about cancelling the sale. EBay penalises sellers for doing this; you will forfeit your £175 selling fee, and receive a defect on your account, and probably get negative feedback from the buyer. But is even this preferable to the worry of losing it?

Incidentally, if you do sell it and the buyer steals it, eBay won't penalise them at all! They won't even allow you to warn other sellers about this when leaving feedback. If you do, the buyer can simply ask eBay to remove it. Is it any surprise that high value items here are so attractive to criminals?