Trusting buyers ...the usual challenge

[nodrog41]

I've never asked the community before, so be gentle 😀

I have a foreign account, but the ship to address is someone else's residential address in the UK, not the global shipping centre (which I am familiar with.

The account is only a year old and there are only a couple of Feedback from back then.

They can pay immediately, but I don't know where that comes from, and more importantly ...if it is claimed back.

Sellers should trust buyers is baloney, sorry, each to your own beliefs on that, I'm a private individual not a shop ...which is how eBay started.

So - how do we nobodies trust buyers? or is eBay only for shops these days?

thanks for any thoughts, G

[nodrog41]

Sorry (should have proof read) I meant I had an inquiry from a foreign account

[red_magpie]

I don't know what you mean by a foreign account, as the account on which you're asking this question is UK registered. (Unless by foreign you mean Edinburgh!)

Anyway, trust doesn't come into it on eBay. Sellers don't know how the buyer paid, or what tools may be available to them to claim a refund.

In all but name eBay's own money back guarantee gives buyers 30 days in which to find any fault to return the item at the seller's expense. And sellers sometimes complain that the buyer has damaged the item, or kept it end returned another one. The odds are very much in the buyer's favour that eBay will support them

If buyers have paid by credit or debit card there's always a possibility of a chargeback, which can be issued weeks or even months after the transaction.

And keep your postal receipts with the tracking number, as PayPal enables buyers to claim a refund for non-delivery up to 180 days - almost 6 months! - after the sale. If you have lost the tracking number it means an automatic refund.

So no-one can reassure you that it's safe to sell on eBay. It isn't, there are risks which sellers just have to accept if they decide to sell here.

[jckl1957]

In my experience (20 years worth) most buyers are honest.

I always have a bit of a wobble when I sell anything expensive but all has been ok so far.

Most of the items you are selling are quite pricey and, in my view, fairly niche, so you may well get buyers without much feedback.

Sometimes buyers do have overseas accounts but use UK addresses - they could have a friend/relative who will post the item on to them, or could be temporarily living in the UK.

If you cancel the sale, the buyer could leave negative feedback and you might get a defect on your account.

Essentially, if you want to sell on the site, you will have to accept offers, bids and purchases as genuine (most of the time) or you will not sell anything.

I would say, RM 48 only covers items up to £150.  Anything over that, it's advisable to use Royal Mail Special Delivery.  You would need to pay the difference but you could update unsold items.

[nodrog41]

Thanks JCKL1957, it did occur to me that the buyer might have been either visiting the UK, or as you said has a friend here that would do the posting for him.  I did reach out ...but didn't get a response.  (till later, so hopefully we can maybe work it out)

Black marks for not trusting people, haha, so be it, I will still have my stuff so all good.  It is always my prerogative to try to avoid getting ripped off or scammed whether I'm buying something or selling, and not just Ebay.  I've been on the planet too long 😀

It was an interesting question so thought I'd ask the audience.