Buyer with 0 feedback account opened yesterday

[bobpip21]

Hi,

A bit of advice please.

Just sold a camera at a buy it now price, being sent simple delivery.

Just feel a bit twitchy as buyer opened account yesterday and has zero feedback. eBay obviously have funds and I am due to send tomorrow. Address is genuine, when googled nothing scary comes up, as of yet can't find person online. I guess they could have found camera online and opened account to buy. Do you think it's safe to proceed, any risks to me as buyer? I worried when I read eBay always backs buyer.

Many thanks 

[susapric-68]

Always a risk selling online with the old saying never sell anything you can't afford to lose being true but we all started with 0 feedback so I wouldn't worry about that

[j.p.greenwood]

If you look at the 'order details' page (using web interface, don't know how in app)

So, firstly

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sh/ord/?filter=status:ALL_ORDERS

now select the specific order

At the top of the order page, choose the option 'view order details'

Now on this page, on the right hand side section headed 'order', there's an option to 'show contact info', click that and you should find the buyers phone number.

I'd call them and firstly apologise for calling them, but as they're a brand new account you just wanted to confirm some details to be certain the account was a genuine one.  Be very polite and apologetic and explain it's purely because the account is so new.  Maybe ask them a few things about why they bought that specific camera, while it's not a 100% guarantee, you'll get a sense if they're legit or not.  If they get defensive or aggressive, just say sorry you think it best they find the camera elsewhere and cancel the order.

I cannot emphasise enough, be overly polite and apologetic for making the call, but it's a valuable item so you needed to check 100%.  If they haven't given their real phone number, then draw your own conclusions.

[phillsvinyl]

I had the same for an album wich was pretty expensive - client on 0 as new buyer - I thought strange so did as you do checked address - name etc etc - I even sent recorded delivery and signed for  - the client was not in to recive it - i mailed the client - he rearragned the post date  - no issue at all - happy buyer - happer seller

Record has gone to a new home for someone to enjoy

[bobpip21]

Thanks for all the comments, I'm away from home until tomorrow so will follow up when on laptop with calling buyer advice. I'll let you know what happens.

How at risk am I, buyer paid, eBay holding funds. Item being sent Simple Delivery?

[therenewalworkshopltd]

You are of course aware that contacting a customer by calling them is completely against the rules?

The phone number is given to allow for things such as updates to tracking etc.

So if you call a customer and they then make a complaint to Ebay, it's you that is in trouble.....

And honestly, at the end of the day it really won't accomplish anything.
Personally, I would be quite annoyed with you for "confirming" the order.....
No matter how you put it, you are essentially saying to the customer that I don't believe you!

Everyone has to have to a new account at some point.  
Follow the rules and 99 times out of 100, there won't be an issue.

[bobpip21]

Thank you, useful advice 

[lucy_farmer]

'How at risk am I, buyer paid, eBay holding funds. Item being sent Simple Delivery?'

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I don't think cameras are covered under Simple Delivery postage ??

I hope I'm not being uneccessarily fear-mongering about this, but cameras/lenses etc are on various 'exclusion lists' when it comes to loss or damage in the post.

Please check with ebay's S.D. rules about cameras.

[j.p.greenwood]

Not against any rules, you're calling to confirm the buyer is the legitimate creator of the account to protect them, you're certainly not accusing them of being a liar, just making sure that E-Bays systems haven't been compromised.

For example, if it was bought via a 'guest created' account, using a stolen debit or credit card there's a risk of a chargeback in a few weeks and in cases like that you cannot be 100% certain what E-Bay will do, after all there's far too many stories here of them not even following their own rules, so you have to work on the basis always protect yourself first and don't rely on E-Bay doing it for you without you having to spend on inordinately ridiculous amount of your time getting them to do the 'right' thing.

[4_bathrooms]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'How at risk am I, buyer paid, eBay holding funds. Item being sent Simple Delivery?'

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I don't think cameras are covered under Simple Delivery postage ??

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Cameras are not on the prohibited and restricted item list so are eligible for Simple Delivery protections. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@bobpip21 wrote:

Do you think it's safe to proceed, any risks to me as buyer? I worried when I read eBay always backs buyer.

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Whether your buyer had 0 feedback or 10,000 they would still able to use or abuse the 30 day Money Back Guarantee and/or file a chargeback with their payment provider. A chargeback can be filed up to 120 days following the transaction where a credit or debit card is concerned and up 13 months after a transaction where PayPal is concerned.

As the camera is being sent Simple Delivery you will not be held liable for any loss or damage that occurs in transit so if the buyer opens an "item not received" case or an "item not as described" case with "arrived damaged" as the reason you will not be held liable for the refund. However, if the buyer tries to abuse the MBG by claiming the camera is missing parts or accessories that were included in the package (for example) you would have to deal with that.

There's a lot of "ifs" but your buyer could equally be entirely genuine and simply created their eBay account in order to purchase your camera. There's a risk involved with any transaction so sellers should only ever list what they can afford to lose. 

[j.p.greenwood]

Sorry, I'm afraid that's incorrect.

E-Bay at the beginning of their exclusion terms specifically state.....

".....as well as the policies of the carrier...."

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/posting-items/setting-postage-options/simple-delivery?id=5575#se....

EVRI exclude all glass items from compensation and then also specifically cameras and lenses later down the list, as can be seen here....

https://www.evri.com/send/what-i-can-and-cannot-send

For Royal Mail, if the camera has lithium batteries they MUST be installed in the camera and declared at time of posting else they're not eligible for compensation.

[4_bathrooms]

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@j.p.greenwood wrote:

Sorry, I'm afraid that's incorrect.

E-Bay at the beginning of their exclusion terms specifically state.....

".....as well as the policies of the carrier...."

This was clarified by kat@ebay in a community chat last month:

"This is to confirm that eBay provides full protection/compensation for any item that is listed as Simple Delivery, once the label is used and the item is in the carrier network. eBay protection/compensation overrides what the carriers will compensate."

Cameras are listed in Evri's "excluded from compensation" list; they are not listed in their prohibited items list. Therefore, eBay will compensate the seller for loss or damage in transit even though Evri won't compensate eBay.

[j.p.greenwood]

And yet I have been asking E-Bay, kat specifically to update their terms and conditions for two months now, without even the courtesy of a response.

So, if you want to rely on a comment in a public forum, from a staff member, rather than the legally enforceable extensive terms and conditions, good luck to you.

However, if E-Bay reneged on paying compensation and you were forced to sue them, they would rely on the Terms and Conditions in their defence I'd guarantee you, meaning you'd be unlikely to win.

It's only the official Terms and Conditions that have legal weight.

[moonlight-rhapsody]

Isn't it only against the rules if you contact a buyer *before* the sale?  Having said that, I wouldn't expect to be telephoned by a seller, and if they started asking intrusive questions like why I'd wanted to buy it, I'd be inclined to tell them that it's none of their business, in which case they'd think I was up to no good and cancel the sale anyway!  I probably wouldn't contact ebay to complain about a seller telephoning me to ask intrusive questions, but some people might.

[4_bathrooms]

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@j.p.greenwood wrote:

And yet I have been asking E-Bay, kat specifically to update their terms and conditions for two months now, without even the courtesy of a response.

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"Subject to the above on “Applicability of the eBay User Agreement”, in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these Terms and the Carrier Terms, these Terms will control."

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@j.p.greenwood wrote:

So, if you want to rely on a comment in a public forum, from a staff member, rather than the legally enforceable extensive terms and conditions, good luck to you.

However, if E-Bay reneged on paying compensation and you were forced to sue them, they would rely on the Terms and Conditions in their defence I'd guarantee you, meaning you'd be unlikely to win.

It's only the official Terms and Conditions that have legal weight.

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You're wrong. Kat and the other eBay UK employees who post on these boards are authorised to do so by eBay and therefore represent the company when they do (a company is a legal person who can only act through it's employees). You may wish to Google "vicarious liability" - this is why the eBay employees who do post on these boards will avoid being baited into posting statements or agreements they have not been authorised to make. 

[lucy_farmer]

'Cameras are not on the prohibited and restricted item list so are eligible for Simple Delivery protections'

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Oh dear, so does this mean the google AI overview is wrong ?

Rather that wade through the ebay rule-book and answers given by ebay staff over the months , I just asked google the question , 'are cameras covered under Simple Delivery on ebay?'

And the answer was no.  Along with the 'here's why' reasons.

(this is why I mentioned not wanting to be un-neccessarily fear-mongering, as I thought this question had been put to bed - with a positive answer!- a few weeks ago. I just wanted to make sure of it......now I haven't a clue again....☹️)

[sml192]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'Cameras are not on the prohibited and restricted item list so are eligible for Simple Delivery protections'

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Oh dear, so does this mean the google AI overview is wrong ?

Rather that wade through the ebay rule-book and answers given by ebay staff over the months , I just asked google the question , 'are cameras covered under Simple Delivery on ebay?'

And the answer was no.  Along with the 'here's why' reasons.

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What were the 'here's why' reasons that they gave? 

[lucy_farmer]

'What were the 'here's why' reasons that they gave?'

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The same reasons I've been moaning on about for months!  The 'exclusion list' problem.....

I'm sorry, but I've never worked out how to do a 'link' to send a page (yes, I'm a compu-numpty) or I'd show you 🙁 

You could try just typing that question into google and see what it says?

[4_bathrooms]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'Cameras are not on the prohibited and restricted item list so are eligible for Simple Delivery protections'

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Oh dear, so does this mean the google AI overview is wrong ?

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I never trust Google AI's overview response. Here's what I was given for a similar query: