No more cash on collection.

[geosacha007]

Just saw the new seller rules.  I've got no issue with the reduction in free listings.  But no more cash on collection I do mind.  It means there is no way to make a buyer check on collection and once they accept it pay with no risk of them changing their mind later. 

And will buyers be happy being forced to pay up front before they see an item?

[bill_eastoe]

As a buyer I definitely have a problem with no cash on collection. I've just had an order cancelled (automatically it seems) for non payment, while waiting for a reply  from the seller in response to my question "When can I collect and pay?" I was not aware that cash on collection was no longer permitted and, having checked all messages from ebay back to April 2024 there appears to be nothing sent to buyers concerning this change.

I am aware that ebay sent a message to members on October 1st 2024, but as I don't sell on ebay I saw no reason to read a message with the heading "Important changes: Free selling for private sellers".

Having now read that message I see that it refers, in a section headed Local selling; at the very end, to no physical cash payment. Even if I had read that on October 1st it would have been a bit late as I had placed my bid a few days earlier. I have a feeling that this change will leave ebay with less sellers, and buyers.

[papso22]

Did the listing have cash on collection as a payment option?  Listings created before 1st October should still allow cash if they were set up to allow it at the time.

[eddiehenderson777-3]

Can't you just cancel the sale refund the money , then ask them for cash when they collect it ? 

[tranceenthusiast]

Its not ok..

[tressygirl]

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@eddiehenderson777-3 wrote:

Can't you just cancel the sale refund the money , then ask them for cash when they collect it ? 

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eBay read all messages going through their system,  and if they see you are wishing  to do this, circumvent their rules,  your account and the buyer's  would be in jeopardy of being able to continue.

@tranceenthusiast 

[papso22]

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@eddiehenderson777-3 wrote:

Can't you just cancel the sale refund the money , then ask them for cash when they collect it ? 

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Only if you want to be guilty of fee evasion and risk both accounts being closed.

[lucy_farmer]

'Only if you want to be guilty of fee evasion and risk both accounts being closed.'

But with a private sale there are no fees to be evaded, so why would ebay wish to get rid of more of it's customers ? 

Frankly, the whole 'no more CoC' makes no sense at all now private sales have no fees...

[eddiehenderson777-3]

Well , I think people are now doing this I see a lot of things sell , collection only where they are putting cash on collection only, and looking at completed items , their listing has disappeared and no feedback left

Sent from my iPad

[papso22]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'Only if you want to be guilty of fee evasion and risk both accounts being closed.'

But with a private sale there are no fees to be evaded, so why would ebay wish to get rid of more of it's customers ? 

Frankly, the whole 'no more CoC' makes no sense at all now private sales have no fees...

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That is a good point as far as private sellers go, but my comment is still valid for business sellers.

Of course what no cash on collection does give is money back guarantee protection on collection items.  So if a seller did cancel and ask for cash ebay might see that as the seller trying to deprive the buyer of the MBG, and they might take action if the buyer reported the seller.

[eddiehenderson777-3]

So , if someone buys something, comes and collect it , gives you the code for collection , goes away with it ,after seeing it , and then  decides a couple of weeks later they don't want it , EBay will take the money out of my bank account and give it back to the buyer ? , What about them returning the item , Do they have to bring it back ? , what proof do they have that they have returned the item , my listing states no returns, I can't see how this would work , I would be happy to refund cash payed to me , if they returned the item , for a genuine reason , like it was faulty, but not just because they decided they no longer want it , seems very unfair 

[lucy_farmer]

'What about them returning the item , Do they have to bring it back ?'

As far as I can work out, you have to send them a 'returns label'..... If they have collected a set of patio furniture or a gas cooker, for instance,  I've no idea how much that would cost. ..... the cost that would have been the reason for 'collection only' in the first flippin' place!

Or go and pick it up yourself (in which case, lets hope the buyer isn't from Lands End who just happened to be passing through your home town on the way back from their holiday in Cumbria...)

I've a sneaking suspicion ebay would like all 'non-easily-postable' stuff (which may need more human- not bot- customer service, and hence cost more) to be sold elsewhere.

[johnwash1]

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@lucy_farmer wrote

...

I've a sneaking suspicion ebay would like all 'non-easily-postable' stuff (which may need more human- not bot- customer service, and hence cost more) to be sold elsewhere.

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I have a sneaking suspicion that ebay would like to make enough changes to kill off the site and collect their golden parachutes on the way out the door.  At least they seem to be behaving as if that's the case.

Cash on collection was a really sensible way to sell bulky items.

[martmarg41]

This new rule is totally biased against the seller.

If you buy something in a shop and later decide you want to return it, for any reason, for a refund it is down to you as the buyer to return it at your expense. You would not get the shop to come and collect or send a postage label.

eBay should make it compulsory for 'Collection' buyers to return the item they collected (in it's original condition) to the seller before getting a refund. This would hopefully stop the 'chancer' claims.

[leon9503]

And buyers, as a buyer I want to pay cash sometimes if it's local to me and wouldn't take an item if I couldn't test it, or if it's a book or something, check the condition out, in the past all sellers and myself have never objected to any inspection, why would we if nothing to hide and I wouldn't expect anyone who's picking something up not to inspect it first.

As a private seller/buyer I wouldn't have an issue returning something personally if needed to but private sales are not the same as commercial ones and pretty much have no recourse under current legislation.

[tranceenthusiast]

You're not really understanding his point. They buy the item, collect it, get home and put in a claim... 

[ashcam247]

So why listing a car (auction 7 days) cash on collection is the only payment method?

[plpmr]

Because there's no protection from eBay for vehicles.

[signs_and_vintage]

and...

eBay don't want to eat transax fees on £5k purchases, any more than people want to be using a debit or credit card for that much.

and...

The seller temptation to go 'even if I lose my account, I'll take the cash!' is too strong against the risk of a chargeback and/or hefty fee.

I did once buy a brand new car on a debit card, it immediately resulted in a decline (which the dealership were used to) and an immediate phone call to the bank. That was in 2001, one of the first new type Minis. As a Y-reg apparently they are now saught after as modern classics so I hear.

My father has just bought a caravan privately by bank transfer, this was blocked and refered to the fraud team. Likely banks are now hyper after these new rules came in. The security guy on the phone (Nationwide) was literally asking for details of the park and googling whilst we were on the phone for the actual caravan he was buying, which luckilly hadn't been removed from the listings. 

[katiebeagle2003]

To me there are two angles to this.

Firstly they needed to fix the problem of buyers paying in advance and collecting an item then ripping off sellers by saying they hadn't and getting a refund, hence the collection code idea was introduced a few years ago. I recall there were reports of a spate of buyers collecting expensive items then claiming refunds and sellers  saying eBay refused to accept any evidence of the collection.

But the second problem is that eBay get no cut from a cash transaction. I can see it's "free to sell" on eBay but does that mean no selling fees at all or just "free to list an item"?

I'll know the answer soon enough because I'm selling some furniture and the buyer is collecting this afternoon and wanted to pay cash and now I discover he cannot, so I've had to add a bank account and the small print says they can take debits from my account as they wish, which I'm not happy about. I have listed the item for £150 and they have added £6.72 to that which is 4.48% they used to take a lot more than that.

I'm wondering if my buyer will cancel as he hasn't completed the transaction.

Now seriously considering looking for an alternative selling platform where cash is permitted

[martmarg41]

Hi Katie, I suggest that you read up on all the eBay announcements.

There is no 'cash-on-collection' allowed any more. The buyer has to pay eBay and they are then given a Collection Code. You need to ensure that they bring the collection code with them and you ensure that is entered on your sold item list before they leave with the item (this is your only proof of collection).

There are no selling fees now, only a Buyer Protection Fee which the buyer pays on top of your listed price (hence the £6.72 addition - £150 +4%+72p).

For local collection items where cash is preferred I use Gumtree (also no fees).