Over nine weeks ago I sold an item "for collection only" which they don't want to collect.

[dhlrenn]

Nine weeks ago I sold a £5 board game"for collection only". The buyer paid promptly and I left them positive feedback. It then turned out that they live about 50 miles away and were a bit put out when I said that I wouldn't post it out. I offered a refund - which was turned down. They said that they'd collect it when they were next passing this direction I again offered a refund, and was rejected. I've messaged them a few times since, but have no response for about 6 weeks now.

Given that I sold it as I wanted it out of the house, how long is it reasonable for me to store the darn thing while they may, or may not, ever come for it?

I reported this to Ebay as an issue 3 weeks ago... and am still awaiting a reply there as well.

My next step should be to ...?

[**peaseblossom** · Accepted solution]

You could email them and say you need it collected by a certain date.  If they don't reply or don't collect by then it's probably too late to cancel on ebay (normally 30 days from date of sale) but you could have a go.   If you can cancel the refund is issued automatically.

Go to More Actions, far right of item on your sold page > Cancel order > Something wrong with buyer's address, which is the nearest one to this situation.

If you can't cancel you can just issue refund of the payment from your Paypal account.  

You can cancel and/or refund right away if you prefer not to email them again.

[dhlrenn · Accepted solution]

Thanks. You are correct that it's to late to do this by the normal Ebay method - and I didn't want the buyer to be able to come back saying that I've broken the rules by not refunding them. If I have to do it outside the Ebay platform it would be harder to defend myself.

I've emailed them with a deadline after which I'll refund by Paypal and then relist it. Hopefully with no issues!

[ruby*tuesday]

Go to More Actions to the right of the Sold Item and Cancel the Sale, they have had long enough to sort something out. Select "Problem with Buyers Address." They will be automatically Refunded . Your EBay Final Value Fees will be Credited back to your Seller Account.

[dhlrenn]

Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I'm outside of the time window to do this by simply cancelling the sale - which is part of the reason I was here looking for advice!

[rusticrye]

How long you wait for a buyer to collect is up to you. But I wouldn't wait any longer than a week. And if you wait longer than 32 days from purchase, you can't cancel the Ebay transaction to get the selling fee credited back to your Ebay account.

You obviously can't get rid of the item as it's not yours to get rid of - the buyer has paid for it so it belongs to him. You can't keep his item and his money, so refund him in full from the PayPal transaction if you're still able to do that. If not, contact PayPal for advice.

PayPal is not safe for sellers of collection items (no Proof of Postage in the event of an Unauthorised Account Use claim, the only thing a payment processor will accept for such a claim). You should accept payment only in cash or by bank transfer, once the buyer has fully inspected the item and is happy with it. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop a buyer paying with PayPal on Ebay, and PayPal no longer refund any part of the payment processing fee if you refund to avoid risk, so my advice is to list your collection items on Gumtree, Ebay's sister site. You'll have full control over how you're paid, and you can leave the ad running till someone has actually turned up, handed over cash, and taken the item away.

@dhlrenn 

[dhlrenn]

Thanks for that. What with Covid I was giving some leeway on the collection time, but didn't keep on top of it. I emailed him yesterday to give him a collection deadline, and said I'd refund via Paypal if he doesn't respond or collect. I took my eye off the ball - such is life!