Hello Chaps,
I've been selling bits on ebay for years now, but this is the first time I've sold a high value item and seen red flags.
Just listed a bike (I'd put in the listing for the buyer to contact me before buying, as I would need to arrange for pickup/delivery).
Someone just bought the item without first messaging myself, only has 13 feedback and has noted on their PayPal purchase that they'd be 'happy to pay in cash' with Paypal noting '
So in theory I guess they could take the bike without PayPal having passed over the funds to myself?
I'm probably just suspicious of an innocent new ebayer, but it just struck me as... odd 
If I were to proceed via PayPal - What's the best way to prove that they took receipt of the goods?
...And if I cancelled the order, would I incur fees/bad feedback because of that?
Thanks for the help!
Tom
All new and infrequent sellers are subject to PayPal's 21-day payment hold. It's a security measure to protect both parties (from account hackers and other fraudsters). You can read all about it in Ebay's Seller Centre (link at foot of any page) or in PayPal's Help pages.
No idea why this buyer paid with PayPal and added a note to the payment saying he's perfectly happy to pay in cash...!?! 
Lockdown seems to have caused brain-death in large numbers of the population. In the last few months. I've seen massively increased (and admitted) stupidity on these Help forums like you wouldn't believe. 
You can certainly cancel the Ebay transaction ('buyer requested') which will auto-refund the buyer and credit the selling fee back to your Ebay account, but you'll be stuck with the PayPal payment processing fee (PayPal no longer refunds any part of that fee). You'll then be free to relist so that the buyer can buy again (buy, but not pay until he's fully examined the bike and is happy with it before handing over cash). Your only other option is to hand the bike over to the buyer and wait the full 21 days for PayPal to release the payment to you. It won't be released any sooner, as the only way to get that actioned is with tracking proving delivery.
In future, list for cash on collection only, and preferably on Gumtree, Ebay's sister site. You unfortunately can't stop buyers paying with PayPal for collection items on Ebay, and PayPal is not safe for these (see * below). Plus, as I said above, you're stuck with the PayPal payment processing fee if you have to refund a buyer's payment. Which happens often as many buyers fail to read, are expecting the item to be shipped, and live hundreds of miles away and therefore can't collect. But the choice is yours, of course.
* PayPal is totally unsafe for sellers of collection items, as they have no way at all of fighting an Unauthorised Account Use claim (lodged when someone claims their account has been hacked or otherwise fraudulently used). The ONLY thing PayPal, or any payment processor, will accept from you for such a claim is a Proof of Posting receipt, which you obviously won't have. Signed invoices etc aren't accepted, as they are too easily forged. You would lose the item, your money, and be charged a hefty admin fee into the bargain.
