What to do?

[koukanamiya]

I need some advice ... I sold a watch on eBay yesterday. The buyer paid, but she paid to my OTHER email account. See, the email that I use to correspond on eBay is different from the one I use for Paypal. Anyways, I refunded the payments because the account she sent to doesn't offer me ANY protections.

The other thing is, the buyer wanted her "friend" to pick up the item for her after she has paid. I looked up her frien'ds id and her friend is in South America, so I'm not sure how in the world that's going to work. Currently I have refunded her payments, since on the Paypal page it said that I would NOT be eligible for seller protection had I gone through with it.

I sent the buyer an email and left her a voicemail, so far no response. She seemed very desparate to get the watch picked up by her friend today. Am I just being paranoid or does this whole situation seem strange? What else can I do? Holidays is coming up and I'm out of town for the entire weekend with no internet access. I really don't want to be stressed over this for the next few days ...

 

[daffie]

It sounds really strange. If she paid with Paypal, tell her that you can only ship to the Paypal confirmed address and get signature confirmation if the item is over $250 (or is it $200?).

 

[misspiggy]

It does sound a bit strange, but I've had stranger things happen to me when a buyer wanted me to ship her item to a middle eastern man (I got that from the name she provided) in a different address from her paypal.

She threw a fit when I refused to ship to any other address other than her stated paypal one, but I stood firm. In the end it was all legit and the buyer was an extremely unhappy one who never bothered to leave me any feedback.

Just be careful, ask all questions, and then make an informed decision. That's all I can say, sorry if no help there Good luck though and happy holidays!

 

[koukanamiya]

Thank you ladies for your advice!! I really appreciate it~~

Well here's what happened with this transaction. So after LOTS of phone calls (I'm now over my monthly alloted minutes on my cellphone plan *winces*), the buyer said Paypal gave her grief in the refunds. I refunded her right away but apparently Paypal was taking a long time to clear. The buyer called me AGAIN this morning and said she paid to the correct account this time. However, she still asked to do the transaction IN PERSON where her friend and her husband were present.

Here's the thing ... The buyer was located in Florida, but somehow her address was in Las Vegas. She said her husband lived in Las Vegas and she was off visiting her husband, and then they were going to drive to California to meet up with this co-called friend. It all seemed a bit strange.

Personally, I'm wary about in person transactions unless it's done 1) in cash and 2) in a public place. In this case, she has already paid via Paypal, which means PP has taken their fees AND i still need to find some ways to show PP that I have shipped the item to her. Nonetheless, I felt bad because it appeared that the buyer really wanted the watch. So i agreed to meet with her after work.

Well, it's settlement week for me this week and I have at least 8 deals to close. Normally I leave by 5pm (I start working at around 7am) but today, I couldn't get away since we were trying to get things wrapped up. The buyer just KEPT CALLING (i already know that SOMEBODY at work is going to be ratting on me tomorrow to my boss ... *sigh*)!! Eventually I was done by 6pm and I told her I was on my way. Then she placed a "time limit" on me telling me that she would only wait til 6:45pm.

I got there by 6:30pm and called her because I didn't see her. She told me that she, her husband, and her friend were SHOPPING at a department store somewhere in the stripe mall. So I waited outside in the cold for them to show up. when they finally did, she asked to look at the item and I let her. Then she started asking questions saying why wasn't "France" embossed on the leather and then she asked me about the reciepts. I told her firmly that this was an item bought from my friend (whom I know only buy authentic items - I've already told the buyer this over the phone) so I don't have receipts. I further tell her that "Made in France" was NOT imprinted on the watch strap.

Anyways, the buyer definitely didn't know enough about the product and refused to trust me on it. She said that she had a friend who sell fakes and she was wary about it. Then her friend who was with her piped up and told the buyer to "go with her gut feeling". They just kept questioning me and then they wanted my name, business card, address, and number. I told them I don't have a business card and at that point, I just told the buyer that I would refund her. Of course, with the holidays and such it's going to take another week for the money to get refunded to the buyer ...

It has just been nothing but trouble ... and now I'm too PARANOID to offer the item to the second highest bidder ... I can't really meet the buyer at the boutique for verification, since I don't want to be labeled as a reseller (because I'm not). Either way, this whole incident was beyond stressful, and I found it insulting that ppl would treat me like I was a criminal ...

 

[Litigatrix]

Wow--what a hassle. In the future, I'd be sure to state in your auctions that if buyer pays with Paypal, you will only ship to a confirmed paypal address. This way you will be eligible for seller protection policy, assuming you ship the item with delivery confirmation and follow the other requirements for the policy. If the buyer wants to meet up in person, you should require cash payment. Allowing the person to pay through paypal and then not have the item sent through the mail leaves you with little recourse if the buyer decides to file a paypal claim against you--you must have proof that you mailed the item, and saying you exchanged it in person is not going to protect you from a claim.

 

[koukanamiya]

Wow--what a hassle. In the future, I'd be sure to state in your auctions that if buyer pays with Paypal, you will only ship to a confirmed paypal address. This way you will be eligible for seller protection policy, assuming you ship the item with delivery confirmation and follow the other requirements for the policy. If the buyer wants to meet up in person, you should require cash payment. Allowing the person to pay through paypal and then not have the item sent through the mail leaves you with little recourse if the buyer decides to file a paypal claim against you--you must have proof that you mailed the item, and saying you exchanged it in person is not going to protect you from a claim.

In this case, I did state all that in the auction. i was very detailed about my terms but it appears that most people don't bother to read them. Well, that I just feel bad for the buyer since she seemed to want the item so badly. It's also very annoying when buyers don't read directions and then they bid on the item, buy it, and throw a fit afterwards.

 

[Litigatrix]

I know the feeling. I am willing to go pretty out of my way to try and make a buyer happy (I only moonlight as an ebay seller when I happen to find a good deal on something I can resell and have the free time), but so often these people feel really entitled to do things however they want, without regard for what you need to do to protect yourself. I think they don't realize what breaking these rules can mean for a seller!

 

[koukanamiya]

I know the feeling. I am willing to go pretty out of my way to try and make a buyer happy (I only moonlight as an ebay seller when I happen to find a good deal on something I can resell and have the free time), but so often these people feel really entitled to do things however they want, without regard for what you need to do to protect yourself. I think they don't realize what breaking these rules can mean for a seller!

I agree.

In my case, I sell my stuff mainly because of buyer's remorse. Well, in the case of Hermes stuff it's because those are unnecessary purchases I buy at my local store to earn brownie points (which I always end up getting rid of at a loss) ... I think it's bad enough that I'm taking a loss and dealing with stress of selling these stuff, it's even worse when I have uneducated buyers who don't read instructions. I TRY to inform them of the items I sell but I really wish that they would also do research on the brand before bidding.

In today's scenario, the buyer definitely didn't know much about the item she was bidding on and she refused to listen to what I had to tell her. Instead, she decided to go with what her "friend" have told her to do and changed her mind at the last minute. It's just infuriating, considering how many hoops I've jumped through for her. My entire holiday weekend was stressful because I was worried for HER payment and refund, and now I'm going to be getting a earful at work tomorrow because the buyer kept calling me yesterday about the watch ... *sigh* Furthermore, I have to say I felt quite insulted at the way I was treated and how they questioned the authenticity of the item Especially considering the Tiffany ring she showed me (that she said she got on eBay and came with a nice big piece of authenticity paper) was a definite fake.

I'm not sure if I should offer the watch to the second highest bidder. Encounters like this make me become wary of ALL buyers ... I can understand that the buyer is trying to be cautious, but I don't think it's too much to ask if I would like them to read all instructions and be reasonable ...

 

[ishopndrop]

She should have known more about what she was buying (watch)..The problems that she gave you ..WELL..There is just no excuse for that...I always follow the simple route
..If it gets too complicated I pull out and forget about..
Life is just too short!!!