eBay local pickup - cash or PP?

[SallyC]

I am selling an item for local pick up and have selected 

Other payment methods

Receive payment upon pickup

However, eBay won't let me list without entering in an electronic form of payment.  Usually I use PP on eBay but my concern is if PP will charge me to transfer the funds into my bank account (within the US) and I'm also concerned if I can be sure I have the money (it's not pending or something they can withdraw) once they get the item.

I will have a Bill of Sale/Proof of Delivery that we both will sign at pickup so they can't say they didn't get it, but they wouldn't pay until they see the item and I don't think large transfers ($7-8K) are done immediately on PP.

So my questions are, if they have a PP app, and do a transfer of, say $8K, at the time of pickup, will that money be immediately available to me? So as soon as I get the email from PP, I can assume they can't reneg on the funds. Secondly, does PP take a percentage to transfer it to my US bank account?

I'm almost thinking it'd be a lot easier to just make them pay when the auction is complete, using PP, assuming there's no fee to transfer the funds.  As long as we both signed the Bill of Sale/Proof of Delivery document, I think we'd be covered for the Protection plan as far as proving delivery unless that must be electronic.

Thanks.

[minty1]

Hi SallyC

If an item is to be collected accept cash on collection only, if you accept ppal and its collected you have no sellers protection if there are any problems as you wont be able to provide electronic proof of delivery.

On your ebay page where it says "add p&p details" underneath "domestic postage" does it not say offer additional service where you can tick "buyers can collect the item from you"?

Money transfered to your bank account is free unless you want it sooner rather than later  then there is a fee

If you are new to selling the money wont be instantly available to you but like I said dont accept ppal for collected items

[SallyC]

Thanks, Minty1, for your reply. I'm glad to hear there's no fee.  I'd be glad with waiting a bit but  I found here on PP's site that if I do accept PP for a local pickup, I also cannot get my money for 21 days!  That seems a bit extreme.

Yes, there is a place where I can Local Pick up only and also a payment option of 'Pay on pickup' which I've done.  But eBay says I still have to add PP as an option, even though I don't want to take it.  I find this a very annoying eBay policy as using PP for a local pickup offers neither the Buyer or Seller any protection or other added value. Just the opposite, in fact, as it leaves me open to a fraudulent buyer trying to claim they never got the item or, best case senario, me having to wait 3 weeks to get my money.

So I guess I have to list PP and  'Pay on pickup' as options, but write in the listing 'Contact me for payment methods to pay on pickup.' and hope they don't use PP anyways.  I'm not allowed to write that I want them to use cash.  Hopefully they will follow my instructions.

It seems kinda crazy to me.

[minty1]

Your ebay page must be different to ours in the Uk then, as ours let us tick 3 options if collection only then the p&p disappears, like this:

Add P&P detailsAdd or remove options | Get help

 Domestic postage  

Flat: Same cost to all buyersCourier: Heavy and bulky itemsNo postage: Collection in person only

 

Services  Postage Estimator

 Free P&P 

Offer additional service

Collection in person

 Buyers can collect the item from you

     

[minty1]

New sellers always have a 21 day hold on funds in case there are problems then the funds they hold are used to refund

I always state in capital letters CASH ON COLLECTION ONLY at the top of my listing description page I dont see why you cant do this?

As a buyer if they pay by ppal they can open a dispute and sometimes get a refund and keep the item and the seller loses everything

If they do use ppal you can still refund and explain your listing states cash on collection only

[SallyC]

Yes, it must be different - I wonder why?

I'm not a new seller and have used PP many times, so I wouldn't be required to wait 21 days for that reason. The link says it's for any sale where there is local pickup.  eBay policy also says you are not allowed to say 'cash only" - or so the support forum folks say.

I even called eBay today because I thought I must be missing something.  The person told me they required me to offer an electronic payment so the buyer could select it for their protection.

I pointed out to them that 1)there is no protection if it's a local pick up as there's no electronic tracking record and 2) eBay's own Accepted Payments Policy says 'Payment upon pickup' is an acceptable method - with no mention of requiring PP.

I also told him the risk that PP puts me at, as a Seller, as well as the inconvience of having my funds tied up.

He agreed...and said it's still required.

If it's not required for outside the US, it makes me wonder why it is within?

[minty1]

I dont know why its different?

This is all news to me!

As you're not a new seller will they hold it because its a large amount?

I understand we all have to accept ppal now and even for collection items on my listing page it still says "payments paypal" I wonder if thats what they mean??

but for items that cant be posted why cant they allow you to say cash on collection only on your listing?

If the buyer pays by ppal and you receive a chargeback/dispute sellers dont have a leg to stand on as they cant prove delivery unless its different there and you can provide a receipt? doubt they would take that in a dispute who knows??

On the other hand if a genuine payer does pay at least you know they want the item because some people bid then change their mind and waste your time

Since you have spoke to ppal and they have  stated that I wouldnt know what else to tell you to do to protect yourself as a seller, what a position to be put in!

I hope the sale goes well for you without any problems

[SallyC]

As an update, it all went well. The buyer came, paid cash, and everyone is happy.  I did have a bill of sale/proof of delivery with the eBay item number, description that it is being sold as is and where currently located, which we both signed with our drivers license numbers as proof of ID.

I wasn't sure he was going to pay cash and the night before called PP support where someone named Joe told me that as long as I had the the document mentioned above signed and the auction was marked as Local Pickup, that there was "no way" PayPal would ever give a buyer a charge back if they tried to say they didn't get the item or had some other issue.  So it would be - according to Joe - safe to take PP if the buyer could do that.  

I'm wishing that were more clearly spelled out on PP's site - maybe a FAQ entry.  Because there seem to be a number of people on the forums who say that is not true and without an electronic proof of delivery you are vulnerable even for local pickup auctions.   So a clarification of the policy would be nice and lessen the incentive to ask for cash from a buyer.

Anyways, thanks for your thoughts and help.  Thought I'd just let you know how it turned out. 🙂

[minty1]

Phew Glad to hear it

Cash on collection is safest as I have heard of people paying by ppal and then claiming it wasnt them who collected it then successfully claimed from ppal on this forum, so me personally would only accept cash on collection

I mean if they are collecting it why not bring the cash?