I am very annoyed with EBay, although I guess I only have myself to blame for not checking things for myself.

I am having a clear out of my craft space - knitting wool - beads - magazines.

My first gripe..

I listed loads of knitting wool - on the Buy it Now format and sold pretty much most of it before I had even finished listing. I was left with 3 skeins.

I decided to re list those using the auction format.

All my listings have the message that I will only accept PayPal and for only UK buyers to bid. I also clicked on all the countries I would not sell to including Europe

The other day I noticed that the 3 skeins of wool had sold - I must not post out until payment received and a Global Priority Shipping reference was given... !

Righto, not a lot I can do about it now - Payment has been received and I don't have to foot the bill for the international postage - EBay do something clever behind the scenes with that.

However, why did this sale go through... did the buyer not see my message and how / why did my shipping preferences revert to having to opt out again ?

My 2nd gripe

I had a buyer win on 3 items and pay by PayPal - I then received notice that they had purchased another item but used PayPal to send an e-cheque. I was told not to send the item paid for with the e-cheque until it had cleared - that it could take 5-7 days.

Buyer paid for the 3 separate items 2 days afterwards with the PayPal system - I made the package up with all FOUR items and posted it off - I didn't believe for one moment that the e-cheque would not clear.. well it hasn't, sigh !! again my fault and of course I am not covered by PayPal. I have sent message to buyer asking her to make the payment for the other item by PayPal.

Gripe number one

I think that this happens if you have opted into the global shipping program. In that case, so far as you are concerned all sales are treated as domestic sales and the international portion should be invisible to you. If you want to avoid this then you need to search eBay and find out how to opt out of the global shipping program. I must say that although it means that there are more items available to you so that you have a wider choice, on the other hand the global shipping program seems to take a lot longer than receiving the item directly and also it is generally speaking bit more expensive.

Gripe number two

I hope you get your money back. I'm afraid that there is much you can do about it otherwise. Of course, if you're not paid then you may as well post up their eBay ID here for a bit of naming and shaming – in case it has any effect

I have now discovered how to opt out and have made sure all current listings are (except those with bids already - ebay policy apparently). If I list anything in the future, I will take the time to ensure that the opt out is still in place.

I will give the eBayer a couple of days to resolve this before considering outing them.

you dont opt into the global shipping program, they automatically enrol you and you have to find the iopt out bit somewhere in your preferences for yourself.

As for the e-cheque, no doubt the nice buyer saw the goods had arrived and just cancelled the transaction or thought that you might send them all anyway and risk trying bouncing a cheque to get the goodies for free.

Even though you have their address the cost oc chasing up the miscreant far outweighs any possible recovery value of the lost items and the police dont deal with theft anymore and ebay dont care.

eric, yes the cheque was cancelled - what really annoyed me was seeing that this person had bid on another item I had listed. Fortunately someone outbid her.

I have opened a report against the buyer with ebay and will see what happens. Still no response from my message to her.

Lots of scams on eBay.

I am currently dealing with a guy who thinks he's clever.

He bought a high value item and I had to chase payment.

Eventually he paid and said that he needed it 2days later.

Of course he couldn't because there was the weekend in the middle.

So he said he would pick up from depot and gave me a different address from PayPal.

I said I was using the PayPal address to benefit of the (non existent) seller protection.

On purchasing the Parcelforce shipping it became evident that his paypal address didn't match the postcode and the door number didn't exist even on royal mail website.

I contacted him and he gave me a lot of rubbish about having lived there all of his life and receiving mail every day.

Thing is, the postcode is in Coventry and the town on paypal is Solihull (near Birmingham).

He insisted that it didn't matter because he was picking up from depot, so I sent it using this non existent address.

His idea is to receive the item, use it and send it back with some stories about being damaged I think.

Unfortunately for him I already withdrew the money and cancelled the direct debit with PayPal so he won't get a straight refund or even if he does, PayPal will lose out and not me.

A bunch of low life criminals sided and abeted by paypal and eBay.

Shocking!

On purchasing the Parcelforce shipping it became evident that his paypal address didn't match the postcode and the door number didn't exist even on royal mail website.

..........

Thing is, the postcode is in Coventry and the town on paypal is Solihull (near Birmingham).

The address not matching / not existing within the PAF is a concern, but SOME Solihull addresses do have CV postcodes ....

CV8 1NW for example.

Technically it is Kenilworth, but Google shows CMC Equines as

"Town Crier Cottage, Fen End Road, Solihull CV8 1NW, UK",

and the business's website (http://www.cmc-equines.co.uk/) states it as "Town Crier Cottage, Fen End Rd, Kenilworth, Solihull. CV8 1NW" .....

The address not matching / not existing within the PAF is a concern, but SOME Solihull addresses do have CV postcodes ....

 

CV8 1NW for example.

Technically it is Kenilworth, but Google shows CMC Equines as

"Town Crier Cottage, Fen End Road, Solihull CV8 1NW, UK",

and the business's website (http://www.cmc-equines.co.uk/) states it as "Town Crier Cottage, Fen End Rd, Kenilworth, Solihull. CV8 1NW" .....

This address didn't match on royal mail address finder and Parcelforce website was giving me an error on their website.

Anyway, he's now gone quite and the package is at delivery depot ready for collection.

My gut feeling is that he will collect, use it and then try a refund.

I think he deliberately messed up his address on PayPal so sellers send items to the address he emails after the sale and lose seller protection.

Or, he's gonna do a chargeback and having a false address, a seller cannot start a court claim.

As said, I withdrew the money and cancelled the direct debit with PayPal, so if they issue a refund I'll be simply dealing with PayPal empty threats and not be out of pocket.

Got to say, they're trying their best to steal stuff using PayPal and eBay t&c.

eBayer responded to the complaint - apologised, saying that she had muddled me with another seller - but at least she has now paid using the PayPal normal service. Case closed.