[Closed] Have you had a "collect only "eBay bike collected by a company?

Who would you use in my scenario?
@Ton

Dear Seller, I will pay you your asking price without viewing the item as it is perfect for me. My courier company will collect the item from you and pay you part payment. on receipt of the item I will pay balance..etc
thats how I’d do it 😊

My courier company will collect the item from you and pay you part payment. on receipt of the item I will pay balance..etc

Not a chance I’d accept that!

My courier company will collect the item from you and pay you part payment

That would get my scam senses going!

Before now I've sent packaging to a seller then arranged collection at a later date, by arrangement of course, paying in full plus a tenner more or so for their time.

What 'Collect Only' bike, and where in Leeds?

No, I'm not trying to snipe you on it...

I’d use a car and just drive it. Sub 4 hours each way?

Else see if a local (to them) bike shop can package up and send it to you.

I wouldn’t trust just sending packaging and hoping they do a decent job, it’s a faff packing a bike up and if they felt like doing it they could have listed it with a postage option.

I’ve bought like this before, sometimes I pay them Extra to sort a box and get a courier,
Sometimes I sort the courier. If they won’t get a bike box there’s not much you can do.

Paisley Freight will collect a bike and deliver for £25 - They do ask that the item is boxed - I've used them several times and once received this (amazingly still in one piece) -

I've also done as fooman says - contacted the seller and sent them packaging if they're not happy to source a box themselves. Expensive option which I guess depends on the bike price.

Sorry - I'd be telling you to do one unless your firm took a bike that looked and rolled like a bike and did all the packing and you and they took full responsibility for damage and discrepancies with the description .

Collection only get lower values than adverts with delivery options as the market is so much smaller. You do it for a hassle free (who am I kidding - reduced) exchange. I'd not be going around sourcing a box and packing it for you and taking the risk of you blaming my packing for a pretend/real issue. If I wanted all that nause I'd have advertised it as delivery nationwide and got a higher price.

Paisley Freight used APC Overnight when I sent a bike off about a week ago. Collected on Friday morning, delivered Monday morning. Very pleased with that for £27 I think it was. The label said 'do not collect if bike is not boxed'. Your bike must be boxed and they do provide an extra service to provide you with a box, but it almost doubles the overall courier costs.

Did it once. Happy to buy unseen as a relatively cheap hack bike
The seller was great.
Paisley Freight much less great and several failed collections and some increasingly irate telephone calls to them ended up taking them to court. They backed down and settled the day before the case was due.
Do it, but use any other company than those charlatans

I’ve always had good service from Paisley. Used them countless times. Your seller must be prepared to do the packaging work though.

Your seller must be prepared to do the packaging work though.

If they were then I suspect they wouldn't be selling it collection only.

I agree with convert. Collection only is just that.

I sell stuff as collect only if I can't be arsed to box it etc. Sold some wheels a couple of months back, collect only. Buyer said he was going to "send his mate to collect them" then starts asking if I can sandwich them between cardboard etc. Said I'd try to. Next day, Parcel Farce turn up to pickup a box. Tell them to do one as there is no box, just a pair of wheels. Shove some cardboard around them, few days later they return grumbling about them not being packed very well. Tell them its not my problem and they take them.

Collection only get lower values than adverts with delivery options as the market is so much smaller. You do it for a hassle free (who am I kidding – reduced) exchange. I’d not be going around sourcing a box and packing it for you and taking the risk of you blaming my packing for a pretend/real issue. If I wanted all that nause I’d have advertised it as delivery nationwide and got a higher price.

I agree... I recently picked up a bike from Hawes for a mate in London.
Dropper didn't work and the mech was sticking (clutch needed cleaning).

Paisley freight are probably ok for cheaper bikes - in my experience the £25 cost went up to £50-something to include adequate insurance, then once they had collected the bike & sent it on to the sorting hub decided the box was apparently 3cm outside the 160cm limit & they couldn't deliver it after all & would dispose of it (not return it to me, bin it...) unless I paid another £15 in which case it was all fine & they could deliver it after all... their feedback seems to be a 50/50 split of great/horrendous - wouldn't send anything of value again, next time i'll pony up & go with Parcelforce. Have also read reviews of the box they supply being refused by their own couriers (subcontracted) as it's too big... YMMV.

Try cyclesent.co.uk

They can send you a box and pick the bike up next day.

Cheaper if the seller can source a box.

Gets pricey when you add £2k insurance

You could also try shiply - loads of man and van types driving around the country matching up loads. Might not need a box then.

I've bought cars unseen and via shiply found someone to pick it for me cheaper than it would cost to send a bike.....

As others have said, collection only is for someone who cannot be bothered with package and posting. But everyone has a price. Ask the seller how much they would want to box up and post to you. No harm in trying.

I sold a bike recently as collect only. Seller was in London, I'm in Yorkshire.
He messaged before the auction ended and said he could get a bike box to me and then arrange courier (Paisley Freight I think he used). He paid up in full after the auction then messaged to say a bike box was coming to my house, I packaged it and then the courier came and collected it.
All very simple and I wasn't out of pocket and had to spend a few minutes packaging the bike.
You could ask the seller if that's possible?

I was about to suggest to the OP about getting the train but a return ticket starts around £90!

I'm sure you could hire a car and fill it for less than that!

There used to be a scam with collection where the buyer would claim not to have received the item and demand a Paypal refund. They would get it as Paypal only accepted proof of delivery by the seller's courier. Ebay have now introduced a scheme where the seller is given a six digit code, they pass that to the buyer on collection and eBay accept that as proof; if the seller can tell them the code, they accept that the item was handed over. My wife bought a bike recently and a friend collected it for her, this worked.

Sorry – I’d be telling you to do one unless your firm took a bike that looked and rolled like a bike and did all the packing and you and they took full responsibility for damage and discrepancies with the description

Yep, me too. Collect only is because I can't be bothered to package it and accept I will get a lower price.

I had a load of trouble with Parcel Force / Parcel Monkey - see here - Paisley Freight sorted it first time (via APC couriers). Obviously I contacted the buyer prior to bidding and they were amazing given the circumstances.

At the shop we are having to tell our suppliers not to use APC as they just do not deliver to us.

Things get sent out but never turn up. They always “try” to deliver at 17.59 but never leave a card or show up on our cameras.

Even when we’ve gone to the depot to collect our deliveries ,they are not there.

I know it’s all about the person driving the van but APC are a no go zone for us.

Selling, I'd want cash in the bank before shipping (not PayPal as the seller is on a looser of the buyer trys to claim the cost back.

But I know people who have lost alot of money to scammers by paying Bank transfer for a bike that didn't exist. So, of it's not super-cheap, as a buyer is want to collect it, or have a mate collect it.

If the seller can’t be arsed to get hold of a box and post it, I always think they probably can’t be arsed to have looked after the bike properly either.

Obviously this doesn’t apply to cheap bikes where post is disproportionately high compared to the price.

If the seller can’t be arsed to get hold of a box and post it, I always think they probably can’t be arsed to have looked after the bike properly either.

I'd disagree. I look after my bikes well, but have always sold collection only so the buyer has the bike, had had a damn good look, and can walk away happy with it all settled, no coming back a week later with "oh this wasn't right, that wasn't right, etc".

Not blaming the buyer if that happened, and on the occasions I've had a problem with a posted item I've been happy to come to a compromise and put it right, but at least if it's collect only everything is (or at least should be) dealt with then and there.

If the seller can’t be arsed to get hold of a box and post it, I always think they probably can’t be arsed to have looked after the bike properly either.

You would be wrong.

I’d disagree. I look after my bikes well, but have always sold collection only so the buyer has the bike, had had a damn good look, and can walk away happy with it all settled, no coming back a week later with “oh this wasn’t right, that wasn’t right, etc”.

Not blaming the buyer if that happened, and on the occasions I’ve had a problem with a posted item I’ve been happy to come to a compromise and put it right, but at least if it’s collect only everything is (or at least should be) dealt with then and there.

I'd agree with this. I've sold stuff collection only for the same reasons, not because I can't be arsed to look after it. Collection only means just that for a lot of people. Not "come and collect it if you want, but if you can't I'll pack it up and ship it"

EDIT : In fact, someone asking this on a collection only item of mine would already flag them up as a bit of a PITA buyer to me... Disclaimer: I am a miserable thing, however. 🙂

If the seller can’t be arsed to get hold of a box and post it, I always think they probably can’t be arsed to have looked after the bike properly either.

You are so far off the mark .... I'm willing to accept a lower price so that the person is happy with what they are buying.
The last bike I sold I loaned them for a day (albeit in a secure place) ..

I explained the shock shaft was worn and would need replacing at some point and that it was a very long lead order hence why I gave them a complete spare unused shock that would need the tune changing.

As it was my kids last 24 I chucked in spare wheels and tyres and different length cranks... for when their child grows.

Let alone what does "looked after the bike properly" even mean?
Jetwashed bearings?

Selling a high value bike on ebay no way would I offer delivery, you'd have to be crazy.

They pay by paypal and then it arrives, they claim theres a paint chip you didn't document and thats it, you are on the hook for paying another £60 for return delivery any time within 30 days. If they've chucked the box you'll have to buy them a new one too. And who knows how they've treated it in those 30 days. If you don't sort that out for them within a limited timeframe or they choose to not be in when your courier calls, paypal take the money back from you and they get the bike for free.

Cash on collection or bank xfer + delivery when selling no paypal.

Now buying a bike on the other hand.... I would want to pay by paypal and have it delivered then I have the above come back if its not as described....hypocrite?

If I was buying an expensive bike I would drive to pick it up, if was collection only, equally if I sold an expensive bike I wouldn’t send via courier but collection only or maybe I would also travel a certain distance if I knew buyer genuine & keen