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It’s been a while since I’ve sold anything where couriers are involved so after some advice please.
I’ve agreed a price on FB marketplace for my old roofbars. Buyer wants email address to send PayPal money now. He then wants to arrange Parcelforce to collect. All mainland uk.
Should I insist on PayPal gift? I assume as long as I pack them up well once the courier has it, the risk is transferred at that point should it get damaged/lost?
Thanks
Nope, PayPal Gift is for mates and family.
How will you know its a genuine courier ?
Id post it at their expense myself with tracking.
Thanks you. Okay, so I’ll make sure it’s not PayPal gift. On the courier front he said parcelforce so if it’s not a big red van I’ll tell them to do one. Plus he wants to send money now so ill already have been paid.
I'd be tempted to arrange the collection myself. Its the same amount of hassle for you but much better protection and you have the send receipt and the insurance and you pick the time. I'm just in the process of sending a frame which will be about the same size/weight and that is £16.62 (including £100 insurance) so add that to his cost. If you can get away with paypal gift then it is a lot better for you, but regular paypal and you should be ok if you send it with insurance
I suppose it depends on how much the roofbars sold for. Thats all you are risking. For me, stuff that goes on E-bay goes in the bin if it dosent sell.
Thank you both. Really useful. It’s £90 worth of Thule so think I’ll go down the route of arranging courier myself.
Definitely organise it yourself dealing with someone else organising stuff that you then have to hang about for sounds like a right faff.
Parcel monkey then drop it at the PO/parcel force depot.
Easy.
Also if they say they never got it and PayPal ask for proof of postage then you're stuffed.
DO NOT let them pay regular PayPal and then collect it in person or arrange their own courier, you won't be covered. Why can't he let you arrange the courier? If he refuses, I would be VERY suss.
Depends on who's asking for what.
As a buyer if the seller insisted on pp gift I'd be wary. As a seller if the buyer suggested pp gift I'd be fine with it.
As a buyer if the seller said 'collection only' I'd ask if they could box it for me to arrange a courrier but would be happy for them to arrange if they chose to do so. As a seller if the buyer insisted on their own courier I'd be wary.
Usual procedure is normal paypal and seller arranges courier with postage taken care of in price/added on. If the person who stands to lose suggests deviating from that I'd be fine, if the person who stands to gain insisted on deviating I'd be wary.
There's too many scam artists about, especially on eBay so you have to have your wits about you when selling anything with value nowadays.
Don't let them pay by normal PayPal and then collect in person or if you do get a signature of collection with their details and a photo. I will only ever accept cash in person.
Don't let them arrange a courier and pay with normal PayPal. You will have no proof of delivery or insurance, and they could easily claim they never received it. Arrange delivery yourself and add it to their cost. Take photos of the item before packed, then in the packaging if they are paying by ordinary PayPal. Always send tracked and signed for.
If they pay by PayPal gift or cash then jobs a good'un as there's no way they can scam you.
"Goods not received, refund please."
There is zero legitimate reason for them to want to arrange their own courier unless they've got some sort of trade account or something. How often have you bought something and gone "I'll sort the courier, don't trouble yourself." If they're insistent I'd question why.
I don't think that the buyer should need your email address to PayPal unless they're doing it outside of ebay which is also Dodge City.
The fact that you have to start a thread asking the question should tell you all you need to know. The rule of thumb is that if you find yourself going "is this a scam?" then it likely is even if you can't immediately see why.
I don’t think that the buyer should need your email address to PayPal unless they’re doing it outside of ebay which is also Dodge City.
the OP is using Facebook not ebay
So with that in mind... another issue you have even if you are arranging postage yourself is.. how do you verify the address you are sending it to and that it belongs to the person you believe is paying?
Through ebay the elements of their seller protection are the tracking number and that you sent it to the address that ebay provides you with via their system - which is an address they can reasonably verify because they have bank details for the account holder. If you don't have the tracking number yourself (ie you arrange the carriage) and you don't use the address they supply you're stuffed.
Facebook doesn't know or care who their account holders really are.
I wouldn't use Facebook for anything you're not dealing with face to face
cash in bank, or paypal gift (and then extracted inot your bank)
Paypal goods and services means they can claim never arrived and get their money back.