Ebay Advice Required :( UPDATE: NOW SORTED :D

[dave_mc]

UPDATE: This has now been sorted out. Thanks for your help, everyone :)

Hi everybody,

If anyone could give me some advice regarding this, I'd appreciate it.

I "won" two guitars on Ebay from the same seller (on Friday, I think). When I tried to pay the seller through Paypal, the payment wouldn't go through. I thought that my credit card limit was maybe up (even though I'd phoned the CC during the week and they said the new month's limit should have started), so I contacted the seller to say it'd probably reset in a day or two, that I'd contact the CC to see what was going on, and I'd pay then.

On Saturday it hit me that maybe paying for the two guitars at once was the problem, so I put through the payments separately- the payment for one guitar worked, but not the other. The seller then contacted me to say that he'd linked his wrong paypal account to Ebay, to cancel the payment I'd already sent, and could I pay him through a different PayPal address. (So it looks like my credit card wasn't at fault, i.e. the fault was all his.)

When I tried to do this, it wouldn't let me as it was an Ebay item and PayPal will only let you pay for Ebay items through EBay Checkout.

I contacted the seller again, saying that, as I was suspicious of paying to a different PayPal account than the one linked to his Ebay account, the best course of action was for him to cancel the transaction (which I'd accept), and then relist the guitars at the same Buy-It-Now price that I'd won them for, and I'd buy them then when he'd linked his correct PayPal account to his Ebay account.

He's now saying that this is too much bother and he's reporting my behaviour to EBay.

Any advice on what I should do? I've already emailed Ebay for advice, but I figured I'd ask here as you guys helped me a lot the last time something like this happened. And I'm not over-reacting, am I? I know Ebay always says to beware of any change to the payment methods once the auction has ended in case it's a scam etc., and even if it's not, I want to know I have Ebay's and PayPal's full customer protections (which I might not have if I paid to a different PayPal address).

Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry for the essay. :drink:



Summary: I "won" two guitars on Ebay, now the seller wants me to pay to a different PayPal address than the one linked to his Ebay account, and has threatened to report me to Ebay if I don't pay. Am I right to be suspicious?

[Nephilim]

You are at no fault. Ebay/Paypal will recognise that you've paid for one guitar, and it will be down to him if he listed the wrong account. Ebay will do all they can to make sure this matter doesn't go unsolved. If the money for the one guitar has left your bank account, he has the choice to either send you the item, or reimburse you the money, with the option of you giving him a negative feedback. If he doesn;t refund you, he's liable to be arrested for fraud, as well as a life long ban from eBay & PayPal, seeing as these 2 compainies do not respond well to fraud of any kind. Regarding the second guitar, it's a bit trickier. Since you haven't paid for it, the seller can just make up an excuse and the most he'll get is a bad seller review from yourself, and have to pay the listing fees, as well as the percentage he owes eBay, so in this case, he'll lose more than he'll gain. The thing that confuses is that he has 2 PayPal accounts. While this is kind of possible, it's very rarely done by an individual person seeing as you can only use 1 bank account with one paypal account. He might have a few accounts, but it does seem suspicious. Let us know if I've missed anything out you might want to know.

Cheers,
Mike

[dave_mc]

Thanks for the advice :)

Actually I've cancelled the first payment too (on his instruction), so I'm not currently out any money. Just I don't want to get a negative feedback or non-paying bidder black mark attached to my name.

[Twinfan]

I think you need to wait for eBay to play it out, but if the sales are cancelled neither of you can leave feedback for each other?

[Philly Q]

What's his feedback profile like?  Any evidence that he might be a bit dodgy?

I must admit I'd have probably been inclined to trust him on the alternate PayPal account - so I'd have gone through eBay checkout to say I'm paying by an "other" method, then just made a payment direct from my PayPal account to his, via his email address (i.e. not as a payment for an eBay item).

More fool me, possibly.  :? :lol:

But anyway, sounds like it's gone beyond that, unfortunately.  Do you still want the guitars?  If not, why not just abandon the transaction - do it through the eBay "dispute" process and if you both agree to it he'll get his selling fees back.

[dave_mc]

Just out of interest, one of the guys on another forum said I could open a case in the resolution centre, citing "seller has requested a different paypal address"... anyone know if this is a possibility in the resolution centre? I'll go to check myself, but just on the off-chance that any of you know...

^ Cheers, Philly. And yeah, I'm just scared to chance it, y'know, just in case. It's over £850, which I obviously don't want to lose. I had thought of doing it your way, but I'm scared that if something does go wrong, Ebay and PayPal will say, "ah, you shouldn't have completed the sale outside Ebay", and washing their hands of the matter. I've had enough bother from Ebay before when I did do everything by the book without chancing it outside their rules.

And I did want the guitars until he threatened to report me. That's sorta put a bad taste in my mouth. :lol:

Yeah his feedback's 100% (but that doesn't always mean much- mine is too and he's jumped straight to the nuclear option).

I think you need to wait for eBay to play it out, but if the sales are cancelled neither of you can leave feedback for each other?

yeah possibly not, but that's only if he agrees to it, i think (which looks unlikely). Thanks :)

[Philly Q]

Actually, I just had a thought about the feedback issue - as a seller he can only leave positive feedback, or none at all.

He could still write an uncomplimentary comment, though.

[dave_mc]

yeah i think that's true now. But I think he can leave a non-paying mark (or whatever it's called).

Thanks again for your help, everyone... I'll wait and see if ebay and paypal reply to my emails to see what to do next. :)

[HTH AMPS]

the fact that he's being so unreasonable would raise suspicion with me right away.

[shobet]

I'd contact ebay/paypal as what he's asking sends all my alarm bells a ringing. If it's a genuine mistake then so be it, however it's still his fault. I wouldn't use a different paypal account as he's asking. It smells of scam to me.

If in doubt play by the ebay/paypal rules, whilst they're sometimes a PITA they are there to protect you.

[Ian Price]

I'm in agreement with Shobet here. I've had a few dodgy things go on before and have always followed the eBay/PAYPAL processes in such circumstances.

[dave_mc]

thanks, guys, that's pretty much the way I was playing it, and the fact that that's the way you'd play it too confirms my original suspicions. If there's nothing wrong, going by the rules won't hurt, and if there is, going by the rules will help immeasurably. :)

[dave_mc]

Update: Just got an email back from Ebay. They say that they recommend not to do payments outside of the Ebay system, and that it wouldn't be covered by Ebay Buyer protection if I did. They also said that if the seller leaves me an Unpaid Item record in my account, that they'll remove it.

Result, in other words. :D

Thanks again for your help, everyone. :drink:

[Ian Price]

That sounds like the right result to me! eBay are good at some things - now if only they could make the pricing a little less profit making for them it would be great!

What are you doing about the guitars?

[dave_mc]

Yeah, definitely. While occasionally ebay can be very annoying when something goes wrong... at other times they're really good.