E bay seller problem

[colinB]

I sold a watch on e bay sunday night and the winner was a ebay virgin.
Funnily enough i bought this watch of ebay years ago as a ebay virgin so i gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and contacted him.
No payment and no contact from buyer. Obviously a time waster. In fact he could be a dealer who kept pestering me but thats me being paranoid.
Now i just want to move on and maybe offer it to the 2nd higher bidder but ebay help page is telling me i need to resolve this with the seller and go through a protracted communication with the tosser. I wanted a quick sale for hifi funds but do i have to mess around with this issue in order to avoid any bad penaltys or feedback? Anyone have any idea?

[kininigin]

hi colin,

give the timewaster a couple of days to either pay or settle the issue through ebay and if nothing happens offer to the next bidder,that's what i'd do anyway.

[Mark Grant]

Not sure about the quickest way to resolve this one as if they dont want to pay they wont pay.

If you do encourage them to pay when they receive the watch they might make something up to get the money back, or sign for the delivery as 'Mickey Mouse' or something and say it was not delivered as that's not their signature.

Maybe relist it and set some buyer requirements in your ebay account.
A guide here:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html

I exclude people with low feedback, in countries I dont ship to, and people without a paypal account etc.
Never had a non payer yet.

Also you might be better listing it as ' buy it now' with ' immediate payment required' and paypal only, that way no one can buy it until they have logged in to paypal and paid.

Set a high buy it now price and have top quality photos embedded in the listing.
If it does not sell drop the price a bit, try it high first as the listing fee is only about 40 pence so worth a try at a high price.

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[colinB]

Thanks for all the good advice. I like the buy it now idea but im always held back with a poor quality camera at the end of the day. Photography was an obsession/hobby in my younger years but ive never stepped up to digital and use a crappy phone.

I would rather offer it to the other buyer but if the so called winner is a nut case there is a risk he might screw up my feedback.

[Tim]

Thanks for all the good advice. I like the buy it now idea but im always held back with a poor quality camera at the end of the day. Photography was an obsession/hobby in my younger years but ive never stepped up to digital and use a crappy phone.

I would rather offer it to the other buyer but if the so called winner is a nut case there is a risk he might screw up my feedback.
If you are going to be regular seller on eBay, your listing is paramount. Good quality photographs are a must and if you look like a Pro, the time wasters are likely to stay away, that's been my experience anyway. I don't allow bids from newbies, unless they contact me at the time of bidding, if they fail to do this I retract their bids. My listing clearly lays out all my terms of sale, which helps deter non-genuine buyers.

Mark's advice is bang on and very helpful. I would give him a couple of days, but use the eBay messaging system to advise him what's going on. If it goes moody and he tries to give you negative feedback, then your efforts will be documented so eBay can read them and retract the negative feedback, if he has not played fair. I would also re-list the item, as opposed to going down the second buyer route, which is not always that straightforward.

I have only had one problem in over 500 transactions and eBay were prompt and helpful in resolving it in my favour, as it was clear the guy was lying.

I hope it all works out for you? eBay is not without it's perils, but I would not be without it, as both a buyer and seller, you just need to be very clear in your listing what your Terms & Conditions of sale are and keep people well informed :)

[colinB]

Thanks. Lesson learned. Maybe time to buy a camera.

[Mark Grant]

A budget compact camera is all you will need, an older model is usually a good buy.

An example of a completed auction with decent photos to show the product.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FUJIFILM-FinePix-F70exr-Digital-Camera-FUJI-F70-VGC-/110662278575?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_Dig italCameras_JN&hash=item19c3fc5daf ( scroll down the auction)

That is a good compact but a bit scratched for £60 without the original charger.

That kind of camera can be found as a refurb from fuji for a reasonable price as an example:
https://secure.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/consumer/digital/digital-cameras/advanced-compact/finepix-f70exr ( not in stock though)

Or look for something older and used, loads of old camera bargains.

maybe ask here :)
http://www.realphotographersforum.com/content/
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[colinB]

Thanks thats useful Mark. I would like one with decent macro. I will have a look.

[colinB]

Shit i cant believe it. The same has happened again. At least this time they sent me a note. What the f***k is wrong with people

[Tim]

Shit i cant believe it. The same has happened again. At least this time they sent me a note. What the f***k is wrong with people
Colin, can you send me a link to your listing or the item number? I'll have a quick peruse and see if I can think of any reason why you seem to be getting more than your fair share of time wasters? :scratch:

[colinB]

Sorry mate im rubbish at links for some reason. Im wondering if its waht you mentioned before, crap photos. I need money so a camera is out of the question.
Funny i know someone else who tried to sell a swiss watch and had the sameproblem. Never have any problem with hi fi buyers/sellers.