Help: Buyer paid, but I'm not going to be around to ship...

[Kitsune Sniper]

So there's this guy who wanted local pickup on an item I sold. Problem is, I don't do local pickups because I've been very busy this week with work and other stuff due to my upcoming trip.

The item was sold last sunday; he told me he wanted local pickup, but I can't do so, and I requested he pay the amount specified on the auction, plus standard shipping for the item. He replied in a seemingly ticked off manner, saying that "it would be a waste of money".

Now, my problem is that I leave the country next wednesday; even if I opened an unpaid item report, I have to be here to reply and stuff. But I'm gonna be gone for two weeks without any sort of internet access. Heck, my latest auctions have notes which specify that the items must be paid as soon as possible so I can ship them before I leave, you know?

What are my options if he doesn't reply? Will my absence count against me? Will he be able to leave me a negative, even if we agree to not complete the transaction?

Edit:
See latest reply for more info.

[dj_spryte]

yo WHOOP THAT TRICK!!

[Kitsune Sniper]

yo WHOOP THAT TRICK!!

... what?

[Buyatari]

He really should email to ask for local pickup BEFORE he bids but if its not an expensive item I wouldn't concern myself too much.

BUT If you have to file a NPB.

File a NPB form asap from the sound of it he will reply. Once he replies you can close it and be done with it.

[ryborg]

I don't do local pickups either. My last one almost ended up with me calling the cops on the buyer, who would not leave my property. Too much can go wrong. Do you say somewhere in the item description, "No local pickups"?

Simply tell him that he has to pay shipping in full, just like every other buyer, and if he doesn't, you are treating it as an unpaid item. If he doesn't pay, so be it, unless the item went for an amazing price, in which case I'd be a little more receptive to work with him.

If you are the one filing the unpaid dispute, you don't need to be there to do anything. It's up to him to respond within seven days. If not, you can close it for good, get your fees back, and any negs/neutrals left for you will be instantly removed. You can let the dispute sit for up to 60 days.

Will my absence count against me? Will he be able to leave me a negative, even if we agree to not complete the transaction?

Count against you how? Of course he will be able to leave you a neg. The only way he can't is if he doesn't respond to the unpaid item dispute in the seven days, and even then, he can leave it, just to have it be removed.
________
Ipad cases

[Kitsune Sniper]

He really should email to ask for local pickup BEFORE he bids but if its not an expensive item I wouldn't concern myself too much.

BUT If you have to file a NPB.

File a NPB form asap from the sound of it he will reply. Once he replies you can close it and be done with it.

He asked me a while back if I could do local pickup, but he lost the auction back then. I'd completely forgotten about him until he bid on the item and ended up winning it. And he wanted local pickup without even asking.

I have to wait seven days though... hopefully he'll reply soon, the last thing I need is a local guy saying stuff about me and my business. x_x

Edited to add:

Will my absence count against me? Will he be able to leave me a negative, even if we agree to not complete the transaction?

Count against you how? Of course he will be able to leave you a neg. The only way he can't is if he doesn't respond to the unpaid item dispute in the seven days, and even then, he can leave it, just to have it be removed.

Well, I was thinking my not responding could be taken as not being willing to negotiate or something. And no, I never specified no local pickups, please read above to see why.

[Buyatari]

ahh you screwed yourself.

Tell him you will let him out of the deal only after he leaves positive feedback. Then hit him with a npb and a negative. jk

Since you already told him pickups were ok I'd tell him he can pick up after you get back from your trip.

How much money we talking about? A NPB is worse than a neg in my book. 3 strikes and you're out. If you ignore him and let the situation go away chances are this guy won't leave a neg and if he does you can file a NPB and a neg. Then file mutual withdrawl when he figures out he got the short end of that exchange.

He asked me a while back if I could do local pickup, but he lost the auction back then. I'd completely forgotten about him until he bid on the item and ended up winning it. And he wanted local pickup without even asking.

I have to wait seven days though... hopefully he'll reply soon, the last thing I need is a local guy saying stuff about me and my business.

[cheapgamer]

Now, my problem is that I leave the country next wednesday; even if I opened an unpaid item report, I have to be here to reply and stuff. But I'm gonna be gone for two weeks

Easy as pie; open the Unpaid dispute the day you leave.

Close the dispute the day you come back; give that sucker a Strike for failing to follow the Terms of Sale; followed by a negative.

"He asked me a while back if I could do local pickup, but he lost the auction back then." ------- irrelevant. Auction #1 is not auction #2. Different auction; different TOS. He should have asked before bidding on auction #2.

Give him a strike. He deserves it.

"I was thinking my not responding could be taken as not being willing to negotiate or something." ------ Nonsense. I never respond to my disputes; they either cough up the cash or they get the strike. No need for me to respond to their lame excuses.

[Steven]

I don't do local pickups either. My last one almost ended up with me calling the cops on the buyer, who would not leave my property. Too much can go wrong.

whoa! got me curious, what item was this and why didn't he want to leave your property? if you didn't do anything to provoke him, sounds like a total nutjob!

Ironically, I recently won a game valued at $8.49. Since she lived 15 miles away I asked her if I could pick it up, either at her address or in front of a public store (i.e. Hollywood Video)

She told me she was busy and declined both options. No prob I say and I paypal and game arrived the next day.

My suggestion to the OP would be: Meet outside a public place. I too would never want to have a stranger come to my door to pick something up.

However, what can go wrong meeting outside a mall? Or Hollywood Video? I have met a few people outside public places in broad daylight for transactions and never had a problem. Just make sure it's a well populated area and that you're easily visible with cars going by and people walking by.

Never meet at a park. That's just too fishy.

But outside Safeway? What could go wrong?

[Flack]

I have done lots of eBay transactions in person. A couple of times I have found out the seller I purchased things from ran a flea market booth or a store so I've gone there to pick up the items. I met a lady at a McDonald's once to pick up 30 Sega Genesis games, and I met a guy at a gas station once to sell some Star Wars figures. In fact, I met another guy at a gas station to sell him a car!!

I always e-mail the buyer in advance and see if he'll do local pickup. I don't ever assume that they will, but then again, if they won't then I usually don't bid.

That being said, I think my standard response for every post of this type is, "how much of a battle do you want to put up over this?" You could file NPB, throw him a negative, or hire an attorney and file a claim against him for breach of contract over the pocket change it took to list the auction. Or you could just move on. I've never had a buyer back out of a deal before, but if I did I'd either just relist the item or ask him for enough money to cover the listing fees. I certainly wouldn't want to meet him in person now that he's already pissed off.

I really don't know why people don't allow local pickups though. It saves the buyer shipping fees and the seller packaging fees and time. It's not like you have to take them to dinner; pick a time, tell them to bring the exact total in cash, and it'll take 30 seconds out of your day.

[Jibbajaba]

I guess I don't understand what the big deal is. Are you telling me that you are SOO busy getting ready for your trip that you can't take 15 minutes to meet him at a MacDonald's around the corner or something? How much time will it take you to package up the item and take it to the post office. Just get your biggest friend to come with you so the guy doesn't try to get nasty.

I see what you are saying, but I also see it from his point of view. I live in a pretty small town, and if I bought something on eBay from someone who lived here, and they refused to let me just come get it or meet them somewhere, I'd be pretty peeved too. Quit being such a pill and let the guy come get his stuff.

Chris

[ClubNinja]

Agreed with the "why not just do it?" sentiment. I've both bought and sold in person. I've even had eBayers on my property. It's so easy. I hate packaging things and very rarely have time to get to the post office within its operational hours. If someone can swing by my place at 7PM to pick it up, then I'm grateful.

[cheapgamer]

A seller should not have to change his Terms of Sale just because the buyer whines like a baby.

No means no.

[smork]

I've met in person, too -- better than the vagaries of the mail. Why not find an easy, nearby place and settle it? Seems everything else is more hassle, more stress. Why stress yourself out?

[Jibbajaba]

A seller should not have to change his Terms of Sale just because the buyer whines like a baby.

No means no.

Yes but the terms of sale never said "no local pickup", so he isn't changing anything. And if you told the same guy that he could have picked something up in a previous auction, then I think that he has a reasonable expectation that you would let him do it this time.

Chris

[Kitsune Sniper]

I guess I don't understand what the big deal is. Are you telling me that you are SOO busy getting ready for your trip that you can't take 15 minutes to meet him at a MacDonald's around the corner or something? How much time will it take you to package up the item and take it to the post office. Just get your biggest friend to come with you so the guy doesn't try to get nasty.

I see what you are saying, but I also see it from his point of view. I live in a pretty small town, and if I bought something on eBay from someone who lived here, and they refused to let me just come get it or meet them somewhere, I'd be pretty peeved too. Quit being such a pill and let the guy come get his stuff.

Chris

The closest McDonald's is an hour away, so HAHA TO YOU. :P

Anyway, the guy also said that he wasn't picking it up - that he was sending another person to do so. That was what made me go "Uh uh, no way." I deal with the people I sell things to, not with third parties.

Maybe to you I'm not soooooooooooooo busy. But considering I have to fix up my place, finish repairing the doors so we don't get burglarized while I'm out, pay off ALL our bills, deal with my tenants' own demands, fix some leaky pipes in the bathroom, clean up and pick up all garbage which is still in the backyard, buy the stuff that my sisters (who we're visiting) want, and on top of all that go ship these packages? Nope. I'm way too damn busy, I barely have any time to myself, and I don't even own a car, so public transportation makes things even slower for me. Oh and the constant 110 degree heat with over 50% humidity factor DOESN'T HELP AT ALL.

*pant*

Guh. I needed to vent, but this goddamn week has been hell, and I don't need this. Not right now.

[ryborg]

whoa! got me curious, what item was this and why didn't he want to leave your property? if you didn't do anything to provoke him, sounds like a total nutjob!

I'll try to keep this long, strange story short...

It was for a vintage satin jacket that sold for $3 a few years back at my old place. I had a few successful item pick-ups, so I offered it for all items, no matter the price or anything.

We made arrangements for the guy to come over at 7pm. Time passes, time passes, he's not showing up, and no answer at his home phone. I was leaving the house at 9pm to see a movie with my girlfriend and her father, and right as we're about to leave, the guy pulls up.

What a filthy, filthy man. All right, maybe he works in a factory or something and just got out of work. I say "Hey, are you (name)?" It's definitely him. No apologies or anything for being two hours late, but it's no big deal. He hands over the $3 and I hand over the jacket. Done deal, right?

Not so much. My girlfriend, her dad and me are clearly about to leave the house and they're standing right behind me with shoes and jackets on. The guy says "Great jacket! I saw you have some other stuff posted, mind if I have a look?"

"I don't have time for that... We're leaving for a movie."

"Come on, I drove all this way, just let me see if (some other jacket/shirt/something) fits."

"Sorry, but we have to go." I mentioned how he could have showed up at the agreed upon time and he would have had plenty of time to see my other crap. The guy was definitely not pleased at that answer.

So the three of us walk out and I lock the door behind me, but the guy is still waiting around, right next to us. I say something like "Okay, see you later... We're leaving now...." No movement on the guy. He's silently inspecting the jacket. My girlfriend's dad gives me a "what the hell is going on?" look and I shrug my shoulders.

It's hard to explain without a picture, but there are two sets of stairs leading down from my house. The three of us casually walked down the main set of stairs, but the guy finally realized that I wasn't letting him in the house, and very very slowly started to walk to the OTHER set of stairs, completely out of his way.

There was no way I was leaving the house until I saw him leave first. We're all sitting in my girlfriend's car and I heard him yell something my way. I didn't catch it, so I rolled down my window and said "What was that?"

He shouted "Don't worry about it" and very slowly walked back to his car. He wasn't crippled or anything, because he walked fine from his car to my house. Finally, he gets into his car, and after the longest 3 or so minutes ever, he pulled away, allowing us to race to the movie.

No, it really doesn't sound like much of a story, but it was extremely awkward and I had no idea what this nutbar was capable of. I didn't think he was going to stab me or break into my house, but it's not a situation I'd like to be in again.

I've also noticed absolutely zero effect on auction prices since I made the "no pickup" policy. Honestly, I don't sell stuff to make friends. I do it to make money.
________
Spring hill manufacturing

[Buyatari]

The terms of the sale had shipping charges did they not?

But yeah he told them pickup was ok. Let that be a lesson to you all. Just say NO.

Yes but the terms of sale never said "no local pickup", so he isn't changing anything. And if you told the same guy that he could have picked something up in a previous auction, then I think that he has a reasonable expectation that you would let him do it this time.

Chris

[cheapgamer]

He told them "pickup is ok" on an OLD long-ago auction; not the current auction. (A TOS varies from auction to auction; I might charge $4 for one game and $5 for another; different auctions; different TOSes.) The buyer should not just ASSume; he should ask before bidding. The buyer deserves a non-payer strike. Teach him a lesson not to make false assumptions.

I don't do local pickup.

Last time I tried that the idiot left me standing outside my house for an Hour and never showed up. I could have slipped the game in an envelope & mailed it in just 2 minutes.

Now I refuse local pickups. It's more convenient to do the mailing.

[jajaja]

I've met people too that i've sold too. I know that some people are really shy and in some cases anxiety, but if none of these things is the issue i dont see the big problem. Sure, some are busy, but not that busy that they cant spend 1-3 minutes delivering something. No one in the world is that busy. When people want to pick up at my place i say they must come to my house or i can meet them at a gas station 5 min away (easier to find than my house).

But if you dont want people to pick up (for whatever reason, doesnt really matter) people should respect it. I do that atleast, for sure.