Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

To me paying for an ebay item by postal order seems a bit iffy as you have little comeback especially when its £850 at stake, basically i have made a seller an offer by ebay mail which is a bit lower than what they are asking and they refused my initial offer but would take £850 for the item.

I am a bit wary here as their feedback is less than 15 and to me i wouldn`t be comfy sending a postal order for that amount, i have paypal but they don`t as thats how i usually pay for ebay stuff.

What ways would you only pay for ebay items and what is a big NO NO.

andymal

I use ebay all the time but you have to be so careful I think I would rather drive there and collect rather than send that amount of money, sounds iffy to me mate.

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

you can cross them the same as a cheque, you just keep the stubs.

if however I was paying that much, id want to go and collect with cash.

moff1888

I generally dont buy anything unless its with paypal and thats not on things even close to £850. The protection you can get from Paypal is pretty good.

As for the 15 feedback was it as a buyer or seller?

Turbohot

TBH, one should pay whatever one has promised to pay. Postal order, banker's draft, Paypal or whatever. There's always a risk on buying items that you haven't seen with your naked eyes. Ebay works on trust and gamble, simple.
I wouldn't pay £850 cost by PO just for the reason that the postal costs will be lofty. I may make a payment straight into the bank account of the seller, and just hope for the item to be as described and expected. Feedback and return policy (if the seller offers it) are there to back you up.

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Ive not promised to pay them anything yet, it was just an informal offer by PM outside of the auction based on a few factors which ive now found out they can`t meet which included paying via paypal or directly into their bank account.

The problem is that the seller is in Somerset and i am in the North West, its not really that cost effective to drive that far as well as trying to find a spare 5 -6 hours to do that round trip.

I think i`d rather miss out on a possible bargain than do the above and wait for the same thing to come up a big closer to home where i can either pay COD or via paypal to a seller with a better rating. Its a big gamble with the current seller to be honest with them having such a low rating and wanting payment by postal order only.

Turbohot

Are all those 15 feedbacks positive? If yes, there is a hope for you. If not, and if you have only made an offer via emails (instead of bidding on the item), leave it if in doubt.
What I am saying is that just because the person has 15 only positive feedbacks, he is not necessarily a con. We all had low feedbacks once upon a time, let's face it. Just the massive feedback doesn't guarantee someone's genuine status. I bought an expensive item from someone with over 4000 (99.6%) feedback. My item went duff in 3 months (warrantee was only offered for a month) . So, at the end of the day, Ebay is an auction site that runs on chance. Good luck with the deal nevertheless.

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

catch a train.

Alg

See if you can get someone from here to check it out for you first!?

Lee247

No

Hoppy

No. Go and collect.

Having said that, I confidently sent a cheque for £1,200 to a total stranger on here for a group buy 2.5l motor. It was personally delivered to my door a few days later I have bought, sold and loaned stuff out to lots of people on here. Never a problem. But SN isn't Ebay.

Richard.

Scobman

Rob ive worked on ebay for quite a while. Best advice I can offer is do not pay by PO no matter about crossing etc. Send an ordinary cheque (which is traceable) or arrange to go your self paying cash for the item. With such low feedback etc it can be risky.
I have in the past used POs which were encashed and the goods not received!! The PO were of no use in the aftermath!!! I have not used PO since - I tend to stick to Paypal/cheque etc.
At the amount your spending an extra £50 -100 or so to travel would (in my opinion) be worth the traveling for security.
Good luck.............................................. ....

EddScott

For that amount, I'd pay by paypal. I know its expensive when it gets to that amount but its worth it if someone tries to stiff you.

Someone tried to rob £300 off me through ebay (even contacted the 2nd and 3rd highest bidders saying I hadn't paid) started paypal against him and the goods arrived.

I also paid £1500 via paypal for a car I'd not even set eye on - just a few pics. Cost me £50! but I thought well if its proper knackered, paypal might refund me. As it is its a cool car if a little thirsty (view profile)

David Lock

Just out of interest I wonder what the PO fee would be for an £850 Postal Order. Horrendous I would thing and an awful lot of stamps to stick on

I wouldn't be happy dealing with someone who asks for a Postal Order for £850. A bit too Gascoiney if you ask me...... dl

StickyMicky

making an offer outside the normal ebay way = major failure at the first hurdle

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

This is where i stand at the minute.

Originally i offered £750 by private message on ebay and to pay either by paypal or bank transfer, the seller replied back last night and said the minimum they would take is £850 and would only accept a postal order.

I have just had this reply this morning.

"thought again about your offer of £750 i will take it. thats if you still want it and bank transfer would be fine. sorry for the confusion."

My next step would be to reply back and ask the seller to put a buy it now option on their auction of £750 to keep it all through ebay seeing as its had no bids so far.

Have i got protection with a bank transfer, i know its far more traceable than a postal order.

Sonic'

I would run a mile if he is now willing to drop the price by 100 without so much of a blink of an eyelid

Paypal is only covered for 500 quid anyway, the only way I would do this deal is go collect in person

Its not a laptop is it by any chance ?

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Yeh it is, the other nagging doubt i have is that they are using stock photos. They don`t have any photos of the actual item.

Sent you a pm.

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

get yourself to the shops if its for a laptop at least you have a years warranty if anything goes wrong and for £850 you will get a top laptop these days

Sonic'

I have replied to your PM, forgot to add as per above, but from Ebay from a private seller NO warranty at all, plus you dont know if it is working or not

I dont like sellers using stock photos, it does put me off

I have also noticed that Paypal have changed their protection, its now only 500 quid protection from a good seller, 150 quid if not

So how are they determining who is a good seller or not ?

spireite

personally id keep well away .

PaulC72

Laptop eek!!!

1) is it too good to be true? - if yes run a mile

2) payment methos a little strange? - if yes run a mile

3) not willing to go and collect something that has a resonable high value - you deserve everything that is coming to you {sorry}

Now they have dropped it by £100 ask if you can collect it inperson {the 100 you saved should pay yourcosts to get there}

Have a look at dell, pcworls etc etc and find one of the same spec if it very cheap there has got to be something wrong.

Good luck.

Herbie.

Doing the deal outside of the Ebay auction is asking for trouble IMO

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Ive decided to leave it well alone, the seller was using a stock photo so i sent them a message asking if they could send me a couple of photos to my email address of the actual item thats for sale.

That was yesterday at noon, ive not had a reply and considering they was quick to answer my previous messages when making an offer of £750 then this is seems a bit iffy. Its a minefield these days ebay especially with high end electronic equipment, i`ll probably go down the store route now.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

If you want a cheap laptop, i have an HP NC6000 1 gig of RAM xp license etc

£200

i wouldnt buy a laptop over £350 on ebay, you can get good ones in the shops for £750/£800

PaulC72

Ebuyer had one 80gig hd 1gig mem dvd writer bluetooth etc for 300 the other day, ebay has its uses sadly laptops etc are not one of them {unless you are a scammer of course }

nooobyscooby

NO BLUDDY NO!

For God's sake get a grip on yourself!!

If you read someone else's post proposing to send £750 to a complete stranger in the hope they might send you a computer which they haven't even photographed themselves, you'd tell them to run a mile and so should you.

As others have said, you can get excellent brand new laptops from reputable companies with proper warranties from £350 upwards.

Dell Laptop for Home

I've had good Dell products for years.

Even the new very thin, very sexy Apple Mac is only £1150.

Deal with someone reliable.

DCI Gene Hunt

And the SN Ebay paranoid states takes a HUGE leap forward!!!

I just sold an item for £1850, the buyer only had 3 feedback so I asked for a wire transfer (he's in Austria) and with 48 hours the cash was in my bank and 24 hours after that (Parcelforce Data Post + Insurance) the item was in his possession!!

You can be TOO paranoid about these things

BlkKnight

is it a dell laptop?

If so, ask for the service tag > (blag it with Dell, say it's work machine and see who it's registered to).

On their website, stick in the service tag & see if it matches the description.

Sonic'

Doesnt make any difference with Dell's

I recently got hold of the Dell asset tag changer