Sold something on eBay. Buyer paying by Bankers Draft. R they dodgy?

[SpruceRI]

Just sold something for <£100 on ebay. Asked for payment by cheque or Postal Orders. Buyer has just sent me an email to say they have sent me a Bankers Draft today.

Just rung my Bank to find out how I tell it's a Bankers Draft and whether it is a dodgy one because I know it's quite easy to fake them.

They said to go into my local branch and let them have a look although he's not sure whether they can really tell until it's been presented.

So, should I email the buyer and tell them that I'll still give this cheque 7 working days to clear?

Reason I'm so worried is that they have only bought a few items in the last couple of months and one of them has a negative from the seller saying this person has defrauded them.

 

[snurse]

Whether dodgy or not, I'd tell them you're going to clear this through the bank first, and they'll have to wait for the goods. If they complain, say you're doing them a favour because you didn't specify bankers draft. Make sure the money's OK before you part with goods. Even if they leave bad feedback, you can reply to it. There are far too many scams on eBay at the moment.

 

[Tia]

Yes I agree with Daisy - just say to them that you'll have to wait for the cheque to clear before you can mail the goods. This is standard practice on eBay so they won't think there is anything out of the ordinary.

 

[dozzie]

Can you contact the person who was defrauded? Try to find out exactly what went on. I'd be careful if I was you as there are fake bankers drafts around. I would be tempted to assert myself and say only cheque or paypal. It does sound a bit dodgy. Plus why use a bankers draft for less than £100? Doesnt it cost more?

 

[SpruceRI]

Thanks dozziesmummy, will try what you suggested

I agree. My bank said it costs about £10 to get a Bankers Draft made up for that much money, which sounds a bit silly when Postal Orders are cheap in comparison, or personal cheques fee free.

 

[PurplePickle]

Costs £10 for a bankers draft seems odd for under £100, I would wait till it clears, if it clears

If they are genuine they will wait and not get a stroppy on

 

[SpruceRI]

Thanks

 

[PennyJ]

Well I sometimes put that one, well click the PO/Bankers Draft one, and I usually just send cash for small amounts. Wait and see what comes, and contact the person who claims to have been defrauded to see what happened there. Obviously you won't be sending off the goods until you're happy the payments gone through.

 

[SpruceRI]

The trouble with cheques of any sort - as I'm told by my Bank is that they never actually clear. Apparently the Bank the cheque is drawn on has upto 30 days to return a cheque as unpaid. What a con!

In the days when I worked in a Bank a cheque cleared in 3 working days and if the drawn on Bank tried to return it unpaid after that it was tough luck. They couldn't.

Now it seems that cheques literally aren't worth having which is maybe why a lot of shops won't accept them now.

Think I will have to go down the Paypal route in future and work out how to use it!!

 

[snurse]

Personally will only use Paypal and will only accept Paypal. It's easy to use, and while I expect it's not immune to scams, at least it's fairly foolproof. Also, it's so much used now, I tend to wonder why people aren't using it! (Suspicious me!!)

 

[brightmount]

[ QUOTE ]
Personally will only use Paypal and will only accept Paypal. It's easy to use, and while I expect it's not immune to scams, at least it's fairly foolproof. Also, it's so much used now, I tend to wonder why people aren't using it! (Suspicious me!!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Paypal isn't the secure way of receiving payment that it makes out to be. If you receive a Paypal payment, you assume it is cleared, and you send the goods. But did you know a Paypal payment can bounce? It happened to me, 10 days after receiving payment, and of course after I had sent the goods. If the buyer is over their credit limit on their two payment methods, then Paypal reserve the right to take the payment back from your account. They don't tell you that, and you won't know until it happens - you aren't protected as a seller.

If you have no balance in your Paypal account and they bounce a payment you received, then it will show as a negative balance on your account. But as soon as any movement happens on your Paypal account, they will take the money. In my case, my ebay fees were set up to be paid by Paypal and funded by my bank account. Paypal used the opportunity to dip into my bank account at the same time to restore my negative balance back to zero. This made me overdrawn with my bank and so I incurred bank charges.

So sellers be aware.

 

[SpruceRI]

Thanks Tamster

I knew there was some reason I didn't like using Paypal. The other I have just found out is that Paypal can act as an intermediary in a dispute and find in favour of one person or another. How they do this I don't know because I'm sure they don't send someone out to look at the goods being sold and decide whether the description was correct or not.

So, if a buyer claims an item was not as described, Paypal will refund them via the sellers account. Sounds well dodgy to me.

So, maybe Postal Orders or cash are the safest methods??

 

[*hic*]

As a seller you cannot now request cash in your listing. Postal Orders are good or the easiest of all, Bank Transfer which can't be recalled after 24 hours have passed. With PayPal provided you follow their Terms and Conditions EXACTLY then you have a measure of protection.

As a buyer I prefer to use PayPal.