Having someone from Ebay come to your house

mrapbp

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Hi All,

I just wanted your thoughts on an Ebay transaction and if I am just being paranoid.

I am selling a fairly high price watch on Ebay and said I would do a face to face if necessary. A guy has asked to come and collect it from my home today but I am not sure how I feel about that.

He has loads of good feedback so no real reason to feel odd about it but my whole family is in and for some reason having some random come to my home to buy a£2.5k watch is making me feel uneasy.

So am I just being paranoid? Would you do it?

Cheers!
 
No reason itself to feel paranoid.

Questions spring to mind? How is he paying? Cash? Have you got a decent method of testing all notes? How are you going to handle him if he decides to rush the transaction?

Or are you doing a bank transfer in the local branch of your bank?

Will you have anyone with you at the time?

Personally I wouldn't as there are too many wasters on eBay. Most people want a bargain, rather than pay what something is worth. How much would a decent jewellers offer you? Bet you it's only a couple of hundred less for no hassle.
 
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He is talking about cash, my thoughts were to meet him at a Costa Coffee so not at home and in a busy place. Then get him to follow me to my bank which is just down the road then put the cash straight into my account.

If he tries to offer me less then he has wasted 2 hrs driving because I wont take it.

Not to worried about having someone with me, I dont intimidate easily and I am more worried about having someone at my home with the wife and 3 kids home.

No reason itself to feel paranoid.

Questions spring to mind? How is he paying? Cash? Have you got a decent method of testing all notes? How are you going to handle him if he decides to rush the transaction?

Or are you doing a bank transfer in the local branch of your bank?

Will you have anyone with you at the time?

Personally I wouldn't as there are too many wasters on eBay. Most people want a bargain, rather than pay what something is worth. How much would a decent jewellers offer you? Bet you it's only a couple of hundred less for no hassle.
 
Put yourself in the buyers shoes for a second. What would you sooner do

A) Spend £2.5k on a watch and collect it in person
B) Spend £2.5k on a watch, hope Royal Mail Special delivery do their job properly, hope the seller packages the item properly etc.

I wouldn't even think of spending £2.5k from anyone on Ebay unless I could pick the item up as a relative got defrauded out of a similar amount of money via an Ebay seller.
 
Tell him you don't really want £2.5k in your home and you'd rather get it straight into a bank, so meeting in town is preferred.

I suspect that if he's willing to drive for two hours for the watch, he probably won't mind an extra 10 minutes to town. As his feedback is good I wouldn't be too concerned, but with the amount of money being handled, I'd get the bank to check it whilst he's with you (and before you hand over the watch) just to be on the safe side.
 
He is talking about cash, my thoughts were to meet him at a Costa Coffee so not at home and in a busy place. Then get him to follow me to my bank which is just down the road then put the cash straight into my account.

Sounds like a good plan to me, especially the last bit :smashin:
 
I agree and am happy for him to collect it, I guess I just dont want it near my family. Like I say I tend to think the worst in certain situations.......

Put yourself in the buyers shoes for a second. What would you sooner do

A) Spend £2.5k on a watch and collect it in person
B) Spend £2.5k on a watch, hope Royal Mail Special delivery do their job properly, hope the seller packages the item properly etc.

I wouldn't even think of spending £2.5k from anyone on Ebay unless I could pick the item up as a relative got defrauded out of a similar amount of money via an Ebay seller.
 
And if he has two massive mates with him and/or a knife? What exactly is Joe public going to do? Nothing.

Sorry, but seems like a very bad idea to me. You can't make a man follow you to the bank if he doesn't want to.

The fact that you're asking the question tells me you think it is a bad idea.

Queue someone else saying how they sold a Porsche in a layby and it was fine.

It may well be. Personally not for me.

I may well be wrong and chap could be the nicest gent you meet.
 
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I wouldn't even think of spending £2.5k from anyone on Ebay unless I could pick the item up

Same here - I've bought a few multi-thousand £ bits of hifi - I either go myself and collect, or send a trusted friend-relative if they live much closer than me.

Going to the bank sounds like a good bet - if you tell him that's the plan then he will be deterred if his is a fraudster, although in this case they sound good.
 
I agree with dazza, there are just as many dody seller as buyers on Ebay, so cut the gut some slack,


To your advantage, you have no Paypal fees, no loss in the post and no claims of the watch begin damaged or even switched and returned.

Make sure you draft a recipt that covers you through Ebay and both sign it.
 
Really not too worried about that kind of thing, you would have to be a hardcore crim to 'mug' someone in a public place.

I am not 100% happy but like I say I always see the potential for the worst in people, look for the angle or how someone could act inappropriately.

If he isnt OK coming to the bank then I am thinking something is dodgy so wont do it. I have his number now so will give him a call and see what he thinks.

And if he has two massive mates with him and/or a knife? What exactly is Joe public going to do? Nothing.

Sorry, but seems like a very bad idea to me. You can't make a man follow you to the bank if he doesn't want to.

The fact that you're asking the question tells me you think it is a bad idea.

Queue someone else saying how they sold a Porsche in a layby and it was fine.

It may well be. Personally not for me.
 
I've collected items I've bought and also had people come to collect items I've sold. No issue with it here. If it makes you feel more comfortable doing it in town and having the money put straight into your bank then that's all good. There are still a lot of decent honest people that use ebay.
 
I wouldn't dream of buying something like a watch off ebay at that price without wanting to collect it if it was only a couple of hours away. Just put yourself in his position. He might be thinking the same things about you as you are of him. I'd be thinking like him - it's 2 hours away, I'll pop in my car, check it's not scratched to hell and the hands are going the right way round.
I have bought and sold lots of stuff both here and on ebay. I would say 75% were face to face sales. Values of £300-£4k.

Phil
 
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I've collected items I've bought and also had people come to collect items I've sold. No issue with it here.

this, will continue to do so, much easier than posting if theyre nearby, didnt realise people were so cynical :laugh:
 
If he isnt OK coming to the bank then I am thinking something is dodgy so wont do it. I have his number now so will give him a call and see what he thinks.

Spot on mate, you've got no choice as it's the only real way of having that money validated as genuine imo. I'm sure it will be fine, par for the course I would say if he's an experienced buyer.
 
This is how people used to sell things, place an advert then some stranger comes to your house and buys said item. If I was spending 2.5k on a watch and the seller didn't want me coming to his house I would think there is something dodgy going on.
 
Girlfriend experienced assault and attempted mugging on two different occasions. People don't get involved.

Sorry to hear that, but were these from people buying things off ebay, or was this just random?

I can understand your views given those experiences, but the chances of that happening in a busy town, during the day are actually quite small - even in some quite rough areas.
 
Don't you think that as a buyer he will think something dodgy is going on if you don't want him to know where you live?

I'll turn gamingboy's suggestion around and approach it from the buyer's side, would anyone here Buy a Porshe from some in a layby?

I thought not... :D

If you were selling a car for £2.5k would you have the same concerns about selling it from home?

I've done a number of buyer collects (and a few sales) and it's always been collected from the sellers house, except once when I met someone halfway at a pub car park and we transferred the goods from his boot to mine. Now that felt well dodgy as we did it as it was a large tent roughly the size of a body :)

Ask him to pick you up at your house, you don't have to let him in, and go to the bank together. But do give him a call and arrange it first.
 
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People go to other people's homes when they are buying second hand cars all the time. If you have your purchasers name and address and you get cash in a bank branch its probably the safest way to conduct the transaction. Sounds the most sensible route to me for both sides of the deal.
 
Wouldnt say it's cynical. Just my experience of human nature unfortunately. Didn't want to mention it because its scaremongering.

However friend selling a car on eBay. Two guys turn up and queue theft of car. Not the brightest of thieves for obvious reasons, but thieves non the less. For every one of them there are thousands of cars sold fine on eBay.

I don't need to cut the buyer slack. I've already said he may be a decent fella and he probably has his concerns about the buyer. Goes without saying.

For the OP to ask the question he has a concern.
 
The tricky thing about the home-buy though is validating the money. One option is a banker's draft, or he can call his bank and do a chaps or fast-payment transfer - they are same (week) day but not appear instantly.
 
Iccz said:
Sorry to hear that, but were these from people buying things off ebay, or was this just random?

I can understand your views given those experiences, but the chances of that happening in a busy town, during the day are actually quite small - even in some quite rough areas.

It's fine mate. She's a tough cookie and gave the bloke who punched her a good right hook and a kick in the boys department. :)

Edit: She's not a geezer bird. She just doesn't take s*** from anyone. Me included. I tend to do as I'm told. :)

Both just random. My point was to highlight that the the perception of security in public is generally a false one.

Is deal in the hundreds with the public. Otherwise I won't bother. The higher the amount goes that I'm.not prepared to lose then won't do it.

Sorry this is becoming a bit tic for tac.

I'm not knocking those that do these deals and I'm not saying you shouldn't. As there are only a smalll number that turn sour.

Just for me I personally wouldn't risk it.

Watch for £200. Car for £500. Yep fine. Can live with losing that. More than that. I won't take the risk.

Genuinely wish you well. Are you buying another? Or just looking to move on. To lighten the thread I'm thinking of getting a nice watch for my 30th.
 
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I'd offer to meet him in town. As its an expensive watch, you could suggest to him that you'll both go to a jewellers first to confirm it is authentic, and once done you'll go to the bank, transfer the money then give him the watch. You can both then sign a receipt each.
 

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