LOCAL PICK UP GETTING VERY FRUSTRATING

[turquoisetulips]

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We have this pre owned Jazzy electric wheelchair for sale  ,, low price  because it needs some repairs .. In the title I wrote'' local pick up'' .Inside the item description it says ''local pick up only , this item can not be shipped'' . Then again under shipping options I marked it local pick up only . So thats THREE  times its been marked this way . We live in southern Ca. . A few days ago a buyer in Ohio purchased it and then sent me his address  in which to ship it . When I pointed out this was a local pick up only  he argued with me saying  in the listing it says -FREE SHIPPING . He was promptly refunded . Then this morning I received a message from another interested party  saying  '' your ad says'' free shipping''  then it says  '' local pick up only ''   so which is it ?  Okay so  what am I missing ? I've done all that I can to make buyers fully aware that I can not ship a heavy item such as this wheelchair  for a total of 50 dollars . Is there anything else I should be doing with this listing ? Thanks  -Tulips 

[bonjourami]

i think you've done all you can..i had the exact same thing happen when I listed an antique barber chair for local pick up only. Tho I listed mine in the auction format, every day I would go thru the bids and cancel those that were thousands of miles away. I also got emails asking about the shipping cost. Finally a buyer in Colorado sniped it. I thought oh no! As it turned out, he was coming here to Chicago for a visit, rented a uhaul and drove it all the back to his barber shop in Co. So hang in there and good luck!

[adkhighker]

The only thing that says "free" is in the string of your "sold" items list where the shipping line there says "Pickup only: Free."  No where in your listing does it say "Free Shipping," so either your buyers are having problems with their reading comprehension,  or they're simply trying to take advantage. 

[poppyswag]

Local pick-up has always been problematic. Ebay doesn't really support it. And the required credit card or PP payment option to list can lead to reversals with no good proof it was picked up.

[bonjourami]

If its a PP payment, the buyer cannot claim inr on local pick up,unless the seller refused to allow him to pick the item up.But yes, he can go thru his cc.

[buyselljack2016]

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@adkhighker wrote:

The only thing that says "free" is in the string of your "sold" items list where the shipping line there says "Pickup only: Free."  No where in your listing does it say "Free Shipping," so either your buyers are having problems with their reading comprehension,  or they're simply trying to take advantage. 

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Are you looking on a PC? 

Some strange things show up on mobile devices. Perhaps it shows different on a phone .

[poppyswag]

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@bonjourami wrote:

If its a PP payment, the buyer cannot claim inr on local pick up,unless the seller refused to allow him to pick the item up.But yes, he can go thru his cc.

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If the buyer says they were not allowed to pick it up, the burden is on the seller to "prove" that, as always. And you can't definitively prove that.

[lex-talon]

Your listing makes it very clear.  Some buyer's don't fully understand the concept of "free local pick up" it seems. 

I also live in Southern Ca., Orange County to be exact. A few years ago, a buyer from Ca. bought my Dad's mini drill press

and a few other items that were free local pick up only. 

The only problem was, he paid with Paypal. But everything turned out alright. I hope you sell that wheel chair soon. 

Good luck to you.

[fern*wood]

Pick up only is troublesome.  I've had some luck, but have pretty much stopped listing this way after being warned of an off ebay sale.  I have much better luck selling locally through other venues.

Ebay really needs to stop using the word "Free" anywhere on these listings and in search.  Buyers see that word and go straight to buy now.

[ohnojoey]

Here is a theory;

Despite "local pickup" everywhere in the listing, and the fact that some people don't read everything,  I believe, in certain cases, a persons mind sees this:

"Shipping: Free Local Pickup"

and stops there. Those two words together are very powerful, and sometimes we see what we want to see.

My contention is that Ebay should eliminate the first large font line-

"Shipping: Free Local Pickup," and replace it with "Local Pickup Only."

The line- "Ships to: Local pick-up only" is in small faded font three lines down.
This may sound petty but I think it matters with placement and words used, and the nature of comprehension.

On a side note, in the title, I would replace "LOCAL PICK UP-50$" with

NO SHIPPING - LOCAL PICKUP ONLY. 

It could read to some like it costs $50 to pick it up.

[adkhighker]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

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@adkhighker wrote:

The only thing that says "free" is in the string of your "sold" items list where the shipping line there says "Pickup only: Free."  No where in your listing does it say "Free Shipping," so either your buyers are having problems with their reading comprehension,  or they're simply trying to take advantage. 

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Are you looking on a PC? 

Some strange things show up on mobile devices. Perhaps it shows different on a phone .

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Both. At first, I checked on a PC. After reading your question, I checked on ebay's mobile app, too, and it was the same thing. I didn't see any mention of free shipping there either, and I checked on both the sold item (the one that was refunded) and the current listing of it as well. Nothing about free shipping anywhere.

[gew6463]

I can't even imagine what that would cost to ship for Free; must weigh a ton!

Sorry you are having such a problem with this Tulips  . Annoying to say the least. I'm  assuming a cancellation on this doesn't count as a mark against you. Is there any way to actually block someone who isn't local (like within distance/miles, such as search filters allow) from purchasing? I suppose not, but it would benefit Ebay to do so.  I have been hearing of other sellers having this same problem with the local pick-up option. 

[hillbillymedia]

I tried to sell a few things on ebay by "local pick up only" when I first started out and I had similar outcomes as you did. So many don`t read an ad or think they can get away with forcing things because so many sellers are afraid to risk negative feedback.

[jagre-1652]

I sold a local pickup that the guy wanted shipped...he lived 1/2 from me.

I wasn't about to lug a 50 lb box of agates to FedEx just so the buyer "didn't have to bother leaving the house".

I ended up listing them individually over the course of several months and making 3x what he was going to pay

[gramophone-georg]

FWIW, in my niche, antique windup phonographs, in the search list I'd see humongous console machines listed as "Shipping: FREE" under the price. Wondering how on Earth that was possible, I'd click on these listings only to find that "Shipping: FREE" meant local pick up only.

I went and searched today and this seems to have disappeared, so likely this was another- possibly recurring- eBay "glitch".

But yes, there ARE buyers who just want to do things their way and won't take 'no' for an answer, as well.

Incidentally- shameless plug- I've shipped lots of big heavy items station to station via Greyhound at killer prices, and never had anything damaged- ever. Just FYI in case you want the flexibility. They offer online tracking as well. If you do this with eBay, just work with your buyer to change their address to the Greyhound terminal of choice in PayPal.