What is the work around for selling Local Pick Up items?

[newjerseypicker08836]

  Do any local pick up sellers have a system they use now for sharing contact information in local pick up only cases where the buyer wants/needs to inspect the item before commiting 100% to purchasing?

 As many may know or not know, eBay is sending warning emails for selling outside of ebay if you share your address or phone number to let the buyer look at an item.

I thought that by clearly stating in my listing that Paypal payment must be made prior to pick up that eBay might get the message I was not selling outside of the market place.

I prefer to have the items paid before pick up for two reasons.

1. I dont have to deal with sellers looking for lower price negotiations which happen better than 80% of the time.

2. The seller tends to show up on time and I dont end up wasting half a day when buyers cant show up on time?

I think eBay threw the baby out with the bath water when they came up with the idea of blocking the sharing of information. I also understand that eBay is losing money to outside sales on this issue but the way they implimented this just makes it such a pain in the A)) that potential buyers just say forget it.

I tell them they have to pay for the item first and if there is a problem when they they come look at and test the item that I will promptly cancel the sale for them. Is there a better way? I dont want to deal with cash for the above stated reasons.

[coolections]

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@newjerseypicker08836 wrote:

I tell them they have to pay for the item first and if there is a problem when they they come look at and test the item that I will promptly cancel the sale for them. Is there a better way? I dont want to deal with cash for the above stated reasons.

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They should have no problems when they arrive to pick it up. Just the same as someone buying and you shipping. There should be no problems when the package arrives. No need for contact or early visits to your house prior to purchase. Add more pictures and give good descriptions.

[mr_lincoln]

@newjerseypicker08836  I recently had an L.P. order and simply sent a letter in the mail to the customer with specific directions to our home and other info pertinent to the purchase, eventual visit, inspection, etc.   The Buyer's address becomes available to you when the order is placed.

I know it is rather stupid that a Local Pick up order still has blocks on by eBay for sharing contact information ...

[d-k_treasures]

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@coolections wrote:

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@newjerseypicker08836 wrote:

I tell them they have to pay for the item first and if there is a problem when they they come look at and test the item that I will promptly cancel the sale for them. Is there a better way? I dont want to deal with cash for the above stated reasons.

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They should have no problems when they arrive to pick it up. Just the same as someone buying and you shipping. There should be no problems when the package arrives. No need for contact or early visits to your house prior to purchase. Add more pictures and give good descriptions.

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Of course.  Everything is perfect for everyone. Uh huh .......

I would prefer cash on pickup.

[ersatz_sobriquet]

The simple logical answer is that if the customer needs/wants to inspect the item before local pick up and needs contact information, that you list the item on a venue where you can meet the customer's needs. 

[newjerseypicker08836]

Why wont eBay announce they are starting this system and have some type of work around in place so sellers dont lose sales?

Very poor planning and execution of basic seller transaction needs.

[jonathankirkland]

@Anonymous

Care to weigh in here?

[hidy-hoo]

Asked and answered:

@pdxcyclebroker wrote:

  So I called ebay "support" and asked them what the protocal was for completing a "local pickup only" transaction....  They don't know.

Hey everyone, happy to give some next steps on this. A seller can provide a customer service phone number to their buyers by inputting this information within their account settings. You will need to make sure your account is set up as a Business Account under "Personal Information" in your Account settings. From there you can go to "Manage communication with buyers" and select Edit to the right of "What your buyers can do" about three-fourths of the way down the page. From there, you can input a customer service number on the next screen that buyers will be provided when they try to contact a seller after purchase. This will allow you and the buyer work out a meeting time and location for the item they purchased.

Addtionally, I want to clarify that we review any concerns of an off site sale and would be able to see that this was a local pickup situation, so there is nothing to worry about. Certain words or phrases can trigger our automated email, however no action is taken until a manual review of the details is performed.

[mistwomandancing]

Thanks, hidy-hoo.  That helps.  Well, except that we all know eBay isn't quite trustworthy on some of these little things.... just sort of makes sellers a bit nervous. 

[newjerseypicker08836]

Why would they need a customer service phone number after the transaction has been completed? Once the customer purchases the item they will have access to my name and address as well as phone number as long as I have those contact options availible which I do.

Am I missing something here?

Why should the buyer have to contact eBay after the transaction!?

[jerzee908]

I have another page with a partner and we sell out of a shop.  When we list items with "Local Pick Up", we always get paid before, but we get messages asking us where our shop is located so we HAVE TO let a buyer know where we are located to see if it is feasible for them to pick up whatever item it is.  (Even though our item location is stated in the listing.....buyers don't believe that and rightfully so.....which is a whole other issue).  We also let buyers know if they come look at the item and they have an issue, we will just cancel the sale and refund.  We list big stuff like motors, body parts, etc with "Pick Up Only".

The problem with "Local Pick Ups" on ebay is that say if I have a motor for a 57 Chevy that we could sell out of our shop $400..........I have to sell it on ebay for $450 to get the $400 I could easily of got selling it locally myself.

I think in all of my years selling on ebay and using "Local Pick Up", I could count on one hand the amount of sales I got from it.

[alcoforever]

hidy-hoo's answer is all well and good but how do you handle it when a potential bidder wants to come look at a local pickup item before buying?

[mistwomandancing]

I can believe there would be a lot of items that are too large to want to ship, and that Local Pickup Only would be fine, except the items are very expensive items a buyer might be 90% sure on, but still want to do a personal evaluation before committing 100%.  For everyone who will arrange to ship a $5000 mid-century furniture piece just seen from photos, I'd think there would be more who would want to stop by that town and inspect the desired item in person... just to be *sure*

Don't know what work-around eBay could come up with that would suit all and protect themselves from off-site sales at the same time.  Obviously they don't want the site used to post photos and advertise items which sell without eBay being paid for their part in enabling the two parties to find each other.

Maybe items of this sort will have to be sold the way we do with cars on eBay now.  No sales are binding, etc.

[slippinjimmy]

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@alcoforever wrote:

hidy-hoo's answer is all well and good but how do you handle it when a potential bidder wants to come look at a local pickup item before buying?

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Obviously you won't be able to anymore just as it's pretty obvious that in this situation the seller and buyer are going to take the transaction off eBay.

Do you expect anyone to believe that if a POTENTIAL buyer is at your door and inspects an item they are going to pull out their phone and click the buy button? How about if they don't have a mobile device would you tell them to go home, make the on eBay purchase and come back later? Would you ask them to log into their account on YOUR computer and click the buy button?

[hidy-hoo]

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@alcoforever wrote:

hidy-hoo's answer is all well and good but how do you handle it when a potential bidder wants to come look at a local pickup item before buying?

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Yup, this only works after a buyer pays and as far as I know there is no way to exchange contact information for a LPO before purchase without ticking off a bot!  The last paragraph in Trinton's post does suggest that if contact information is exchanged before payment and you receive a nastygram, that it will be reviewed and if the listing is for local pickup only, all will be forgiven.

snip...

Addtionally, I want to clarify that we review any concerns of an off site sale and would be able to see that this was a local pickup situation, so there is nothing to worry about. Certain words or phrases can trigger our automated email, however no action is taken until a manual review of the details is performed.