Any suggestions about how to respond to this?

[triber]

I got a message from a potential buyer

"I like some of your items and want to pick up them myself to avoid shipping cost. Can I come over any convenient for you time over the weekend?"

I don't want to sell off-ebay, so I am not sure how to go about this.

[esclyons]

yes tell them to send you offers or buy it now, then when you send them an invoice, you select local pick up.. and mark the invoice with 0.00 shipping.. then they pay  you cash when they come to pick it up,  you then mark it as payment received, then you are done..

[esclyons]

the biggest thing is you have to conclude the transaction on ebay,  after that it is just a matter of being paid properly, then you hand of the goods, let them inspect them,  then you can mark the item, as paid, shipped, and leave feedback,  done..  don't let them pay with paypal and come and pick them up, it needs to be done in cash..

[momcqueen]

Are you in a position where you’re prepared to entertain an offer of Local Pickup?

[femmefan1946]

I hate to be  a grouch, but keep in mind that there is a good chance the buyer will show up late, or not at all.

My personal 'dumbo of the day' was the guy who told me he couldn't meet me at the Third Ave post office because he didn't know where that was.
His address was on Third Ave. And on the same block.

I'm not taken with pickups.

[triber]

Thanks for the helpful responses. I rarely accept pick-ups, especially at home, but my husband has sometimes met up with buyers to save them the shipping.

I have sent her a message back asking if she lives locally, she sounds Russian according to her name and language.

I think I will take the advice given and tell her if she purchases, not to pay with Paypal if it will work for her with combined shipping, which I find very "hit-and-miss".

[triber]

The problem I am running into is that when she tries to purchase each item, she has to pay immediately, I don't have immediate payment option on my items. Because of this I don't have the option to offer local pick-up on the invoice. She wants to come and pick the items up this morning, so I need some quick help!

[cumos55]

Many potential buyers have a problem with buying and not paying...

To help the potential buyer for a local pickup  I will add a Best Offer Option to the listing  and have the potential buyer  make an offer at one penny less than the listed price.  Best Ofer is accepted and arrangements for a local pickup are made.

I do specify that for a local pickup I only accept cash, Canadian dollars.

I also ask them to call me before they come.  This confirms they are coming for a pickup and this confirms I will be at home.

---------------------------------------

There was one sale where the buyer  bought and paid  with Paypal  and asked for a local pick.  A refund was made  and the buyer specified  he will only make a local pick up after having paid  using Paypal.

eBay's rules for a local pickup indicate that it is the seller's option to choose how to be paid... For me it has always been cash with a local pickup

Transaction was cancelled....

[cumos55]

Also.... When I communicate with a potential buyer, all communication is through eBay Messages

I do not sign messages on eBay Messages with my name.... just my eBay ID.  This prevents a local buyer from being able to track where I live, and  being ready to buy  as per their choice... 

Doing this also protects my identity  on the internet, from people that may not buy from me

Only once did I have a buyer unhappy with the basic reality that....

Once listed on eBay, items sell on eBay...

[electronicifycanada]

Since nobody brought it up I would like to mention it is against policy to pay for a eBay item and avoid fees doing it. So meeting in person and accepting cash could get you into trouble with eBay. There is some videos online of people complaining about getting suspended for that exact thing.

When I do local pickup I actually tell the buyer to just pay on eBay and then come by and I'll give it to them. I know theres that chance the buyer can scam you with that but most of my packages are letter-mail so I have that chance all the time.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@electronicifycanada wrote:

Since nobody brought it up I would like to mention it is against policy to pay for a eBay item and avoid fees doing it. So meeting in person and accepting cash could get you into trouble with eBay.

Accepting cash is not a problem if proper procedures are followed.

Fee avoidance will certainly attract the wrath of eBay. That, and not paying your fees are the two great sins as far as eBay is concerned.

-..-

[triber]

I have no intention of avoiding fees, my buyer wants to pay in cash when she gets here after she purchases on eBay.

A new problem, I have set up a special listing with the 9 items, and marked pick-up-only, but the message comes up to the buyer that it can't be shipped to Canada, I suppose because I list on .com. I tried doing it on .ca but that doesn't work either, I don't know what to do with this.

[momcqueen]

You're going to have to try logging into ebay.ca and then Sell Similar or Sell One Like This/Sell One Yourself from your own listing. Local Pickup kills shipping altogether which means it is exclusive to your ebay country/place of listing. 

[momcqueen]

It works when I do it backwards, logging into ebay.com and going to my store, taking my ebay Canada-originated listing and then this Sell Now and then Local Pickup. (Remember, all my listings originate on ebay.ca so I'm opposite of what you want to do.) If you had made arrangements for a price in USD, you'll have to come to a new agreement on CAD values.

Find the listingLocal Pickup: no shipping

[momcqueen]

(Or you could ask the buyer to create a fake USA-based address for purposes of purchasing this but that might seem a little sketchy to her. )

[lady.stark]

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@electronicifycanada wrote:

Since nobody brought it up I would like to mention it is against policy to pay for a eBay item and avoid fees doing it. So meeting in person and accepting cash could get you into trouble with eBay. There is some videos online of people complaining about getting suspended for that exact thing.

When I do local pickup I actually tell the buyer to just pay on eBay and then come by and I'll give it to them. I know theres that chance the buyer can scam you with that but most of my packages are letter-mail so I have that chance all the time.

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The OP in this case would not avoid paying fees. EBay charge their percentage as soon as the offer is accepted - paid immediately or not. And since the buyer does not pay shipping costs for a local pick-up, there is no fee avoidance there either.

Those videos you talk about must be from sellers NOT selling the items on eBay.

[lady.stark]

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@triber wrote:
A new problem, I have set up a special listing with the 9 items, and marked pick-up-only, but the message comes up to the buyer that it can't be shipped to Canada, I suppose because I list on .com. I tried doing it on .ca but that doesn't work either, I don't know what to do with this.

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Instead of creating a special listing for the buyer, why not adding the Best Offer option on each as cusmos55 suggested? That's what I would do....

[momcqueen]

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@lady.stark wrote:

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@triber wrote:
A new problem, I have set up a special listing with the 9 items, and marked pick-up-only, but the message comes up to the buyer that it can't be shipped to Canada, I suppose because I list on .com. I tried doing it on .ca but that doesn't work either, I don't know what to do with this.

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Instead of creating a special listing for the buyer, why not adding the Best Offer option on each as cusmos55 suggested? That's what I would do....

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There is a still somewhat of a risk with that. Say you as the seller agree to special pricing because it's a bulk purchase and then buyer backs out on four of five items, you're still stuck honouring the fifth for that steep discounted Best Offer price. Or you're fighting with ebay about the reason that you don't deserve the negative feedback or potential defect or whatever. Yes, you can include it in the 'terms and conditions' field but will Customer Service back you as the seller if the transaction turns ugly? It's hard to know. I considered that approach too and instead opted to go with Custom Bundles 99.6 per cent of the time. 

[triber]

I phoned eBay, and they did their best to help. Because I list on .com I am registered as an American seller, to I can't offer local pick up, because my Canadian buyers are counted at International.

The rep. finally came up with the option of putting in flat rate shipping to all, and putting in $1 shipping that I can refund to the buyer. Now if only she can purchase without an immediate payment it will work well. I explained the problem that comes up when trying to combine shipping costs that some buyers can't leave the purchase without paying. I explained that I had called eBay several times with this problem, and she said she would check my options, but I know that I don't have immediate payment marked, and I DO have that I combine shipping, it has been checked many times.

[ypdc_dennis · Accepted solution]

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@triber wrote:

I phoned eBay, and they did their best to help. Because I list on .com I am registered as an American seller, to I can't offer local pick up, because my Canadian buyers are counted at International.

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Yes you can.

Your alternative is to create a special bundle listing on eBay.CA detailing the items the buyer wants to buy. The price uses the equivalent Canadian $ value of your US listings and local shipping is set up for Canada.

...

Once the Canadian listing is bought you then close any now-out-of-stock .COM listings.

-..-