sold item on EBAY, taken deposit, no collection

[vw_golf_nutter]

hi all,

got a bit of a dilemma.

 

I put my marine fish tank on ebay and had a fair bit of interest.

 

I accepted an offer on it outside of ebay and agreed to end the listing on ebay if he paid a deposit to hold it and arrange collection.

 

I did receive a £50 deposit via paypal £150 to be paid cash on collection.

 

This guy arranged to come and collect last tuesday,

he then didnt turn up and said hes been busy can he come friday so i said yes,

 

friday he messaged and said hes going away for 4 days with family can he come tues or weds,

so again i said ok but did warn him that i am going on holiday friday

and if its not gone by then i will have to rehome the fish as i have no-one to take care of them while im away.

 

I messaged him this morning saying you havnt given me a day/time yet when you will collect the tank

and will need to leave work to meet you so need to know asap and again stressed im on holiday on friday.

 

i have not heard back yet.

 

where do i stand in terms of his deposit.

 

im worried that friday will come and i will have to rehome the fish to the local fish shop

and he will then kick off about it but i have warned him and did tell him it would need to be collected by friday.

 

i feel like ive been messed about loads and had other interest and that really i should be able to keep the £50

he paid and re-advertise the tank.

 

All the time im still paying for more salt water and food for the fish so im not happy.

Any advice?

 

Thanks

[citizenB]

Oh dear, this is not good news.

 

If you had other interested parties, perhaps you could ask the next one down the list if they are still interested. If so, return the £50.00 deposit to the buyer who is messing you around and say that you were unable to hold the item any longer.

[raydetinu]

yep best bet is to sell again, but need to return deposit, less legitimate expenses.

Always dodgy selling outside ebay; you can still end early but get payment in full, you can then open a dispute if something goes wrong, but beware they usually side with buyer.

[jfhall82]

Personally I would be inclined to keep the deposit... that's the entire point of it!? Despite several opportunities and concessions on your part he's failed to honor his side of the agreement.

Unless you specifically stated the deposit was refundable I'd take a hard line on it, he's messing you about.

[ericsbrother]

Sell the item and refund the putative buyer when the item is sold should they ask for the money back