Cocked Up On eBay, Need Help!

[Mechanicus]

Okay, before you laugh, I am aware this was my fault. I am also stressing out, and just need advice on what to do.

Okay, I bought an Xbox 360 on eBay, as well as a couple of games, each from different sellers (good feedback etc.).

Now, I accidentally used my current account instead of my dad's credit card, who I am borrowing the money off of for the stuff. I don't have enough in my account to cover the cost of the stuff.

So I contact the seller, and he agrees to send me the money via Paypal, so I can pay again with my dad's card. Stupid me, paid him back with the money he just sent me.

So here we are, back to square one, minus the cost of moving the money about (£12 each).

What can I do?!

[Druchii]

Ask him again and apologise again...

[Mechanicus]

But... umm... if he sends me the money, and I pay with my dad's card, won't he be getting twice the money? And then there is the fact that the money will still be coming out of my account. Even if I put the PayPal money he sends me in, it won't clear until it's too late.

[kryogenik]

Use eBay to get seller's contact details. Ring him up.
You'll probably find he's an alright guy.
Tell him you goofed up and you'll front any fees he has due to it all (if any).
And if there isn't any, offer to flirt him a few quid for his trouble - he'll likely say no anyway. Even if he says yes, it's a fiver or so more for your mistake and for his inconvenience.

[gooner4life]

Use your dads card to pay the money into your current account?

[Mechanicus]

This did occur to me.
How would it work though?

[keithwalton]

You could just goto the hole in the wall with your dad, withdraw the money required and then use the atm to deposit it in your account and it should credit your account as if the money went in today.

If its a credit card you will be charged for making a cash withdrawl so its prob worth checking just how much that is, but its probably less than the faffing around with paypal fees.

If the person has been sucessfully paid then leave him alone and just sort it out your end.

[punky]

This did occur to me.
How would it work though?

Transfer the money from his CC to your Paypal, and then into your current account.

Don't use one of those CC cheques or draw the money out of an ATM, because you'll pay cash advance fees & interest, which is a lot more than standard purchases.

[Mechanicus]

I cannot get the money out with my dad, he lives 140 miles away.
I cannot just 'leave him alone' - I cannot afford it on my account, so he won't be getting the money if I cannot sort it.

As to transferring the funds on PayPal - I tried, and it asks for my email address. I put it in, and it tells me I cannot send money to myself.

[kryogenik]

So...
Tell your dad to ring his CC company or go online and transfer the cash to your account??
Or, do as I suggested earlier and ring to ask the guy to send the money back again and apologise?

[Mechanicus]

Will that get done by Monday? Because if the bank transfer is automated I expect it'll come out on Monday :(

I know this is my cockup, and I appreciate people helping.

Edit:: To your edit - I contacted him via email, but he hasn;t gotten back to me yet.

[kryogenik]

No, no. You can get a sellers contact details (phone number, name and address) by eBay.
I have no idea about time scales with banks/CC's/Paypal, sorry.
Worst comes to worst, ring your bank and get a temporary overdraft.
If you're a decent customer they'll gladly give you £500 for a month or so.

:edit: Paypal can't take the money straight out of your bank, they have to request it.
They pay on your behalf, and you pay them when it clears - hence the fees.
If you can get to your bank first thing Monday AM with the cash, you'll be OK.
I think..

[Mechanicus]

No, no. You can get a sellers contact details (phone number, name and address) by eBay.
I have no idea about time scales with banks/CC's/Paypal, sorry.
Worst comes to worst, ring your bank and get a temporary overdraft.
If you're a decent customer they'll gladly give you £500 for a month or so.

:edit: Paypal can't take the money straight out of your bank, they have to request it.
They pay on your behalf, and you pay them when it clears - hence the fees.
If you can get to your bank first thing Monday AM with the cash, you'll be OK.
I think..


Yes, I have spoken with the family on this, and they reckon I stand a good chance if I get down to the bank ASAP Monday morning.
In the meanwhile the seller might get back to me by email.

[keithwalton]

For the paypal thing to work you will need your dad to have an account setup, and then his account pay you, will take time though and cost you money.
Setting up an overdraft will take at least till midnight to 48 hours depending on which bank you are with.
How much over will it take you ?

As i think paypal wont let you send money if it stands a chance of being rejected. As i have had it before when i was a few quid short in my account it wouldnt let me, i went to the bank paid in the £5 needid and it then let it through.

I would suspect your bank has already approved to let paypal have the money and will happily now charge you for going overdrawn / over your limit.

[kryogenik]

I would suspect your bank has already approved to let paypal have the money and will happily now charge you for going overdrawn / over your limit.

I'd guess that being at the doors upon opening with the cash will spur the manager into waiving any charges.
If not, it's worth a go.

[Mechanicus]

Well, I will have about £170 in the bank come Monday, and the items (I did a bulk-buy for 4 different sellers at once) comes to about £220-£240.

My plan is to get the money from my 'car box' (some funds for car repairs etc.) and rush down to Natwest on Monday, as soon as they open (Which I am unsure of, I'll have to find out), and bank it.

I am not too bothered with having bank charges, as I am in the process of reclaiming them which - somewhat ironically - was what made me decide to get a '360.

[Russ]

Don't do anything til Pia gets here - she's the daddy of sorting out CF ebay problems.

[Russ]

Good news: Pia's on her way.

[Pia]

Right let me get this straight.... you were going to pay using your Dad's credit card? How were you doing that is his card linked to your paypal account?... Assuming it is then just ask the seller to refund again and when you pay again on the pay now page click other funding options to change to the credit card..

Or is that too simple.. am i missing something:dunce:

[Mechanicus]

Well, I don't know if it is that simple. The last time I asked him to do this, I only saw options to use the money he had sent me, not to change it to a credit card.
I then have the same problem as normal - money coming out of my account I don't have. The money he would send me would be on PayPal, which is going to take X number of days to be transferred to my account (7-9 days I think). So I would have the money, but not in the place I need it.

I appreciate the thought, but I think the easiest and most straightforward way for me is to just get down there Monday and pay the money into my account.

[Pia]

Well, I don't know if it is that simple. The last time I asked him to do this, I only saw options to use the money he had sent me, not to change it to a credit card.
I then have the same problem as normal - money coming out of my account I don't have. The money he would send me would be on PayPal, which is going to take X number of days to be transferred to my account (7-9 days I think). So I would have the money, but not in the place I need it.

I appreciate the thought, but I think the easiest and most straightforward way for me is to just get down there Monday and pay the money into my account.
Yeah that would be easiest and quickest..... but i still don't know how you planned to use your dad's credit card to pay via paypal unless his card is activated to use on your paypal account... if that is the case then for next time change to use backup funding options, i.e the credit card!

[Mechanicus]

I completely missed the option to change the payments, due to my illness (bad cold) and because it was a bulk-payment page it was set out differently. Plus I'm a thicko.

Last time my mum needed to use Paypal, she just put her card onto my account, no complications, and I think the same would have been true of my dad's.

The only other 'iffy' thing is that my 'backup' payment option is my credit card, which is close to the 'soft' limit. I don't know what the hard limit it (It has a low limit on it before you think I am some huge money-squanderer :)). Do you think that if the money isn't in my current account they'll try my credit card? If that's the case, and there is no fee involved for not having the money in the current account (is there?), would the money go into a credit card quicker than a current account?

[DocDutch]

bit late now I think but you could've just asked your dad to put the dosh into your bank account this morning ;) or now monday morning if you cant make it.
just dont panic :) as you also already notified the seller. if you are really worried it might set you overdrawn is contact your bank (think that Natwest has staff in open on sunday for telephone banking so you can request an overdraft then and that will be autherised.

[Mechanicus]

That overdraft thing sounds like an okay idea. I could still go down Monday and put the money in, but it would be like a safety net.

I just phoned them, and although she couldn't give me an answer, she did give me a number to call tomorrow.

I am just hoping I can have one, even for a week, because it would mean an end to the worry.

[Mechanicus]

Oh... great.
Phoned the number up that Natwest gave me, and they aren't open Sundays. Despite her saying "It opens from 10am Sundays".

So now I'm back to square one - rushing down Monday morning in the hope the money will clear in time :(

---------- Post added at 11:04 ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 ----------

Phoned up the first number (the one I found on Natwest's site) and spoke to some people. They actually helped me this time, but because I don't have a lending profile - having never borrowed from them - it will take up to 48hrs to get a repy, far too long for me. :(

I asked her if I got to the bank 9am Monday, and put cash in, would it clear, and she thinks it probably would.

She also said in her experience, if the money isn't in the account Paypal won't try and take it. I don't know why Paypal let it go through if that is the case, but either way it might go to my Credit Card (backup funding source), which might not have enough in it. As I said earlier, it is close to the soft limit, but I don't know how much the hard limit is (The amount they let you go over your limit before they say 'no more').

I will ask in the bank which will be quicker to clear - card or current account.
If they say the CC will be quicker, it may be worthwhile puttingthe money in the CC, and then when PayPal tries my current account, it will go straight to the CC which should have the funds then.


Does anyone know what will happen if PayPal tries both, and cannot get the money from either? Will it ask me what to do?

[Halcyon]

Don't they try several times. If it is not there the first time, they will try again later, up to a certain amount of days before they take it further.
Probably depends on the company and banks though.

[Mechanicus]

Don't they try several times. If it is not there the first time, they will try again later, up to a certain amount of days before they take it further.
Probably depends on the company and banks though.

That sounds an ideal situation for me. I hope that is the case.

[maddyp]

if you go to the bank and put in cash it shows instantly on your acount as cleared funds-eg if you then went ot a cash point you could take the money out again.
Don't worry - you will be fine. x

[Mechanicus]

Just to let you know, I got to the bank Monday morning, and put the money in. In the end, the money didn't come out until Wednesday, so I would have been fine either way.

Natwest never got back to me about a temporary overdraft, which doesn't surprise me considering they are the worst bank I have ever dealt with, and I plan on leaving them soon.


The Xbox 360 is fine, it was made in 2006 (so not a release model), and the MS warranty label is intact (so no repairs or modifications done to it). I am getting into Gears of War, but I cannot play DOA4 as it makes my blood boil (I really HATE getting trapped in a corner and pummelled with no way of blocking or countering :().

I am still waiting for Dead Rising, and I will be opening a Paypal disbute on Tuesday if I have not received it by then (10 days). I currently have:

GoW
DOA4
Burnout: Revenge

And I'm waiting on:
Dead Rising
Saints Row
THPS:P8

Thanks everyone for the help!

[Halcyon]

Glad you got it sorted in the end :tu:

[SMHarman]

I completely missed the option to change the payments, due to my illness (bad cold) and because it was a bulk-payment page it was set out differently. Plus I'm a thicko.

Last time my mum needed to use Paypal, she just put her card onto my account, no complications, and I think the same would have been true of my dad's.

The only other 'iffy' thing is that my 'backup' payment option is my credit card, which is close to the 'soft' limit. I don't know what the hard limit it (It has a low limit on it before you think I am some huge money-squanderer :)). Do you think that if the money isn't in my current account they'll try my credit card? If that's the case, and there is no fee involved for not having the money in the current account (is there?), would the money go into a credit card quicker than a current account?Well this is why you can send the money and make an instant transfer even though they have not taken the cash from your bank. PP have reserved the funds on your credit card so if the bank payment does not go through they can claim the money from the card.
So how were you going to pay on your dads card when your card was the backup funding option?
Dunno what to tell you , but I would be irritated as a seller to keep sending you money back, after all money is money it is fungible for a reason.