Strange ebay situation, need advice?

AMDPower

AMDPower

AMDPower

Soldato
Joined
24 Feb 2004
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HI all

Just wanted to get some advice regarding a ebay situation. I wanted to purchase a laptop from ebay and the user has 0 feedback and is from Bulgaria. Now normally zero feedback does not bother me as i am covered by ebay and paypal protection and have done this few times without much fuss. We agreed on a price and he closed the listing early and sold to highest bidder.

So i bought a item for £1500, i went to pay for the item inside ebay using they pay now button and few minutes later got a text from paypal saying suspicious activity on your account give us a call. I phone them and they tell me that users email address i made a payment to using ebay "pay now" button is not linked to a paypal account so seller cant receive payment.
Their advice was to tell the user to cancel the listing and relist it. The user told me because he has a new account he cant relist the item till next month because he has a limit on how much he can sell as a new user per month, £650 he quoted me.

He told me, his paypal email address was different from that of his ebay account and not sure why it was not linked because when he went to list the item it gave him the option to use a valid paypal email which he provided. For some reason it has not linked. He said that he can send me a invoice through paypal and he would put down the ebay item number and description ect ect and I pay like that. This would mean purchasing outside ebay and I am not comfortable with that.

I phone paypal for advice, but to my surprise they have said if I get sent a invoice for "goods and services" and it has all details of item i am buying then i would be covered in case things go sour and i get sent rocks.

My gut feeling says not to trust what paypal are saying to me, i have never dealt with item like this outside ebay even though they tell me i am covered. I dont fancy loosing £1500

what should i do in this situation?

Thanks all
 
Three questions:

1) Is £1500 a bargain for the laptop in question? No, buy elsewhere. Yes, scam.

2) Can you afford to throw away £1500? No, buy elsewhere. Yes, well thats your perogative.

3) Is the laptop rare? No, buy elsewhere. Yes, scam.
 
From my experience dealing outside of eBay (MM on here, some Facebook selling groups, Gumtree), PayPal Goods and Services still applies. i.e. you're both covered if the seller doesn't deliver the goods, or the buyer is problematic. So I'd say you're ok, especially if an invoice/payment request is issued by them. Make sure you use PayPal G&S and use a credit card for extra coverage.

All of that advice would apply for a UK sale - the Bulgaria part is down to your judgement. I wouldn't be too worried :)
 
0 feedback, from Bulgaria and most probable he's only recently joined eBay (correct me if I'm wrong on that last point). Paypal may indeed cover you but then again there maybe some loop hole or unforeseen scenario where they won't. You could even end up with a £1500 laptop but highly unlikely.

This is what scammers prey on. Forget it and move on.
 
Seems legit. Said no one ever.

Why not just donate £1500 to a Bulgarian orphanage? At least it will go to a good cause.
 
thanks guys, can always count on this forum to slap some sense into me. My moment of madness i guess.

Going to refuse my gut feeling always said the same thing.
 
Waay to risky. As everyone has said .

No way I'd buy from someone with 0 feedback to that value even with PayPal guarantee.

Add a dubious story and its 100pc no
 
The laptop price/spec clearly caught your attention - is it too good to be true? No idea if its rare or simply cheaper than retail?

If the laptop is priced at £1,500. What is the real world RRP and ask yourself - as others have said - are the savings really worth the hassle/stress; if it goes belly up?

Several red flags and asking a forum for advice, clearly shows your gut instinct has concerns...

Walk away.
 
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