Another Ebay Scam Avoidance Thread...

Vandle

Vandle

Vandle

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2004
Posts
5,090
Location
Melbourne , Oz.
Hey all, some advice appreciated...

I'm selling an iphone 12 on ebay. Listed it Monday morning for 7 days and have a few bids so far and its almost at the price which seems to be the going rate. However, the leading bidder has zero feedback and only registered as a user a week ago. He's obviously set his max bid quite high as he is auto outbidding others. I've been on the site 20 odd years and have a score of 599. Sold loads of stuff over the years and never had a problem apart from sending a T-shirt to Argentina which was completely my own fault.
I like to think I am pretty savvy with it all and can generally spot when something is off, unless something is local pick up I always go through the proper paypal channels etc. I've had no messages from him yet and he may well end up getting outbid or be genuine but it's making me feel uneasy.

What is to stop him winning, paying with paypal, saying the phone doesn't work and sending me back an identical busted one? My understanding is ebay will refund him completely and he gets a new phone for free. Then I am doubly out of pocket. Is there anything I can do to protect myself? I am thinking of changing postage to local pick up only but not sure I can do that now there are bids on it, also going to cut out a large amount of potential buyers.

Thoughts please? :)
 
Blueball said:
Take a record of the IMIE number of the phone you are sending. If they send a clone back the IMIE won't match. Have photos for proof!

How do I find my IMEI number?

What and where is my IMEI number?
business.ee.co.uk business.ee.co.uk
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I have actually put a photo in the add with a screenshot of that. I am just concerned that the phone he sends me back might not even boot up to get to that screen.
 
Thanks all for the feedback.

I changed my settings to stop zero feedbackers bidding but as his bid was already in, it stayed the winner. I decided to list it on FB marketplace on Saturday. Must have had 20 messages from scammers with eastern European accounts wanting to pay with PayID. Was frustrating. Got what looked like a genuine message from a buyer Sunday afternoon saying he lost his phone saurday while dancing at a music festival. Half an hour later he was at my door with cash. Delisted it on eBay straight away.

Good result all round although I think eBay will only charge me a listing fee, I started it at $1 so hopefully that wont be much. I said it had broken, would seem a bit unfair if they charged me the final value amount too.
 
GMac11 said:
Thanks guys.
I reckon I’ll just cancel it in the morning and claim there was an issue with the address.
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That's what I'd do / did. There's an eBay option to say item is damaged and no longer available. It appears at the moment like they aren't going to charge me. Wouldn't surprise me if they did though.
 
Marmiteman said:
I've had one person give me negative feedback because they didn't like the colour of the packaging !
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I got a negative off a guy who bought an xbox game off me then messaged saying could he have it on Playstation instead. I said no and explained I wasn't a shop and that he had won the auction fairly and still had to pay. I appealed it to eBay and they removed it.
 
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