Auction help

AdladUK

AdladUK

AdladUK

Associate
Joined
6 Jan 2007
Posts
1,509
Hey,

Not sure if this is the right section, or if discussion about eBay is even allowed, however I'd appreciate some advice on this matter, since it's been a long time since I sold on there.

So I listed up my gaming laptop for sale and someone bought it immediately for the buy it now price (I'm talking within minutes of listing). Obviously I was rather pleased and sent the buyer the invoice so that he could checkout via PayPal.

The whole day passed, which I found a little odd given how eager he seemed buying the laptop so fast. So I sent him a message on eBay confirming his address and letting him know that if he wants the item to go out today he'll need to send payment before 2PM, if not I'll have to send it out the day after tomorrow as I'm really busy.

His response is that he wants me to send him a payment request on PayPal, or for me to tell him my PayPal address so he can send payment. He also asked for a picture of the item.

I replied stating that I've already sent him the proper eBay invoice and there's a payment button on that to complete checkout via PayPal. And also that I was confused by his request for a picture, given there was a very clear one in the auction itself.

So my question is, what shall I do? Something doesn't seem right. Why would he not just checkout via eBay? And who asks for pictures of an item after buying it?

This guy has over 30 positive feedback (100% positive), however I'm sure it's easy for scammers to buy these accounts, or build them up, so that's not really saying much.

Any suggestions or experience would be appreciated. Thank you
 
dirtychinchilla said:
That sounds like scammer behaviour. I'd wait until after he's replied to make a real decision, but presumably the auction has photos on it and he can just click the link in the email.

To be fair, if he only has 30 feedback then it could be that he's brand new and doesn't know anything. He also may have bought 30 things that are buy it now for £0.99 each so that he could scam you.
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Thanks for the reply.

Thing is I checked his account and he's been a member since 2006. A lot of the items were for £30+, so it's not quite like that.

However I also noticed all his feedback is a year or more old, so I guess it's very possible this is a sold or hijacked account...
 
Nix said:
You can pay for more IIRC. Otherwise you just have to wait it out.
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I cancelled the order and now apaprently I have to wait 10 days for the buyer to confirm.

My mistake for thinking I could sell something on eBay without a load of messing about I suppose
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Do you have MM access? I'd go there if I were you.

He doesn't sound enormously dodgy, but at the same time, if you can sell it safely elsewhere for more or less the same value (bearing in mind absence of fees), then that's great.
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Yep I do have MM access. Might be best just putting it up on there!
 
timmeh said:
Isn't this so that you aren't covered by any of the eBay seller protection because you used a payment method outside of eBay?

Either way, it sounds like you've done the right thing.
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I imagine that's part of the scam. They get you to sell outside of eBay to reduce your protection as a seller.

You still have some sort of protection from PayPal, but it's going to look suspicious why you did it that way anyway if the buyer makes a claim.

It just makes no sense to me why as a buyer you wouldn't just click the huge buy now button on eBay and go through the PayPal checkout properly. That's what I've done every single time I've bought something on there.

And then the whole asking for pictures thing too. I think in their mind they do that to look more legitimate or come off as the vunerable one?

Either way scary stuff. I can see many people falling for this. And whilst I'm still not 100% sure it was a scam, there's no denying that a huge number of sellers (and buyers alike) get ripped off on eBay
 
spoffle said:
If the buyer sends payment as a gift, then the buy gets no protection. The OP is the seller, not the buyer.
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True. But if the scammer had used a stolen PayPal account or a stolen credit card to pay for the "gift", I'd imagine PayPal would still freeze the funds and the buyer would have the laptop and I'd be left with nothing
 
spoffle said:
Well, it gets a bit more complicated than that, but it's fairly easy to avoid being left out of pocket, even if they are a scammer. The key part is to withdraw the money as soon as it hits your account.
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Yeah and even if you're lucky enough to get the money and withdraw it from your bank account, why would I want to burn my bridges like that?

I'm essentially ruining my eBay and PayPal account for 1 transaction and a$$hole.

That's assuming PayPal don't reverse the money from my bank account or credit/debit card at some point, which I believe they have the power to do once you attach them
 
Look at the email I just got from eBay!

We think eBay account x has been used without the account owner's permission, so we're now restoring it to them. To protect this member's privacy, we can't share any more details about their account.

People sometimes misuse eBay accounts by sending emails from them. In these emails, they invite you to buy or sell outside eBay, or ask questions that have nothing to do with eBay. They do this in the hope that you'll respond and give them your email address.

We strongly recommend you treat emails from this member with caution and don't respond if you hear from them again.
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Seems the suspicion was justified...
 
spoffle said:
It's a fairly common process. It saves the seller paying fees, and the buyer can save some too. I've made the request myself, and most of the time the sellers have no issue with it.
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Well my suspicion was 100% justified and I just saved myself being scammed for £650. So yeah...
 
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