Worst case scenario - eBay/PayPal......

[Car Guy]

I have an item listed on eBay and received an acceptable offer. My concern is the offer came from an eBay member who joined today March 23rd, 2011 and has 1 transaction with positive feedback. I thought this person winning the item, paying the deposit (according to the seller), and receiving positive feedback all on and during the day he/she joined odd. On top of the $1,500 item already won this person made an offer approximately three times that amount to me. I might be overthinking this but during the first 7 day listing received multiple bogus offers, however mainly from overseas scammers. Many years have passed since I sold anything worth thousands of dollars through eBay/PayPal and the rules/restrictions changed significantly since then. I am no longer familiar with the 'ins & outs' of the transaction process and feel a bit vulnerable. I want this item out of my life but do not have the time, money, or patience to deal with somebody NOT following through with the transaction process in every way.....

Any input is much appreciated......:thumbsup

[Neal Steffek]

Make them Pay Pal you and wait a week before you ship it. (Let them know you are going to wait a week) Ebay and Pay Pal is mostly scams now a days it seems.

[Haulin' Oates]

If it is something obscure, there is a chance it is totally legit. First thing to do is get a phone number and talk to them directly. If they refuse a phone call I would be very suspicious!

[Car Guy]

Make them Pay Pal you and wait a week before you ship it. (Let them know you are going to wait a week) Ebay and Pay Pal is mostly scams now a days it seems.

The item is a non-running vehicle and the buyer is responsible for pickup. A $500 deposit via PayPal is due within 24 hours, full payment AND pickup is due within 14 days......



If it is something obscure, there is a chance it is totally legit. First thing to do is get a phone number and talk to them directly. If they refuse a phone call I would be very suspicious!

Good idea, I will ask for a phone number.....

[Car Guy]

My suspicions were confirmed, his/her account was suspended by eBay a few minutes ago. The exposure on eBay is great but 75% of the offers are from scammers.....:mad:

[Russ Jerome]

My last selling E-bay experience resulted in me loosing $300 and shipping charges, the buyer is always right on e-bay and you cant give them a bad rating in my instance. Thats OK because no less than 13 BCM members called the guy at all hours of the night until he changed his number, $300 well spent ;)

I like tangable evidence of who they are, during the phone call and real name google them, my guy still lives in Louisiana and a great pitstop next time we go to FL. "knock knock..whos there?..."the guy"... the guy who?....The guy you screwed 3yrs ago on e-bay who never forgets!"

[gottwins?]

"If its to good to be true, it usually is." Real buyers will at the very least ask detailed questions about the item/payment/pickup and location. At the very least they should look into one of the things I mentioned, if they dont its usually a scam. Also, try to get their number and location before anything is dealt, when you get the number check the area code for their location and take the time to give them a call to put your mind at ease. The other thing is, if they offer you more than what your asking 99.9% of the time its BS, just remember...most people in the real world dont want to give their money away so easily.

As far as paypal is concerned, they make it seem like its fool proof but it really isint. Although it is a good method to make online deals since you have a 3rd party somewhat looking out for you, you have to look out for yourself first and really try to use "internet common sense".

Basically, if you feel something is shady DO NOT overlook it..investigate everything and ask question after question if your not comfortable. I worked a scammer through 20 emails...he was good but not that good.

Hope this helps for future transactions.

[Car Guy]

A member who joined eBay March 29th, 2011 hit the $795.00 BIN on my Nerf Football and paid instantly (in full) via PayPal per auction terms. This caught me off guard as I did not receive a message through eBay notifying me. The email account linked to my eBay account is ONLY for eBay/PayPal transactions and I check it once every three days. I became aware of the purchase last night when this member sent me a message asking if I packaged the item yet. I checked my PayPal account and the transaction is listed as completed. This person's address is confirmed but the sender is unverified, I do not know exactly what that means......

In a nutshell I want to know what the chances of being screwed over are at this point in time. I do not have a choice but to ship the football after receiving full payment.....

[GRNDNL]

Huh, you sold a nerf football for 795.00?.....

[Car Guy]

Yes.

[WickedSix]

did brett farve use it as a sexual aid or something??

[wikked]

Unverified simply means the buyer does not have a bank account attached to his account. He would have to pay with either existing funds or a CC.
There are a few paranoid people who don't want to link their checking accounts with PayPal for whatever reasons.
http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=900225684&forumID=8&start=0

If you send it, require a signature.

[Car Guy]

Update on the football, see post #8 in this thread for overview......

I shipped the football requiring direct signature and now supposedly it is being shipped back to me, please see following link. If anybody has any thoughts on why this person would refuse or not retrieve a nearly one of a kind Nerf football he/she paid $800.00 for please post up. I am now paranoid this is a scam of some kind but cannot imagine how and have no idea what to expect.....

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3/KarGuy/ztdhsh.png

[Waver]

Well I dont know how this goes, but I am guessing that you have a few options. (1) Relist the football and refund the money through paypal (provided the funds have cleared). (2) Keep the money and relist the football and if there is a dispute then refund the money. (3) Keep the money, keep football. (4) Try resending the item and contact the buyer to find out what happened.

[Nickerz]

If you add more detail I can give you some valuable input. Like what you're selling, item number etc. I do xx,xxx transactions a year on eBay. Its not all full of scammers and what not, you just have to know your way around eBay and how to handle things.

[Taetsch Z-24]

Its in fib land.....

Lets go see whats up!