Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

[jbjennings]

Well, I made my first attempt ever to sell one of my old motors I've redone on ebay the other day. Saturday I checked the listing and saw that it had sold "buy it now" for 850 dollars. I was really pleased but skeptical since I know that I am not usually lucky in things like this. After further checking, I see the bidder is from the United Kingdom (or so he says), and has 0 feedback. I checked my ad and sure enough, I had clearly specified no shipping outside USA. Today, I recieve an email from this character saying he wants my name, address, and phone number so he can immediately send me a cashier's check and wanted to know if I would be available for his shipper to pick up. Then asked if he could trust ME with the money and if I would be able to send the "excess" payment via Western Union to his shipper. I'm thinking, "What a looney tune!--I had already sent him an email that I'm not dealing with him, that I don't ship overseas, etc." I also was wondering why the heck there would be an "excess" in the payment, and, why I would send it to his shipper?
Well, I check on this on ebay after work and see that today, he's an "unregistered member" now and that his feedback is -4, which I've never seen before! After looking at his feedback, every single person said "beware--fraudulent bidder" or "this guy is a fraud".
Now, am I lucky or what? First item ever sold and I've got a scam "artist" placing the winning bid.
Anybody ever had this happen?
May be my first and last "sale" on ebay!
JBJ

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

OHHh man dont do that , I havent sold on there but me and the wife sure have bought a lot of things on there , It just like anything now a days you have to be careful , I think you can list it so that you dont have to take 0 bidders, or they have to call you or wite , that is one of the problems with buy it now , they just hit the button and trie to scamm you , so just be careful !!! john

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

This is a con if the guy wants you to cash any checks and forward cash. Ask for a certified money order and see what he says.yuk yuk Odds are he is in NIGERIA.........

 

[orion25]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

Re list the item and do not set a buy it now price. Just make it a regular auction (set a reserve price if you want).

Also, include something like the following in the payment instructions. This is my standard instruction........

Payment is expected within 3 business days of Auction close. Shipment will be within 2 business days of payment receipt and will be via FedEx Ground or UPS Ground (My choice). Expedited shipping available for additional charges, please inquire before bidding. PayPal accepted to confirmed address ONLY. If you do not have a confirmed PayPal address please be prepared for negative feedback!!!! Continental US Shipments only!!! NO RETURNS accepted, Item is sold AS IS..

By the way, I only accept PayPal.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

You can specify any rules you want, but they may not be sanctioned through ebay.

Ebay says you cannot refuse bids from bidders with zero feedback - negative feedback, yes, but not zero feedback.

Ebay also says that the winning bidder has 7 days to pay. You can specify fewer days, but you do so without sanction from ebay and then you forfeit their non-paying bidder process.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

i've been lucky on ebay. sold a boat to a guy in South America, all funding had to clear prior to the boat moving, he even paid me to take it to Miami, to the shipper. like Gary i now have a charge back on a credit card, but believe, i have all bases covered.

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

This is a very common scenario on eBay. I had it happen to me once. You have to setup your auctions better. Whenever you sell an item with a Buy it Now, you should set it up with Immediate Payment Required. This way, the only way anyone other than the seller can end the listing with BIN is to pay for it. If they don't pay, they can't BIN. The immediate payment is through PayPal, so you also have an extra layer of protection...

 

[orion25]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

Ebay says you cannot refuse bids from bidders with zero feedback - negative feedback, yes, but not zero feedback.

True, but if you keep up with your auctions you can cancel any bid from someone that has lower feedback than you specify.

 

[painterman]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I just recently posted some things on Craigslist and got several replys back from 2 different names wanting to do the same thing...the replys were almost identical in format...I sincerely believe without a doubt,these are people trying for identity theft!!!!
BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Millerman]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I sell alot on line ebay or other wise. I have seen this happen a bunch of times. The basic deal is they send you money orders for the amount of the purchase and for THIER delivery guy to be compensated. They insist you go and cash the money orders at your bank and pay delivery guy in cash. About a week later you will find the money orders are all bad. The amounts to the delivery guy are usually in the thousands because they are all going to the UK (supposidly). DO NOT EVER GIVE THEM YOUR INFO EVER.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I expected that...... I always do. I just cancell out suspicious bids.

 

[Nos4r2]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I had someone try that one on me a few years ago.Now I just add the line 'If you're in Nigeria or Romania I won't ship to mugu scammers.I've seen it all. Don't bother" at the end of the listing in big red capitals. No problems since.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

We have had a few suspicious bids on e-bay. You have to make the conditions tighter than a drum to keep the bad bids away. Easier said than done sometimes though.

 

[mscher]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

May be my first and last "sale" on ebay!
JBJ

Since this was your first auction, the scammers probably smelled fresh meat ;(

Don't give up and learn from this. There are both good deals and bad deals on eBay, same as anywhere else. Fortunately, most scams are identified, to they can be avoided, if people read up on them.

I have made some good money selling item on eBay, that local buyers were not interested in.

Just purchased a new programmable home thermostat from eBay for $50 less that anywhere else and no sales tax.

good luck.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I haven't had any fraudulent bids, but I can't make a dime on Ebay. I have had numerous things go for 99 cents, and I've accidentally undercharged for shipping losing about 3 or 4 bucks on the auction taking gas into consideration.

I've had lots of things not even sell. To me they'd be worth something, I mean who wouldn't want a DSS receiver thats like a year old? A buck could have taken it, nothing. No bids.

I don't like ebay that much. I can't get good deals on it as what you don't pay in the auction you pay with ridiculous shipping charges. I've even sent people questions about why I could ship that same item for half that much. They told me to shove it up my azz! LOL Who's going to pay 12.99 to ship a remote control for a TV? I mean, c'mon!

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

Thanks for the advise guys, especially on the BUY IT NOW! info.
I am going to relist but will do more homework on my ad next time and block any 0 bidders and outside USA bidders. I still think this may be my last item to sell. I've had good luck buying stuff on ebay (several outboards). My first item I ever bought was a '55 7.5 evin. that arrived about 1 wk. late. It was supposed to have a tank but the guy had a lot of shipping trouble with it, and I being an untrusting type, it being my first ebay experience, almost lost my temper and gave the guy bad feedback. (it took about a month to get the tank and I being an impatient soul, changed the motor over to a fuel pump the day before the tank arrived). The person, I believe his wife, who was comm. with me through emails had been gone for a week for a funeral and the shippers were giving 'em heck about gas fumes from the tank so it was a big ordeal. Luckily, the tank finally arrived, it was a nice tank and a great motor--both of which I still use, and I've since bought another motor and am now buying a lower unit from him. Both motors were great.
But as far as selling, it makes me too nervous. If I hadn't gone through a lot of trouble getting this motor ready to sell I wouldn't even sell it on ebay anymore.
Later,
JBJ

 

[dolluper]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

And the fact that Paypal isn't that great,or secure....you can lose even with it as many know....after payment is recieved from Paypal Wait a couple of days before you ship for your own good,it takes at least that amount of time to clear I found that out when they stiffed me

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

Heck,Paypal will charge you back MONTHS after the buyer gets the item!
There is no 100% safe way to sell online anymore.
Ebay and Paypal will never get another dime of my money...
CASH ONLY!!!

 

[DJ]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I've bought and sold hundreds of items on ebay. I've even sold cars and boats. I bought my current Whaler on ebay. I've had two disputes. One ebay settled for me to my complete satisfaction. The other we settled between ourselves, to our mutual satisfaction.

With a little discernment, you can sniff out the bad characters. IMHO it's actually better than the local newspaper. You have a lot more people looking at your stuff and you don't have to meet with some "character" pulling up in your driveway.

Use PayPal and word your "terms" carefully.

 

[mscher]

Re: Scammer on ebay on the prowl.

I haven't had any fraudulent bids, but I can't make a dime on Ebay. I have had numerous things go for 99 cents, and I've accidentally undercharged for shipping losing about 3 or 4 bucks on the auction taking gas into consideration.

I've had lots of things not even sell. To me they'd be worth something, I mean who wouldn't want a DSS receiver thats like a year old? A buck could have taken it, nothing. No bids.

I don't like ebay that much. I can't get good deals on it as what you don't pay in the auction you pay with ridiculous shipping charges. I've even sent people questions about why I could ship that same item for half that much. They told me to shove it up my azz! LOL Who's going to pay 12.99 to ship a remote control for a TV? I mean, c'mon!

It pays to do a little homework first, when buying/selling on eBay.

The best and easiest way is to do a search on an item of the type, you are interested in buying/selling. When you get the search results, use the "Narrow Your Results" tab and click the "Completed Listing" box. You can the see (usually), what similar items have recently sold for and what the shipping costs were. If there are no results, the item may be very rare, or worthless, but research is in order.

If you are buying, you'll see if new items are selling higher on eBay than other places, that often happens.

It is amazing that item that seem valuable, no one wants, but there may be HUGE prices for something you would throw in the scrap heap.

Some sellers are happy to make a buck or two, selling many items, but IMO, it's not work the work of managing auctions and packing/shipping.

Some sellers jack up shipping costs to skirt auction fees (against eBay policy) by selling item for lower price, but usually buyers generally like fixed shipping prices. Just decide what the "total price" (item price + shipping) that you are willing to pay.

Market research is the key.

Good luck.