More selling fun from me!
I’m selling a few items on e-bay the auctions are BIN or best offers.
Somebody was watching one of them and you have the option to message them with an offer. The item was £55 BIN + £10 postage, I messaged them to suggest £48 + postage, which he accepted and paid straight away. I’ve posted the item Special Delivery next day before 1pm signed for. Fine so far.
BUT i’ve just checked the buyer on e-bay, they joined on 14th June this year and have zero feedback. In my ad I did say buyers with a feedback score of less than 5 should contact me first BEFORE bidding, however I put the offer to them.
Am I being unnccessarily paranoid, or have I just given away a camera lens and lost the £56 they paid?

Yes.

I mean no.

Sorry, maybe.

Ohh I have no idea.

If anything does go wrong wrt to the delivery, you have insurance with royal mail.

Possibly its too early to worry about whether I’m going to be scammed or not….

Sent tracked to a confirmed Paypal address? Nothing to worry about. Fwiw I’ve sent loads to new buyers and left their first feedback everyone starts at zero.

Actually I’ve found the guy’s linkedin profile and it says where he works, which is also the the delivery address for the item. He’s in his late 50s, so I think (hope!) he’s legit.

So stop worrying, as long as his name isn’t Festus Onygboso or Vladimir Stechnykov.

Yeah it sounds like you will be fine – and it isn’t that high a value item really anyway.

I’ve been contacted in the past to ship stuff (old electrical stuff) to the Ukraine, was initially sceptical but I subsequently sent several items that way, was never a problem despite understandable misgivings. You’ll be fine.

You’ll be fine and if it turns out you are not you have only lost £50 so not exactly a big deal. Golden rule of eBay is to only sell stuff you can afford to lose out on if it all goes wrong/you get scammed.

Everybody has to start somewhere.

My first eBay purchase was a Gaggia Classic. It was the vendor’s first transaction too. Her feedback was “You were my first, as I will always be yours” which was a bit worrying!

Coffee machine still works fine, and I haven’t been stalked.

Coffee machine still works fine, and I haven’t been stalked.

Unlike the buyer in this case.

and I haven’t been stalked.

Or they are very good, quick, check the bushes!!

My brother tried to sell an ipod and iphone on ebay. Texted me “Why no bids?”. Checked his profile – 0 feedback, first things he’d ever tried to sell! Gotta start somewhere 🙂

So you asked new members to contact you first, but what would you have done that would have given you confidence they were legit, given everything they actually did appears fine, and you still think you’re getting ripped off…? 😕

LinkedIn has now notified him that he is being stalked 😂😂😂

Hmm, e-bay have sent me this message just before 17:00
“We had to cancel bids for the buyer, because they aren’t registered on eBay:”
I’ve been paid via PayPal (although e-bay / paypal are holding my money until next monday because I have only sold 1 item previously).
I’ve looked and the guy is no longer registered on e-bay. Now what? I’ve already posted the lens.
Can I now expect the £48.00 to disappear from my PayPal account shortly? I’ve asked e-bay what happens now?

This get weirder.
The same account has put an offer in for another lens that I’m selling. Same username, same join date. Obviously I’m a little wary, so I’ve messaged him explaining my concerns and I’ll see what he says.
I wonder if he deactivated his account by mistake and then re-activated again? I’m now wondering because of his age, whether he’s not very e-bay / computer literate?

Reply from the buyer

The problem was associated around syncing my google account to e bay. I phoned e bay and they have re assured me the fault lies in thier system. Hence why they set up my account again. Must admit was taken aback when i got the yellow card. Hopefully this does not happen again. Just to confirm that everthing is ok..and you are good to go with the bid..i will pay asap. Thanks.

That sounds feasible to me. Anyone have a view on this?
The language cerntainly doesn’t sound scammy or pigeon english.

Wait for him to confirm receipt and that he’s happy with item 1 through eBay before you send the second one of you’re wary

You know the person exists from stalking him on linkdin.

He’s paid using paypal.

You’re sending it with a proof of delivery service.

Theres been a glitch you messaged him and he replied.

It’s only 50quid*

Chill out man!

*I am well aware that 50quid can be significant in the short term having been on the receiving end of losing a similar amount with literally no other finances for buying food. But in the bigger picture it’s only 50quid.

I would wait until he has confirmed delivery of the first item and also left positive feedback

.i will pay asap. Thanks.

That sounds feasible to me. Anyone have a view on this?

I thought you said he’d already paid?

The language cerntainly doesn’t sound scammy or pigeon english.

Muphry’s Law aside, I certainly wouldn’t say “certainly.”

E-bay have confirmed that his account has been reinstated, so I think I can relax now.
I’ve bought plenty on e-bay, but only sold 1 item previously. Given the number of scare stories and potential scams mentioned on here, I’m probably a little over-sensitive to dubiousness.
I wasn’t 100% sure if they could somehow claw back the funds from my PP account, with their bid being cancelled etc.

Update to say Mr account reinstatement received the original lens and the 2nd one I sold him. Its gone bloody daft, no interest for a week then suddenly 4 out of 6 items on sale went within 2 days!