Horrible Sinking Feeling

Feline2001

I have a horrible feeling i've been 'scammed'. I was selling a Samsung X830 (used) on e-bay with a starting price of £15 and a BIN of £75. This morning it has been bought by BIN and an invoice request sent to me.

Great I thought - and sent off the invoice. I looked further into it and it has been bought by someone in Germany - (so I upped the postage). However he is a 'new seller' with no feedback.

Does this sound like a scam to you - or am I jumping to conclusions? If it is a scam - is there anything I can do to get listing fees back (it didnt sell originally so this is it's 'relist')

jaydeeuk1

Has the buyer paid for it? Its too early to say whether it is a scam or not, it could well be a genuine new seller.
In future, you can change your seller preferences to only allow bidders with credit cards on file, only from certain countries etc which reduces the change of a scam.

If it is a scam, you can reclaim the final sale fees, and insertion fee, but things like gallery, featured, bold etc will not be refunded.

Feline2001

No the buyer hasn't paid for it yet.

I know i'm making 'assumptions' and early too - but something just doesnt seem right!

frivolous_fay

Don't fret just yet. Germans often like to pay with a bank transfer - which is pretty much the safest way for you to be paid, and cheaper than paypal.. often free.

Feline2001

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Don't fret just yet. Germans often like to pay with a bank transfer - which is pretty much the safest way for you to be paid, and cheaper than paypal.. often free.

Doesnt that mean giving them my bank details though?:eek:

jaydeeuk1

Yup, sure does. If they do respond, ask if they will pay by money order.
Even if they pay by paypal, I don't think you would be covered under seller protection as they are outside UK/US (might have changed now though), so if they do a chargeback, you'd lose out. And if they don't have a verified address, refuse to send out.

Feline2001

Ummm how do you tell if they have a verified address or not?

(I havent sold on e-bay since all the changes so am a little confuzzled!)

jaydeeuk1

When/if they pay by paypal, on the email you receive it will have the amount, and their address. Under their address it will say either verified or unverified. Either way, DO NOT click on any links within that email just in case it is a spoof.

Instead, type in https://www.paypal.com in the web browser, login and check your account.
The balance should have increased and you should see some account activity. Click on details for their payment and it will confirm whether they have a verified account or not. If it is verified, 'sup to you, based on what you see, if you still think its a scam or not. If it isn't verified, refund their entire payment and ask them to verify and send again.

GreenNinja

Hi Feline,

Personally I would tell him you won't sell to somebody with zero feedback and relist the item.

I recently had an expensive golfclub and expensive phone listed that belonged to my boyfriend. In total I had about 3 people like this who bid on them, with no feedback whatsover and all based abroad. I immediately emailed these people back and said do not bid on my item again, etc etc. and they neither bid again or responded to my comment, so am fairly sure they were scamming.

In the end I sold to people with good feedback.

Good luck!

Feline2001

OK the latest bit of the tale is I have had a letter from paypal confirming he has paid the money.

However - this is a SPOOF e-mail sent from [EMAIL="Service@PayPal.com"]Service@PayPal.com[/EMAIL] [p.ay.m.en.t_cl.ea.r@consultant.com] that says they will put the money in my account once they have proof that I have shipped the item.

I immediately went onto paypal (not through the e-mail though!!!) and there is no change whatsoever.

Therefore I conclude that while I may have been jumping to assumptions feeling guilty incase I wasn't treatin him right, I was, in this instance, correct!

So - what do I do now? Forward the e-mail to [EMAIL="spoof@paypal.com"]spoof@paypal.com[/EMAIL] and open a complaint on e-bay?

Thank you for all the help!

Feline2001

OK the latest bit of the tale is I have had a letter from paypal confirming he has paid the money.

However - this is a SPOOF e-mail sent from [EMAIL="Service@PayPal.com"]Service@PayPal.com[/EMAIL] [p.ay.m.en.t_cl.ea.r@consultant.com] that says they will put the money in my account once they have proof that I have shipped the item. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I immediately went onto paypal (not through the e-mail though!!!) and there is no change whatsoever. :mad:

Therefore I conclude that while I may have been jumping to assumptions feeling guilty incase I wasn't treatin him right, I was, in this instance, correct! :rotfl:

So - what do I do now? Forward the e-mail to [EMAIL="spoof@paypal.com"]spoof@paypal.com[/EMAIL] and open a complaint on e-bay?

Thank you for all the help!