selling a mobile phone on ebay

sunnysea83

Hi

Just thought i would mention that unless you put the phones IMEI number in the listing or a serial number, if your buyer returns the phone and its not the same phone then paypal wont allow any appeal.

I know this because i had to ring paypal on another matter and im thinkin of selling my phone so i asked what would happen if my buyer swapped my phone and sent me back another and the woman said that i need to put the serial numbers in the listing to prove that the phone i got back isnt my phone! (a big scam with phones i believe)

Thought i would share that with you.

Sure people will come along and say thats not the case but thats what ive been told today.

cyberbob

The problem you have though if you put the IMEI number in the listing it can be used in cloning.

The thing though I don't think it would work on an appeal anyway even if you did get the wrong phone back how do you prove this to ebay as you could be trying a scam also. I think as normal paypal CS are talking rubbish.

I've sold numerous mobiles on ebay never a problem. Just make sure you seller preferebces are tight.

sunnysea83

so you think its best not to put the imei number on the listing? maybe say something like I have taken a note, i was planning on taking a picture of it, i can bring it up on my screen but like you say how if i got back a different phone would i prove it? i guess all i could do is get the phone blocked by vodaphone?

Im just a bit nervous, clearly spent to much time reading posts on this site! im sure there are plenty of honest ebayers and i do have my settings very tight

RobinSure

I don't see why you couldn't post some of the IMEI number, in a similar manner to the card numbers on receipts. You'd probably want to do the last half, as that's more likely to be difficult for someone to find, but that way, you're covered and it can't be cloned.

Crowqueen

I think anything that opens you up to fraud or phone-cloning is asking for trouble.

Making a note of the IMEI number for your own records and so you are able to challenge a fraudulent return is a good idea, but if I saw your ad basically before I even buy telling me I'm a potential scammer, then I probably wouldn't buy in the first place. It never really pays to publicise what you do to catch fraudsters as they can find a way of getting round it, and I'd rather buy from someone who trusts me rather than one who doesn't.

It's pretty dismal browsing on eBay where you get small, black text one-line descriptions of the item and a whole stream of negative, aggressive and accusatory terms and conditions in bold red text. It also attracts scammers who can winkle out your loopholes and take advantage (e.g. "I always get proof of posting" = "I never send recorded, so feel free to lodge a dodgy INR claim because I won't have proof of delivery" etc.). I would stick to the actual phone description in the listing text, and have anti-fraud measures behind the scenes in case something goes wrong.