buyer scam ?

[Deleted User]

Hi newbie here!

i just wanted to ask your advice .

i have a private ebay account and i sold a couple of items last week for a lot more than i sold very similer items in tha past (i think thay got carried away with bidding ) anyway sent i the invoice to them and with no reply i emailed them to say i haven't received payment ., and had a response to say thay will send the money in the post as they dont have a ppa which i said is ok , but the thing is i check thers ebay a/c and is says they are in the uk , but i then checked the invoice i sent them and it has a foreign european address on there . i messeged them to say where are you based but had no reply what shale i do .

it seems suspicious and the items are not that valuable but i dont want the hassle as, if they say they haven't received them or are not that that happy with them etc...

thanks

Apricot

If they pay you by cheque / bank transfer they have no recall to Paypal if the item does not arrive. If you have made a lot more than you expected maybe send the item by special delivery to the UK address on their Ebay.

Crowqueen

It is actually less safe for the buyer to pay you this way in general as with Paypal they have a certain guarantee that they can get their money back if the item doesn't arrive or is significantly not as described (which includes damage in the post or faults arising within the 45 days or so they get to make a claim).

If the buyer is outside the UK then there is very limited means available to pay you by anything other than Paypal. There are such things as international money orders but it is difficult and costly to cash a foreign cheque or ordinary postal order in this country (though there was a site, Auctionchex, set up a while ago to facilitate this with US payments at least). EDIT: Apricot has some useful advice too on this subject too as they sound like they may be able to pay with a UK cheque or postal order.

A word of warning: you can't guarantee that any sale will be hassle free. Just because someone says they don't receive an item or it, say, gets damaged in transit does not mean they are automatically lying. You are responsible for the item until the buyer is happy with it, which means they have a certain right to ask for a refund in certain situations, particularly if it doesn't arrive. This should be fairly rare under normal circumstances but if a buyer doesn't receive something they paid for then it's up to you to sort it out properly -- you can't disclaim responsibility in that event. It's also extremely difficult to tell if someone is lying or not unless you have proof of delivery, but you are insured with Royal Mail for anything that is sent with a proof of posting that is worth less than £41, whether within the UK or overseas, so it is worth making sure you obtain proof of posting - but this is for your benefit, and not the buyer's. Personally I would always do the right thing by the buyer and extend protection to paper payments. If it ends up with problems then you may be able to stop them filing a dispute but they will be pretty upset. Merely to say "they have no comeback on paper payments" is unfair and is not doing what a good seller ought to do in this situation.

[Deleted User]

Apricot wrote: »

If they pay you by cheque / bank transfer they have no recall to Paypal if the item does not arrive. If you have made a lot more than you expected maybe send the item by special delivery to the UK address on their Ebay.

hi thanks for you reply on there ebay page on the left it says location;UNITEDKIMDOM

but on the invoice i sent them it had a foreign european address so im not sure whare they realy are until they get back to me

it seem dodgy but as you say if they send me the money thay have no pp protection

but what if they file a claim with ebay and say thay haven't reseived the items or there broke or make up a something to get there money back ?

thanks :beer:

Crowqueen

Then you deal with the complaint as best you can - you can't unfortunately assume they are lying.

If it gets damaged or they are not happy with it, ask them to return the item for a full refund, plus if it really is broken, then you need to refund their return postage costs.

If it doesn't turn up you need to refund them and claim from Royal Mail.

It's your responsibility to deal with both of these two situations. It's not easy, but then it never really is when you are in this position and I don't want to mislead you by saying you can always ignore them. Dealing with them openly and accepting that something might go wrong is better in the long run than stonewalling them and them negging you.

Hopefully it won't, though, and your buyer will be happy.

[Deleted User]

Crowqueen wrote: »

It is actually less safe for the buyer to pay you this way in general as with Paypal they have a certain guarantee that they can get their money back if the item doesn't arrive or is significantly not as described (which includes damage in the post or faults arising within the 45 days or so they get to make a claim).

If the buyer is outside the UK then there is very limited means available to pay you by anything other than Paypal. There are such things as international money orders but it is difficult and costly to cash a foreign cheque or ordinary postal order in this country (though there was a site, Auctionchex, set up a while ago to facilitate this with US payments at least). EDIT: Apricot has some useful advice too on this subject too as they sound like they may be able to pay with a UK cheque or postal order.

A word of warning: you can't guarantee that any sale will be hassle free. Just because someone says they don't receive an item or it, say, gets damaged in transit does not mean they are automatically lying. You are responsible for the item until the buyer is happy with it, which means they have a certain right to ask for a refund in certain situations, particularly if it doesn't arrive. This should be fairly rare under normal circumstances but if a buyer doesn't receive something they paid for then it's up to you to sort it out properly -- you can't disclaim responsibility in that event. It's also extremely difficult to tell if someone is lying or not unless you have proof of delivery, but you are insured with Royal Mail for anything that is sent with a proof of posting that is worth less than £41, whether within the UK or overseas, so it is worth making sure you obtain proof of posting - but this is for your benefit, and not the buyer's. Personally I would always do the right thing by the buyer and extend protection to paper payments. If it ends up with problems then you may be able to stop them filing a dispute but they will be pretty upset. Merely to say "they have no comeback on paper payments" is unfair and is not doing what a good seller ought to do in this situation.

Hi thanks for your reply , the buyer said they will send the cash (just over a ton )recorded delivery :eek:

[Deleted User]

Crowqueen wrote: »

Then you deal with the complaint as best you can - you can't unfortunately assume they are lying.

If it gets damaged or they are not happy with it, ask them to return the item for a full refund, plus if it really is broken, then you need to refund their return postage costs.

If it doesn't turn up you need to refund them and claim from Royal Mail.

It's your responsibility to deal with both of these two situations. It's not easy, but then it never really is when you are in this position and I don't want to mislead you by saying you can always ignore them. Dealing with them openly and accepting that something might go wrong is better in the long run than stonewalling them and them negging you.

Hopefully it won't, though, and your buyer will be happy.

thay are sending just over a ton cash through the post recorded del if i have to give them a refund what would i do in this situation as im not sending cash back to them, and/or if send them a postal order and they can cash it but still say thay havent got the money back
thanks

Crowqueen

Oh my G-d. Recorded delivery will not begin to cover that amount. If it's still possible then get on to them immediately and dissuade them from using Recorded, as it will not insure cash. Suggest something like a bank transfer - please, for the love of G-d, do it now.

In that situation you mention, you would probably write them a cheque or send a postal order or use bank transfer.

I can definitely see why you are worried but really, there are a lot of things a buyer could do but probably won't: on a scale of this size as a buyer I would also feel slightly uncomfortable about the possibilities of the seller being genuine too. Showing your buyer you trust them is a very good idea as it also means they are more likely to trust you.

To be honest, this just sounds very risky for both of you. I'm sorry for being a bit judgemental, my caveats do still apply though. If he doesn't get the item, then he is likely to instigate legal proceedings to get the money back - we're not talking about a 99p bar of soap that he might potentially just write off. The first thing for you to do is stop him sending that money to you in such a cavalier fashion and make him do it via a bank transfer, which is secure for you. You might also consider using an escrow service. That way a third party overseas the transaction and releases the money to you when the buyer is happy with the item. It removes a lot of the risk on both sides and means that the situation is much more likely to end well than this potential nightmare.

[Deleted User]

Crowqueen wrote: »

Oh my G-d. Recorded delivery will not begin to cover that amount. If it's still possible then get on to them immediately and dissuade them from using Recorded, as it will not insure cash. Suggest something like a bank transfer - please, for the love of G-d, do it now.

In that situation you mention, you would probably write them a cheque or send a postal order or use bank transfer.

I can definitely see why you are worried but really, there are a lot of things a buyer could do but probably won't: on a scale of this size as a buyer I would also feel slightly uncomfortable about the possibilities of the seller being genuine too. Showing your buyer you trust them is a very good idea as it also means they are more likely to trust you.

To be honest, this just sounds very risky for both of you. I'm sorry for being a bit judgemental, my caveats do still apply though. If he doesn't get the item, then he is likely to instigate legal proceedings to get the money back - we're not talking about a 99p bar of soap that he might potentially just write off. The first thing for you to do is stop him sending that money to you in such a cavalier fashion and make him do it via a bank transfer, which is secure for you. You might also consider using an escrow service. That way a third party overseas the transaction and releases the money to you when the buyer is happy with the item. It removes a lot of the risk on both sides and means that the situation is much more likely to end well than this potential nightmare.

this is what i mean about the hassle , id rather cancel this transaction if i could and relist them and also block this ebayer

if i contact the buyer and say this is not a safe transtion can i do this , also if thay so they have sent the money what do i do ?
thanks

wacko911

If your a muppet: You will get a cheque that will clear in your account (3-5 days or whatever). You will send the goods and 3-4 weeks later the cheque will bounce as its stolen/fake and the money will be gone from your account and no item.

If your a total muppet: To add insult to injury they may send 'too much' money by accident or some other bizzare reason and ask you western union the difference and keep £100 or two for your hassle. So your down your item & several £100 quid.

Jaxb_2

wacko911 wrote: »

If your a muppet: You will get a cheque that will clear in your account (3-5 days or whatever). You will send the goods and 3-4 weeks later the cheque will bounce as its stolen/fake and the money will be gone from your account and no item.

If your a total muppet: To add insult to injury they may send 'too much' money by accident or some other bizzare reason and ask you western union the difference and keep £100 or two for your hassle. So your down your item & several £100 quid.

Read the post before replying Buyer is send CASH not cheque