Sold a Phone - Dodgy Buyer

hermum

Walsallwizard wrote: »

You have entered into a contract. Send the phone signed for, that gives your proof of delivery. If its faulty he can return it or make a claim but for what reason? I use eBay a lot and have incurred this problem once, I asked the buyer to return goods and they went away.

The buyer has bought a lot of phones & then claims either INR or SNAD & leaves neg FB.
Presumably a dealer, who then possibly returns a duff phone, the seller then has to refund has a broken phone & is £170 down.
So a lot of money to lose.

Naf

hermum wrote: »

The buyer has bought a lot of phones & then claims either INR or SNAD & leaves neg FB.
Presumably a dealer, who then possibly returns a duff phone, the seller then has to refund has a broken phone & is £170 down.
So a lot of money to lose.

Very good point, hadn't occurred to me.
Clearly I don't think like a criminal lol

newbeginning_2

Well I must be thinking like a criminal too

Ebay said 'they have investigated' whatever that means. Totally agree with Soolin on the feedback 'seller refuses too sell' being fair but I'm assuming I'll be able to add my add my own comment after that, so I'll lose my 100% feedback but we cant have it all can we?

What's really rattled me over this is looking at the feedback he leaves - I've pointed this out to ebay, and they said that when a buyer raises a dispute each one is looked at individually and they make a decision based on both the buyer and the sellers past performance - If that is the case then how come this persons still on ebay?

hermum

newbeginning wrote: »

Well I must be thinking like a criminal too

Ebay said 'they have investigated' whatever that means. Totally agree with Soolin on the feedback 'seller refuses too sell' being fair but I'm assuming I'll be able to add my add my own comment after that, so I'll lose my 100% feedback but we cant have it all can we?

What's really rattled me over this is looking at the feedback he leaves - I've pointed this out to ebay, and they said that when a buyer raises a dispute each one is looked at individually and they make a decision based on both the buyer and the sellers past performance - If that is the case then how come this persons still on ebay?

Have you looked into the other sellers he's left negs for ?
Are they generally marked highly with +FB?
Or do any of them look dodgy?

ThinkingOfLinking

Well, whoever buys it, but especially if it's this guy:

Send this sort of message when dispatching.

"Hello there,
Just thought I'd let you know, your item was sent out today by Special Delivery. For your protection and peace of mind, I have taken a note of the IMEI number (and any other numbers, sorry been a while since I handled a boxed phone!) in case of any loss in transit.
Kind regards"

Of course, as standard, mark the item as dispatched AND fill in the tracking number on the item itself on eBay (this is easily done). I would take photos of the phone working, next to a newspaper from the date it is dispatched if possible, and also scan/photocopy/photograph the side of the box with teh IMEI and other numbers. Get proof of postage AS WELL as sending it Special Delivery only. Keep all these pieces of evidence safe for 6-12 months in case of any comeback.

newbeginning_2

hermum wrote: »

Have you looked into the other sellers he's left negs for ?
Are they generally marked highly with +FB?
Or do any of them look dodgy?

Not that I can see, couple of people no longer registered, couple less than 10 feedback, the rest but generally most of the others sellers look ok.

ridethelightning

When you take photos of the phone, also photo the battery terminals. It is possible he will say the phone is not working and he will accept a partial refund for it. If you do not agree to this and request the phone is returned for a full refund he may just break the battery terminals and return it not working. I have read about this being common with some of the phone recycling companies.

macfly

Why would he do that? It looks like the buyer takes advantage of any lapse on the seller's part, i.e. claiminG INR if not sent tracked.
Without having sent this phone, everyone has him down as a complete nutter.
If selling expensive items gives you so much angst, don't do it.

ridethelightning

macfly wrote: »

If selling expensive items gives you so much angst, don't do it.

That seems a little unfair. Most of the time buying and selling on ebay is safe and problem free. The OP has done the right thing by looking into the buyers ebay history, which has shown many issues in the past, so is obviously concerned about the outcome of the sale. The OP has come on here to get advice on the best way forward which many have given, there is nothing wrong with taking a bit of extra time and care in protecting yourself from being ripped off if you have concerns about the buyer.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

macfly

So the obvious answer is post the phone to the winning bidder. Instead there's loads of obscure advice about photographing everything etc. etc.
I've sold hundreds of mobiles and never looked in to a buyers history before deciding whether to post it or not.
If you take a million photos, plus all the serial numbers, you couldn't prove that was the phone you sent anyway.
List them properly, send securely, and worry about problems when they arise.