Selling on eBay

Icey370

Hi all,

I'm currently selling an iPhone 5 and the item ends tonight.

It hasn't occurred to me until now, but Iv read that sellers can be scammed through PayPal by people reclaiming their money back after they receive the item they bought. I would obviously prefer a direct bank transfer, but I know not all buyers would do this on ebay (i know I certainly wouldn't!). So I assume the winner wil use PayPal.

How do I prevent this (the scam) from happening to me as it will be a reasonable amount of money lost if they do this

I'm quit worried now. I plan on sending the item via recorded and insured postage, any other suggested precautions I should take?

Thanks,
Icey370

newbie1980

make sure u put some kind of marker on item and take photo
make a note of emei number
make sure you send special delivery not just recorded

Icey370

newbie1980 wrote: »

make sure u put some kind of marker on item and take photo
make a note of emei number
make sure you send special delivery not just recorded

Thanks very much for the very quick reply

When you say a marker on the item, do you mean like draw something distinct on the packaging? (It's sealed, so on the film)?

That's a good idea, il take the imei

Got the special delivery down

if they do reclaim and they succeed, what should I do? As il be out of pocket and items. I'm very sorry, I may be a bit paranoid

onetwothree123

Post the item within 7 days, using ONLY the Paypal confirmed address , and hang onto the Post office receipt in a safe place, not for a day or a week but at least 6 mths in case of any chargebacks, I believe they can occur up to 180 days after you posted something to a person even if you receive a positive feedback dont bin evidence of posting and also photograph and note down its serial number ,in case someone tried to send back a "broken" iphone and return a dead one and keep your working one! (a scammers favourite with phones!)

Good luck with your sale hope you sell to an honest and civil ebayer and everything goes well.

Icey370

Thanks all for the advice

beckaroo

Icey370 wrote: »

Thanks very much for the very quick reply

When you say a marker on the item, do you mean like draw something distinct on the packaging? (It's sealed, so on the film)?

That's a good idea, il take the imei

Got the special delivery down

if they do reclaim and they succeed, what should I do? As il be out of pocket and items. I'm very sorry, I may be a bit paranoid

I wouldn't say you were paranoid as this does seem to be a common scam that is doing the rounds.

Unfortunately it is a bit of a gamble, regardless of whether you send by special delivery or not. I have read stories where dishonest buyers have opened a dispute in eBay/PayPal and claimed that they were sent a lump of wood in an iPhone box...and shockingly eBay/PayPal have sided with the buyer and refunded their money. The seller has then ended up with no phone and no money.

It seems that all eBay/PayPal will always take the buyers word against the sellers so I can't see any benefit in marking the box or taking a photo whilst packing it.

A genuine buyer should understand if you ask for a bank transfer or even a cheque to clear before you dispatch the phone but you would probably need to make this clear in your listing as not everyone would be happy with this.

I have sold an iPhone and iPad via eBay in the past but stated cash on collection only...whilst this limits the audience you reach, I was happier having a bit less cash in my hand but with the reassurance that no dispute could be opened up in PayPal weeks after the sale and risk losing my money and the item.

Icey370

beckaroo wrote: »

I wouldn't say you were paranoid as this does seem to be a common scam that is doing the rounds.

Unfortunately it is a bit of a gamble, regardless of whether you send by special delivery or not. I have read stories where dishonest buyers have opened a dispute in eBay/PayPal and claimed that they were sent a lump of wood in an iPhone box...and shockingly eBay/PayPal have sided with the buyer and refunded their money. The seller has then ended up with no phone and no money.

It seems that all eBay/PayPal will always take the buyers word against the sellers so I can't see any benefit in marking the box or taking a photo whilst packing it.

A genuine buyer should understand if you ask for a bank transfer or even a cheque to clear before you dispatch the phone but you would probably need to make this clear in your listing as not everyone would be happy with this.

I have sold an iPhone and iPad via eBay in the past but stated cash on collection only...whilst this limits the audience you reach, I was happier having a bit less cash in my hand but with the reassurance that no dispute could be opened up in PayPal weeks after the sale and risk losing my money and the item.

Thanks, that's very helpful il have to consider cancelling then as I really don't want to be out of pocket.

The top bidder right now seems to have 1 feedback, I may cancel that bid as the one behind it has several thousand! Only problem is I didn't state a feedback requirement in my description so not sure ebay would be too happy

I havnt used ebay for years and very rarely use PayPal, I normally use credit cards online. If I were to send the receive the payment then transfer to from PayPal to my bank account then disconnect my account from PayPal, would that make me safe from any false claims from the buyer?

I'm sorry for all these questions

milliemonster

Paypal would still refund the buyer, leave your account in debt and chase you for the money so that wouldnt work unfortunately

Icey370

milliemonster wrote: »

Paypal would still refund the buyer, leave your account in debt and chase you for the money so that wouldnt work unfortunately

Okay thanks, just hope the buyer is genuine then

onetwothree123

I think that advice was very good to make it a collect in person only thus lessening the likelihood of a dodgy person intercepting it and saying box contained a block of wood.

These items/small /computerish things,seems to interest people abroad, someone tried to buy a small netbook from me and they were coming up a registered in Ghana!! 0 feedbacks they had put down a UK posting address which was like C/O someone or other couriers at c/o warehouse /storage facility in London! So that is how they got through my blocks of foreign buyers.

I returned their paypal money and had a live chat with ebay who said they would indeed look into this .

I had said in my ad UK BUYERS ONLY but it does not stop them, they know ALL THE TRICKS to bypass the settings.

beckaroo

Icey370 wrote: »

If I were to send the receive the payment then transfer to from PayPal to my bank account then disconnect my account from PayPal, would that make me safe from any false claims from the buyer?

I don't think this would work either...From what I have read, sellers that have done this before have ended up with a negative PayPal balance and PayPal threatening legal action to reclaim the money. Although I don't know what the outcome of this has been and whether PayPal have actually got bailiffs involved, etc.

I'm sorry that I sound like doom and gloom but I am so suspicious of buyers where expensive goods are involved after reading all about various scams...

I feel so sad that we live in a world where there are people out there that do this kind of thing to honest people...:(