Strange Message from eBay Buyer

supermonkey

Hi Everyone,

I'm selling an old iPhone & have received this:

Hi dear seller?
I hope this message finds you well and I would like to thank you for the listing.

I would like to offer you £ for the phone please so if you agree please send me a direct eBay offer or amend the listing with MAKE OFFER option and I will purchase it and your item will be sold. I will pay automatically as soon as my offer is accepted.

Please advise and many thanks in anticipation.
Best regards.

The buyer register in April 21 and has 66 feedback all 100%. They've now made an official eBay offer.

The wording of the message just puts me off, but not sure if there's any risk?

soolin

The only possible scam is if they pretend to pay you by sending a fake email - but with managed payments this scam no longer really works.

It might just be that email makes them sound curt, when all they want is for you to accept an offer. Personally I wouldn't be too worried by it . 

kasqueak

If they’ve made an offer through eBay then I would go with it (if the offer is acceptable to you). 

I’d be worried if someone was asking me to sell them the phone outside of eBay. Selling through eBay/PayPal then you have added protection. 

I agree the wording of the message is strange but it could just be someone who’s first language isn’t English perhaps. 

If you don’t feel happy then don’t accept the offer just politely decline. 

Brywalker

And for the record if he's only ever been a buyer and never sells anything then his feedback will be 100% because sellers cannot leave buyers negative or neutral feedback.  Also many sellers leave buyers feedback immediately after the sale because the buyers end of the bargain is theoretically complete as soon as they've paid. So you cannot necessarily judge a potential buyer by their feedback.

mimi1234

Bloody hell, what a polite possible buyer.  The "thank you for your listing" makes it sound a bit queer though.

Roughly how much is the phone selling for?  I would send it special delivery and then hope for the best.  

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

I don't think English is their first language, that's all.

MalMonroe

I'm assuming that the item is in a bid situation and not a 'buy now'. If you look at the eBay T&Cs, you'll see that what this potential buyer is suggesting is exactly what eBay asks you NOT to do. (i.e. go off grid)

You can if you wish, I guess - but then you will have absolutely no come back at all if it all goes pear shaped and you could lose money on a non-deal where the buyer gets the goods and disappears. 

Trust your initial instinct. It sounds fishy to me too. It may or may not be. But I would not do it, I'd stick to the eBay terms and conditions. That way if anything does go wrong, you will get your money back.

If this buyer wants the iPhone then he/she should bid or make offers in the normal, eBay, fashion.

prowla

I've done that before - chatted with a seller and they've agreed a price and put up a BIN.

However, somebody grabbed it ahead of me the last time!

Spoonie_Turtle

MalMonroe said:

If this buyer wants the iPhone then he/she should bid or make offers in the normal, eBay, fashion.

OP said they've made an official offer.

jon81uk

If you want to accept an offer turn on offers for that item. 

There is no need to do a separate buy it now listing anymore 

tempus_fugit

This is the typical sort of email I get if selling items like mobile phones. They are trying to get you to deal outside of eBay and want your email address, possibly to send a fake payment email, although as mentioned above if you are on managed payments this no longer really works. If they’ve now offered within the system then that’s fine, go with that, but I’d still be wary. The wording may be of someone whose first language is not English, but it also matches some of the dodgy messages I have had in the past, so it would still make me wary.