Listed item, now having second thoughts - Everyone is suspicious!!

CHR15

Hi,
I listed a Laptop for sale. A high spec laptop worth well over £1000

In my listing I said I would only sell to active members with confirmed Paypal addresses in the UK.

The first question I received was from a USA member, good feedback and active within the last two weeks. All his feedback is for USA items.
This is the message I received:

Dear sir/madam: Welcome to visit our website elecjoy.com , you will get a big surprise. We are a big electronic wholesaler company in china. "Honesty, equity, and customer' satisfaction" is our promise to customers. So now we have enjoyed good reputation. We can cater to your demand with our high quality items and favorable prices. It is our honor to satisfy your demand. If you have any demands or suggestions, just tell us, we will do our best to serve you. We want to have long term cooperation with you. Website: elecjoy.com MSN/Email: elecjoy@hoemail.com

The message hardly supports the member profile being in the USA. I reported the message to Ebay in case it was a hijacked account.


The second, third and fourth messages I received have been from users with good feedback (200+) but not one of them have been active during the last 18months.

I can't help but be suspicious that these may be dormant accounts which have been hijacked.

I am getting far too paranoid now that I am going to end up posting the laptop off only for paypal to suck the money back due to Stolen credit Card or hijacked account etc.

I've a good mind to withdraw the auction and keep the lappy for myself!

The place is full of thieves!

meester

unfortunately it works both ways.

The legitimate buyers think the sellers are all thieves.

Plus prices are grossly overinflated due to the criminals who will (or rather won't) pay any price.

Hopeless.

mum2one

At the end of the day with a high value item I totally agree with where your coming from,
youve set our your terms and conditions and as long as there in the listing, thou most people dont always read the listing.

If you start getting bids that are dodgy then you have the right to cancel the bid legitimately through ebay,

Good luck x

pdel61

The vast majority of people out there are honest despite what you read in forums such as this. Do your homework on each of the bidders that bid on your item, check there feedback, look at there location, even drop them an email, once the auction is over get a landline telephone number and give them a call to confirm details. Make sure you post to a confirmed address and make sure it's send insured and tracked.

Not everyone uses their accounts all the time, I have a number I only use for specific purposes and some of them haven't been used recently, but again if they concernn you send them an email asking why their account hasn't ben used for so long and if you don't get a reply or ar not happy with it cancel the bid and block them from rebidding.

Most transactions go smoothly and like everything else you only ever hear about the problems and therefore can end up with a distorted picture, but just to care, check out everything and you should be fine.

Good Luck

flutsy

As long as they have a verified address and you post with trackable info available for paypal to see, even if it is a stolen card you will get your money. With sellers proection you are covered and paypal with cover any loss.

https://www.paypal.com/helpcenter/main.jsp;jsessionid=HnYGcVtVl8myShSH1swcx3yBsqJJ3pb5S2z1tdm2nKVkM6Phdfsc!1663232053?locale=en_US&_dyncharset=UTF-8&countrycode=US&cmd=_help&serverInstance=9004&t=solutionTab&ft=searchTab&ps=solutionPanels&solutionId=11884&isSrch=Yes

CHR15

Thanks for the replies guys.

From your link flutsy......

What is not covered under seller protection:
"Significantly Not as Described" chargeback claims
Transactions to non-US buyers
Transactions to US buyers who do not have confirmed addresses
Any transactions in which the seller did not follow the SPP guidelines

I take it the same rules apply for us UK sellers too??

Also, is the full amount covered or just the £500 as mentioned in the listing for paypal protection??

ormus

only the 500 quid.

ps
yes the majority of ebay sales are ok ie mine run at 98% or so. i know ebay quote about 99.9%
but beware that there are vast differences between various items. laptops, mobiles and cameras etc will have a far bigger scam rate.

CHR15

I have just received an offer which sounds okay.

The buyer has a feedback of 24 (100%) and has been a member of ebay since Jan 04.

How can I see if he has a confirmed address or not. I cant see too much. His feedback seems fairly well spread out although i can't see any of his buying details.

thanks

freddysmith

You can only hope he has read your auction and has a confirmed address.
You should be able to see a Post Code and check if they are in your local area for cash on collection and check out their recent feedback. Unless they contact you via Ebay you will have to make your own judgement.
They may well contact you after the auction finishes if no other acceptable offers

CHR15

Thanks freddy, I was hoping to see a postcode of the bidder so I can ask for a landline number (and make sure it is the same place) but I cant see anything other than the beginning of the username.

This doesn't help much, even if I rang him I still wouldn't be any the wiser until he has paid.

CHR15

Okay, It is Done!

I accepted the offer and am now faced with an invoice screen.

I can see the buyers address but I still can't see if it is a Confirmed Address or not!!??

I have sent this message:

Hi *******.
I notice you are in ********* just 13 miles away from me.
If you would like cash on collection to avoid postage I am more than happy to meet either at my house or a convenient location (motorway services).
Alternatively if you are paying via Paypal then I will post to your confirmed address.
Lastly if you would rather Bank Transfer to my Lloyds account I am happy to either meet or post.

This is what he has said

Hi, thanks for accepting my best offer - genuine offer - yes I do realise I've got 25% off the price they're going for in the shops! Question time - I live just North of ****** (but work in France so home on Friday) - would it be easier for the both of us if I were to collect at weekend instead of postage? Let me know and I'll arrange immediate payment via paypal to you. Kindest regards *****

I hear bad things about accepting Paypal and people collecting!!

I think I should ask for Bank Transfer or Cash if he wants to collect. Am I doing the right thing???