No reply to message after low price auction

soolin

katec wrote: »

when does the 2nd kick in then? (sorry to hijack your thread sysboy)

I think the seller needs 50 feedback to qualify to have full buyer protection and has to have a certain percentage feedback as well. If you look at auctions on the top RH under the seller id and feedback it will show how much paypal protection there is on that auction.

sysboy

Thanks for all the above suggestions. I really want to pay the item I have won, but I really worry that the seller will not post item as the price is not so high.
The item is a new Nokia N73 unlocked , the final price of which is less than 60 including postage. I know it is not very good to post this info here. I have contacted the seller, just want a response, but not reply received. Do you think the seller will post item after my payment? Thanks

soolin

My only concern here is that phones attract scammers and the fact that you won it so cheap might be because more experienced buyers saw something in the auction that worried them.

If you want you can pm me or one of the other regulars here the auction number, so we can take a quick look and see what we think of the seller. If it looks legit then go ahead and pay by paypal backed by a credit card, if there is anything that worries one of us then maybe call up the telephone details for the seller and give them a ring.

Altenatively if you would prefer not to let any of us see the auction then do your own searches, what else has selelr sold, what is their feedback for and does the auction style look identical to any previous sales they made. Try to spot whether this migh be a hijacked account.

Premier_2

I've just checked out recent sales of N73s on eBay and £60 is about the going price (there were even some BINs at that price). Postage is typically about £5.00 extra.

I don't think the item you won is particularly cheap. As soolin says, mobile phones do attract alot of scammers, but probably just as many people who bid/win and don't pay, and you are in danger of becoming one of those.

A couple of things to consider:
a) if the seller really wanted your money and didn't plan on sending the phone, don't you think they would have responded to your email earliest to prompt you to send the money?
b) if you think the phone was worth more, and you wanted it, I guess you actually bid more. If you had won the item at the maximum amount you bid, would you have been more eager to send your money off?

If you really want some more reassurance a couple of things you should do:
1. Put the name and postcode of the seller (given in your email from ebay confirming your win) into something like 192.com and see if the seller is on the open electorial register at that address
http://www.192.com/search/people.cfm

2. Request the seller's phone number from ebay (they will provide the seller with yours too) and phone them - though see (a) above!

sysboy

today the seller said the item has been sold.

not to me. Should I report him as a non-performing seller?

Premier_2

You could try, but if you didn't pay within 7 days they could report you as a non-paying bidder, as previously warned about. Their defence will certainly be that they didn't supply because you failed to pay!

Personally, I would forget about it and move on. Only don't bid on an item unless you are 100% happy to pay should you be declared the winner (and that can happen at any time, even before the scheduled end of an auction)

sysboy

OK. Many thanks for your advice, Premier.