Twice now I've had 2 buyers for a phone that have just registered and bought.
Both paid instantly.
I'm always a little wary of zero feedback buyers, so always send a quick message just asking a few questions to gauge their response.
Both times I've received no response.
One I even texted and still got no response, so just cancelled the sale.
No response afterwards either.
I find it odd somebody sets up an account on Xmas day and immediately buys. Even so giving the benefit of doubt, why not respond to messages?
I just feel it's a possible scam, but what is it?
Anyone had similar?
Both paid instantly.
I'm always a little wary of zero feedback buyers, so always send a quick message just asking a few questions to gauge their response.
Both times I've received no response.
One I even texted and still got no response, so just cancelled the sale.
No response afterwards either.
I find it odd somebody sets up an account on Xmas day and immediately buys. Even so giving the benefit of doubt, why not respond to messages?
I just feel it's a possible scam, but what is it?
Anyone had similar?
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sorted byThis was someone will offer and I can check their feedback and chat to them etc before commiting.
Week before Christmas I did this with a £400 item. Listed for £450 with offers.
Within 2 hours someone has bought and paid the full £450 which is £50 over RRP.
There account had around 20 x 100% feedback.
Messaged them to check they are happy with the purchase and the dispatch that was planned etc and got no reply.
Looked in more detail at the 20 x 100% feedback and they had all been 99p items from China over the last 2 weeks.
Eventually got a very broken English message back that made little sense..
My gut was to cancel the sale. Which they never got back to me about.
The building up of feedback buying random 99p items is a classic.. Be aware people.
- Sold my wife's mobile, buyer purchased and paid straight away, address was a UK warehouse which I googled and lead me to hundreds of reviews from eBay sellers saying the parcel gets sent there and buyer will claim the item is lost. Checked buyer and location was an African country. Pulled out of the sale and told buyer I'm cancelling. I sold it again at a price £25 lower but I can live with that knowing I could have been scammed.
- this last week, just selling a PS5 controller so nothing expensive. But same as above, buyers address is set to another warehouse in UK with a locker location. Check buyer and location is USA? Fired a question over and no response within 24 hours so immediately cancelled citing a lack of communication from them.
I could always send via recorded delivery and the proof of delivery to back me up. But the whole thing feels like a setup and to me it's just not worth getting involved, as eBay will always put a hold on your money as soon as a dispute is raised. I'd always sell for less than get duped into something, to the OP, just follow your gut instinct like you have on this occasion
I always state that all parcels are packed with videos and photos taken including the weight of the parcel. IMEI and serials recorded and finally I send photos of it all to the buyer and ask them to check them against the received package before opening.
Always send via Special delivery too, so tell them that the delivery is fully tracked and the location recorded.
I state this is for security purposes and for both buyer and seller protection and so eBay have a record of it.
No reason why a buyer would have an issue with the above if they are genuine. (edited)
If a sale is cancelled legitimately then no feedback should be able to be left by either party.
It's wrong that a scammer can come along and wreck your score because you sussed them out.
No sale should be no feedback.
Feedback should be for seller performance. You can't judge that from a cancelled sale.
If sellers could leave neg feedback for dodgy buyers and give reason for cancellations then there might not be as many scammers getting away with it.
As far as I know the same buyer might have tried the same scam several times until someone falls for it.
I've had plenty of 0 feedback buy off me, every one has been ok. I've had 5 or 6 with new accounts on the days as well no issues, but yes i understand the fear of sending expensive items to these accounts. (edited)
I've had this happen before - I was suspicious that someone bought something from me for £500 the day they opened their account, so I contacted eBay and they said "everyone has to start somewhere" and that I should despatch the item because payment had cleared. A few days after delivery I got hit with the chargeback, so I had to submit proof of delivery to eBay (which thankfully I had) so I got to keep the money.
So at the end of the day it was eBay who got scammed - I still got the price I wanted for the item - but there was a stressful few days there where my funds were on hold and I was waiting for the outcome of the chargeback case. And I'm no fan of giving eBay money, but I'm still angry that someone used me to steal something from them. I sent all the info I had to Action Fraud, but I doubt it's a high priority for them.
Since then I've just cancelled any orders for expensive items from new accounts - only had one person complain, so maybe they were genuine, but otherwise it's not worth the risk. (edited)
Luckily I hadn’t sent the phone at this point. Was that someone having buyers remorse and trying to get out of the sale or had someone had their details stolen and spotted the fraudulent transaction straight away.
So many scams on ebay now empty boxes, chargebacks , italy buyers, even high feedback buyers are exploiting not as described cases when changing their minds to get free returns(special delivery £14+ cost to seller)
When a transaction goes good it's great but it seems the one sided nature of ebay in cases is promoting crime.
One guy blatantly lied saying not as described and even admitted as much in a message which eBay saw.
I complained and contested the return. eBay actually agreed with me and advised me to offer a partial refund to resolve the issue (there was no issue). They also told me to raise a complaint against the buyer, so they could investigate.
(Apparently they don't look favourably on buyers falsely representing reasons for return.)
I did and the buyer accepted it. In my book that means buyer at fault yet eBay closed the case saying 'closed in buyers favour'! WTF?
It happened a second time where a buyer claimed a brand new boxed sealed item was faulty AND had a mark on the screen. This was 3 days later.
I contested this as well. eBay automatically raised the return (I had no choice but to accept)
I received the item back absolutely covered in smudges and signs of use. The box was damaged and full of oily finger prints.
(After a clean up the item was fine and nothing wrong with it at all)
Did the same as above and offered a partial refund as the item was now no longer new and sealed.
He didn't want to accept it.
Raised a case with eBay and again eBay agreed with me and gave the buyer a partial refund and closed the case.
Again 'Closed in buyers favour'!!!
So no matter what it's massively buyer biased. (edited)
I've used ebay for a long time but over the last 5-6 years I very seldom buy anything. Also I sell about 1 item a year for that very reason of the after sale hassle/come back.
I've a very good condition qnap Nas I want to shift. Where does one shift such a thing nowadays?
Listing is free, buyer collects and you can specify cash only.
I realised I have been scammed . I didn’t take any pictures , this is more than £200 stuff. Not sure anyone will respond but feeling bit helpless in this situation.
If you think you are/will be then get on to eBay CS straight away and tell them your concerns.
There's a chance they will cover you.
Always remember. Pictures of everything. (edited)