Am I BEING SCAMMED AS A NEW SELLER ON EBAY... NEED HELP -

[justyjuice]

I have been with ebay for 20 years... sold a couple items in the past.. recently been on a rampage to sell off all my gaming consoles... finally had someone buy it now for an old modded RAR ps2 for 500 dollars... I have had a pretty good eye for scammers but this one has me! 

Because my old account was initially opened when I was living in Canada I had to open a new account in the US since I now reside here... the old account kept going to ebay.ca and was annoying... AFTER selling my item as a "Buy it Now" ebay notified me they would hold my funds until I switched the Canadian account back to a Canadian address instead of my Current USA. So I open a new account ..but it has no Positive Feedback.  

So, Ebay suggested I make the new account and start all over... so I did.. and i have been hit up by a couple of gift card scammers... now I am SO SCARED to sell to anyone and I don't know who is real or not.. i sold my ps2 today for $500... plus the customer was billed for shipping.. total sale was $588.64... after ebay fees im supposed to be paid $364... but since the account is new... EBAY says they are holding my funds till November 17th 2023... this is a long time... i have read horror stories of sellers selling expensive items ... shipping it... then waiting for money to clear ... and the buyer claiming they did not receive the item, or putting a claim it's damaged and getting their money back, never returning the item and BOOM I'm out my PS2 ... How do I protect myself from this??... The Buyer has 562 reviews... with  100% feed backs which is nuts....  and has been a member since 2012... HOWEVER, I have seen other scammers for gift card scams with 100% feedback... with hundreds of reviews... How is EBAY allowing this... Any HELP or tips on what to do here..  this sucks bc I really want the sale to be real and I feel bad if this is real buyer... this seriously sucks for everyone. I hope someone can help me before I ship anything or cancel anything.. this one is tricky... 

[justyjuice]

Also on another note.. the buyer does have a contact number in his shipping label... is it worth contacting them to verify?

Is it worth while to hold out until the money clears and let the buyer know I am on hold and cannot ship until the funds clear my account and are not held by ebay? 

Thanks so much 

[lakefor94]

You can't sell items on eBay and hold them until your payment hits your bank account. 

A seller has to be prepared to ship within their stated handling time.

Gaming consoles are a scammy item. Sellers should not post items they are afraid to lose. It can happen. 

Just because the funds hit your account does not mean you are in the clear. A buyer has 30 days to file a claim with eBay after the delivery date. They have 180 days with PayPal and ~90 to ~180 days with their Credit Card. 

What is with the $139 shipping on your other item up for sale now?

I wish I had better things to tell you. Best of luck.

[justyjuice]

Wow this sucks...the account associated with this profile I'm using is my older canada account.. i don't see $139 shipping I see 67.00 USD?.. This was auto set by ebay when I provided the weight and dimensions.. not sure if I did something wrong...if if that's an international shipping quote...  i am going to be removing this one last listing in this account since getting payments from Ebay is a pain.

So if am reading correct i should just cancel the order and not list such expensive items on eaby with a new account because I'm likely to get scammed.... is there any due-dilligace that anyone does to validate a legit buyer from a potential scammer for higher ticket items?   

[buyselljack2016]

$67 is to you.

$179 to me

If it were my listing............   I would offer ground shipping as the 1st choice.

[bonjourami]

All buyers have 100% feedback, as that is all sellers can leave. If you have tracking on your item,that should prevent inr claims. And if you respond to a case, with a return label, and refund after return, and you should get an item back. Not saying it will be yours tho..if it is not, you can appeal after the case is closed.if you cancel, you will get a major defect to your account, just sayin'.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@justyjuice wrote:

The Buyer has 562 reviews... with  100% feed backs which is nuts....  and has been a member since 2012...

---

How is that nuts?

All buyers have 100% feedback.

[ebooksdiva]

@justyjuice 

Look at the shipping I see. $156.46 expedited shipping. Your calculated shipping is way off somehow.  

[kensgiftshop]

---

@justyjuice wrote:

Also on another note.. the buyer does have a contact number in his shipping label... is it worth contacting them to verify?

Is it worth while to hold out until the money clears and let the buyer know I am on hold and cannot ship until the funds clear my account and are not held by ebay? 

Thanks so much 

---

The buyer will file an INR and get a refund way before the hold is removed.

If the buyer has paid, you're supposed to ship within your handling time.

[yuzuha]

FWIW, you are not allowed to sell modded consoles on eBay. You could potentially end up in trouble just because of that fact.

[ittybitnot]

. How do I protect myself from this??

@justyjuice 

Basically, you can't.  Just about any item can be had for free at your expense buy various faulty claim.  

The easiest to combat are the "text me  (email me, let me have your email address, call me, send pics) scammers" and their cousins the "change of address" scammers that contact you via eBay messages.  These people don't pay, and are usually the perps of the "include a gift card for my uncle( grandmother, sister) for their birthday (first communion, wedding).  Typically, they don't hit you up for the gift card portion of the scam until you contact them off ebay.  NEVER do this.  You can now once again after many years report them right on the message page under the ACTION tab.

It is the ones that DO pay and cause trouble for you after the sale that are the most problematic.  ALL buyer IDs have 100% positive feedback whether they have zero or 5000. It is in no way indicative of their honesty. 

New, returning, and infrequent sellers will have their payments held.  It is how it is done now.  eBay expects you to ship anyway, and has a nice bag of unsavory consequences ready in case you don't. 

[bonjourami]

"Also on another note.. the buyer does have a contact number in his shipping label... is it worth contacting them to verify?"

To verify what? That he is not a scammer?

[lakefor94]

"is there any due-dilligace that anyone does to validate a legit buyer from a potential scammer for higher ticket items?"

I sell some big ticket items though they are not big scam items.

I sometimes check a buyer's feedback, feedback left for others, age of the account. Google can provide a lot of information at times surrounding an address, phone number etc. Facebook can tell you things.  

I have saved myself a lot of hassle on several occasions.

If there is not something glaring, I ship. 

[justyjuice]

I did... ill have to double check whats going on.... I'm a total nooob

[kensgiftshop]

---

@justyjuice wrote:

So if am reading correct i should just cancel the order and not list such expensive items on eaby with a new account because I'm likely to get scammed.... is there any due-dilligace that anyone does to validate a legit buyer from a potential scammer for higher ticket items?   

---

You can cancel as out of stock, but you'll have to provide a funding source to pay the refund.

Ebay might keep their fee's, you'll earn a defect and possibly negative feedback.

When the hold is released on the buyers payment the funds will be sent to your checking account.

Now days, older accounts are getting scammed just as often as new accounts.