How to avoid scammers!

[amaalex-24]

Good morning all!

I am new to selling on Ebay, and already I'm having a positively terrible experience.  I have had no less than FOUR buyers purchase my items in the last 24 hours, then immediately message me.  Three have messaged saying they "have a question" and want me to text them.  One messaged and wanted my email address and PayPal account information.  I told all four "no," and have reported two of them so far.  One resulted in my listing being deleted by Ebay because the person is a known scammer!  I'm selling clothes here people, not anything fancy and I wasn't born in a barn yesterday.  

By now many of you reading are probably wondering why I am asking the same question dozens before me have asked.  Trust me, I searched the community first before posting this question.  I have all my listings set to "buy now."  I went to my account setting to change my settings to only accept orders from the US and from individuals who have a US based PayPal account.  However, those options are not appearing for me.  Ebay is only allowing me to provide my bank account info, not my PayPal info.  Instead, there is a giant banner saying they are no longer allowing PayPal info and you have to provide a bank account.  Am I missing a setting somewhere that allows me to select "only sell to US buyers?"  Also, does that really prevent scammers?  There are plenty of US based scammers out there.  Am I better to not allow offers on my items?  Or, if someone buys it, am I better to message them first and make sure they are legit?

Like I said, I'm new to selling on Ebay, but other platforms I've used have never had this much trouble.  I just want to sell some clothes, make some money, and pay off some debt.  I'm not looking to get rich here, just a girl trying to resell clothes...smh...  Seriously, a huge thank you in advance to anyone who can help me out!!!!

[aeparts1]

Drop the "best offer" from your listings.

Sell only as "Buy it Now, immediate payment required".

[ckimodog]

As a new seller, I would avoid auctions and best offers as well.  They attract scammers and being new you are a target.  I'm glad you saw through the messages and you should probably block these scammers:

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/BuyerBlock?

Ignore any further correspondence as well.  You should also accept returns.  Ebay has a money back guarantee and buyers have that advantage.  

I see you only ship to the US, so you should be okay.  If someone does make a purchase outside the US, you can always cancel it, due to address issues.  Lots of glitches these days. 

I wish you well on your new site.  Hope this was somewhat helpful.  Have a great day!

[coastaltechsolution]

Here is some information on eBay managed payments (for sellers) 

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/service-and-payments/managed-payments-on-ebay.html 

Here is some info on excluding certain shipping locations

https://export.ebay.com/en/shipping/how-set-your-delivery-options/shipping-exclusions/ 

[newlifeforoldstuff2]

It's just the way it is on ebay today. New sellers are scam magnets and they will try everything there is.  Do not sell high end items to start. Be prepared for returns, credit card charge backs and more. Make sure your listing is described accurately. Scammers and some buyers will use any excuse to ask for discounts, etc. after they receive it. Make sure you understand all the ebay fees and other costs ( packaging, IRS, etc. ) when setting your price or you may find yourself at a loss in the long run. Foreign transactions fees and buyers using  US mail forwarding addresses to purchase overseas can be another issue. You can't block them from buying and you can't set PayPal only anymore. If you don't supply your personal info and bank account, ebay will not pay you. 

I stopped selling last year when ebay made all kinds of insane changes right before the holidays. So did many others. It hurt many sellers, especially the small ones. Keep in mind no matter what you do, big stores with big ad budgets have an advantage and their highly promoted listings will always show up first in search. 

Block anyone who gives you any grief or goes outside ebay policies. Read up on it all. There have been tons of changes, sellers have been complaining since October and ebay has proven they have no intention of listing to them. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     First don't even respond to those messages simply add them to your BBL and delete the messages. Unusual for scammers to go after clothing but they are infamous for targeting new sellers. If it ironic that eBay removed one of  your listings because the buyer is a known scammer but yet they leave that persons account active. AMAZING!!!! 

     Buyers can still use PayPal to purchase items and many do. However for sellers PayPal is not an option for receiving payments. Under MP you have to have a valid bank account tied to your eBay account where eBay can transfer the funds. If you do not have this setup you need to get it established otherwise eBay will not be able to transfer your funds. 

     I took a look at a couple of your listings and you are currently only setup to sell to the US but that does not prevent foreign buyers from buying items if they have a US shipping address. Take a look at the help files and postings on Freight Forwarders. Nothing you do will prevent the scammers from trying all you can do is exercise caution and protect yourself as much as you can because eBay does little to protect the seller. 

     It's up to you on whether you allow offers I personally don't because I don't want to have to deal with low ball offers and haggling back and forth it simply takes too much time. If somebody buys something never open a discussion with them unless there are some issues, otherwise just wait for them to pay, eBay will show you when it's time to ship in you seller hub, and send it. 

     Continue to visit this forum it is often full of useful postings and information and is a far better place to come with issues or to seek advise than it is to call eBay customer support which for the most part these days in abysmal. I wish you the best in your selling endeavors. 

[ittybitnot]

 Three have messaged saying they "have a question" and want me to text them.  One messaged and wanted my email address and PayPal account information. 

@amaalex-24 

What you are experiencing are the usual "text me" scammers.  They never pay, but usually just send a "fake payment notice" saying that you have been paid.  They are likely not interested in your product either.  If they can dupe you into contacting off eBay, they likely are going want you to include some pre-paid gift cards in the 'order' as well.  

They target new or low feedback sellers since they are more likely to fall for this nonsense.  Be glad you didn't!!!!!  You can't report them onsite unless you happen to accept one of their offers, or they are a winning bidder or buyer of record.   Otherwise just ignore and block. 

As suggested, you can dispense with a few of them by making your items Fixed Price with Immediate Payment Required, and not using the best offer feature.  eBay may force the best offer feature on your listings anyway, but you are not obligated to accept.  It does give you an opportunity, however, to examine the profile of the person making the offer.  The text me scammers usually, but not always, are newly registered with no feedback. 

[maccnc11]

This is how I avoid being scammed----------------------------------------

Recently I sold an item and as customary I inspect a Buyers "Feedback Left for Others", upon opening the buyers feedback for others, my first thought was this guy is Color Blind, NO, just kidding, I opened to 200, and counted 149 Negatives for Others, but still if he was Color Blind, his Feedback for Others was still Unsatisfactory, in my opinion. So my next thought was "How do I dodge this Bullet ", well I sale Airguns too, and in the past I have had to Cancel orders due to an Address that I don't ship too, So after thinking about it for a while, I did something I've never done before, I canceled his order based on Unsatisfactory Feedback, "Chose Issue with Buyers Address" Refunded his money, Put him On my BLOCK LIST, and made no attempt to contact him, of course eBays' stance on this is Give the Poor Little Scammer a chance, My stance is NIP these Guys at the Bud. After 10 days he gave me a Surprise Negative, you can read his Tear Jerking Saga of how I left him Hanging, also can you feel all the Remorse I'm Feeling Right Now, LOL, well eBay would not remove the feedback, and yes they really did say I should have given him a Chance, well I gave a reply to his Negative along with his Username, so if you're a seller or a buyer who thanks he may sell something in the Future, check out my feedback received as a Seller this guy is one of the best candidates I've ever seen for the BLOCK LIST

[kh-cathy]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.