eBay

rei-npkrlma · ‎12-06-2017

Had a buyer do the most odd thing and when I saw it, red flags went up all over the place.

Here's what happened. I get a sale. Great! I go to start preparing it for shipping and I get another and another... boom....boom...six purchases OF THE VERY SAME ITEM one after the other. Six was all I had left, so now I know this is going to stop. I was logged in, I saw this all going on and by this point, I'm getting extraordinarily supsicious.

I go to "view my sales" and lo and behold the name and address is exactly the same on each sale. BUT, each sale had a different variation of the buyers user name. In other words, there were 6 different user names, 6 separate purchases, all for the same item. I found this odd and frankly, was afraid to process the orders out of a horrid fear of some serious trouble brewing.

I really didn't want to process those orders so I called eBay CS. Luckily I had someone who took a look at what happnened and actually understood my concerns. He said the only thing I could do is process each order separately to fulfill my sales but I was so worried I asked if I could cancel them instead w/o any negative repercussions. He said sure, I could do that and to use the "Something wrong with buyer's address" when I cancelled. He also suggested I pick one user name out of the six (CS rep said the person used the same email address) and send a message informing the buyer I was cancelling (right-o, makes sense) and requesting the buyer purchase all 6 in one purchase so I could combine the shipping.

Oh - the CS rep also sais this buyer was using the guest checkout. But still, why not just put 6 in the quantity and get them all in one shipment? Who would want to do six separate transactions for the very same item from the very same seller?

I did message the buyer as the rep suggested. Then I proceeded to cancel each sale. I never heard back from this mysterious buyer. I haven't relisted the item as yet because I don't want this character to do this all over again, but I'm really wondering:

1) What is the buyers end game?

2) Has anyone else experienced this and if so, how did you handle it?

I'm super concerned that this is a scam of sorts, but for the life of me, can't figure it out. A couple of days prior to this occurence I had a similar situation but the person only bought 2 of the same item to the same address with different user names and I did follow through shipping them, but I'm still concerned something is going to come back to bite me on them.

Thanks if you made it through this whole post - I tried to condense but I seem to have trouble doing that sometimes. . .

penguins_dont_fly · ‎12-06-2017

Very strange ... but ... It just sounds like a guest buyer that didn't know how to change the quantity when purchasing (or use the cart).

Did you ask the rep if the accounts were guests?

Were all the payments from the same PayPal account?

I wouldn't have cancelled unless I heard from the buyer ...and if they ARE a guest, messages are problematic (because they don't actually have a login)

penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
Buying and Selling since 2013

nawlinsron2 · ‎12-06-2017

Same here...have had the same buyer buy 2 or 3 pieces one at a time...but not 6.

Six might be cool if from the same ID...but what guest would have 6 IDs?

rei-npkrlma · ‎12-06-2017

"Did you ask the rep if the accounts were guests?"

Yes, the rep said they were all guest checkout. I'm not sure if they paid with a PP account or credit card through PP - rep didn't get specific on that.

I just found it so odd. I've been on here long enough to have experience a ton of ups and downs and learned a heap of lessons, but this was a first and I was extremely uncomfortable.

"...and if they ARE a guest, messages are problematic"

Very true, but as I mentioned, the rep did say the person used the same email address for each transaction and that the buyer would get a message to any of the IDs I choose to use. I offered him the sale in one shipment, never heard a word back.

rei-npkrlma · ‎12-06-2017

"...but what guest would have 6 IDs? "

Exactly what I was thinking, but then the eBay CS rep said when a person uses guest check out, an ID is created. So this guy just kept ordering this item with guest checkout one after the other until the stock ran out. I literally sat here and watched them roll in one after the other - really weird! [insert twilight zone music...lol]

phcd1 · ‎12-06-2017

@rei-npkrlma wrote:
... I called eBay CS. Luckily I had someone who took a look at what happnened and actually understood my concerns. He said the only thing I could do is process each order separately to fulfill my sales but I was so worried I asked if I could cancel them instead w/o any negative repercussions. He said sure, I could do that and to use the "Something wrong with buyer's address" when I cancelled. He also suggested I pick one user name out of the six (CS rep said the person used the same email address) and send a message informing the buyer I was cancelling (right-o, makes sense) and requesting the buyer purchase all 6 in one purchase so I could combine the shipping....

I hope you didn't just get 6 defects! EBay has been cracking down on using that excuse.

I would have shipped myself.

penguins_dont_fly · ‎12-06-2017

@nawlinsron2 wrote:
Same here...have had the same buyer buy 2 or 3 pieces one at a time...but not 6.

Six might be cool if from the same ID...but what guest would have 6 IDs?

Guests, by their very definition, have a different eBay generated ID every time they purchase ...they don't login to eBay with an ID.

penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
Buying and Selling since 2013

retrose1 · ‎12-06-2017

Your buyer is probably a reseller that is taking all of your items off the site so their's will be some of the few left - and since they show in the sold column, it looks like they are a hot item.

You got a CS that might be able to see what is going on, but is obviously for ebay and not you. Canceling them all will probably doom your account.

You should report the buyer for auction interference - then call back and get a CS with no accent that will look at what is happening.

Then ask them the magic question - does the buyer sell the same item on another id? Then have them look at your report and cancel the transactions for you.

(*Bleep*)

duggmills · ‎12-06-2017

I'm giving you a Gold Star Helpful on this one for it's a valuable "What if" lesson.

I would be inclined to cancel all the orders rather than risk the sale of even only one of the items through a seller complaint - which these days seems to have degenerated to easily getting a refund without having to return the item. I call it eBay's R&R (Refunded and Retained) Buyer's Service trend.

"Fly the Big Ones"

rei-npkrlma · ‎12-06-2017

phcd1 said -
"I hope you didn't just get 6 defects! EBay has been cracking down on using that excuse."

I hear you loud and clear! That's why I called - I was terrified of getting in some hot water with eBay if I cancelled, but more scared of being ripped off again. Had a little too much of that in the last month and just cannot afford it. Maybe I've become overly cautious, IDK...

retrose1 said -
"You got a CS that might be able to see what is going on, but is obviously for ebay and not you. Canceling them all will probably doom your account."

Well, for obvious reasons I do hope and pray you're wrong about that! The rep assured me I wouldn't and thanked me for calling before moving forward on my own...fingers crossed.

"Then ask them the magic question - does the buyer sell the same item on another id?"

No way to know since he was using guest checkout. He could be a seller using a totally different account. But I get your point and did wonder if this was someone competing or wanting the item for some nefarious reason. ??

rei-npkrlma · ‎12-06-2017

THANK YOU duggmills - exactly what kept going through my mind...cancel rather than face further ramifications to my account like six ugly red dots or a refund I simply cannot afford - cripes, that would have cost me $15.66 in shipping alone - right there my meager profits are eaten up should there be a return / refund.

Thanks for your understanding. . .

d-k_treasures · ‎12-06-2017

@rei-npkrlma wrote:
THANK YOU duggmills - exactly what kept going through my mind...cancel rather than face further ramifications to my account like six ugly red dots or a refund I simply cannot afford - cripes, that would have cost me $15.66 in shipping alone - right there my meager profits are eaten up should there be a return / refund.

Thanks for your understanding. . .

Were the shipping addresses the same on all? If not, then they could have been buying for 6 different people, being shipped to 6 different people.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

retrose1 · ‎12-06-2017

I hate to tell you, but if the buyer paid, those 6 cancels can get you 6 negs that may not be removed if the buyer knows what they are doing.

And if the buyer complains to ebay - and if they have nefarious reasons for doing what they did, they will, your account will get 6 double whammy policy violations, which will probably be enough to get your selling account suspended.

I'm hoping for you, but there were better ways to deal with what happened to you that are less damaging to your account and wallet.

(*Bleep*)