Scams

[laser121]

I currently have a lot of five silver dollars I’m selling on eBay. The bid has gone over $200. However, as a long time seller who’s been gone from eBay for a while, I’m a bit suspicious of the buyer as he has zero transactions, and zero feedback history with Ebay. When I set up my seller account I indicated that I did not want any buyers that didn’t have at least five transactions on their name. What happened to that?  My red flags have gone into overtime, and, as a long time seller , the hair on the back of my neck is standing straight up screaming scam! What can I do to protect myself?

[soh.maryl]

Well, for starters, you can't specify that you don't want any buyers that don't have at least five transactions to their name.  As a  long time seller, seems like you'd know that.

If sellers were allowed to refuse to sell to new buyers from the very beginning, where would eBay be now?

[kensgiftshop]

As a long time seller, you should know there is no way to block no/low feedback buyers.

[12345jamesstamps · Accepted solution]

You also have a bidder with 399 feedbacks under the seller with 0 feedbacks and is not bidding on any other auctions...yet this 0 bidder is bidding on other auctions.

I believe 0 feedback bidder could be as a guest on eBay...

Really too early to do anything...5 more days.

There could be retractions on the auction as well in the future.

I would get a written signature(not digital signature) for delivery for this sale.

And I would check to see where bidders eBay ID's are from.

It could end up going "freight forward" to another country using a USA address.

It's a big sale so you want to be extremely careful.

[stuff4divas]

@laser121   don't know why it didn't take when u set up the 5 feedbacks, but maybe check your account to see if it was applied.

also, here is a link to read if u want>  https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-auctions/cancelling-bid?id=4140

notice the statement that a seller may be concerned over fraudulent buyers.

[pjcdn2005]

The setting that you are referring to is to restrict buyers with less than x feedback to buy more than a specified amount of items from you within a specific time period.   There is no blanket restriction to stop low feedback buyers from buying an item from you.

I have a lot of 0 feedback buyers and haven't had a problem with them.  But I also don't sell expensive items.

All you can do to protect yourself is to make sure that you send to the address provided with tracking and probably insurance. There is always the chance that someone may be planning on causing you a problem but that is just as likely for a 100 feedback buyer as a 0 feedback buyer.  

If the total sale is $750+ you are required to send with signature confirmation.    I'm sure that some will disagree but if I were sending that item to a freight forwarder's address, I would probably send it with a signature just to make sure it got scanned as delivered. There have been a few reports that some of the forwarders packages are not always scanned by usps.

[pjcdn2005]

Guest buyers cannot bid on auctions.

[a_c_green]

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@laser121 wrote:

I currently have a lot of five silver dollars I’m selling on eBay. The bid has gone over $200. However, as a long time seller who’s been gone from eBay for a while, I’m a bit suspicious of the buyer as he has zero transactions, and zero feedback history with Ebay.

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Well, he's bidding in 10 auctions in that category, but currently only leading in 2, one of which is yours. He has bid twice in your auction, with his (outbid) amount showing a little savvy in how to add a few pennies to guard against an accidental tie with a previous bid. He has no retractions on his record, and is not bidding outside of that category. I don't see any red flags with him, despite the new account.

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@laser121 wrote:

When I set up my seller account I indicated that I did not want any buyers that didn’t have at least five transactions on their name. What happened to that?

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That's for limiting new bidders who have already bid on or purchased a previous item from you within 10 days: 

Ref: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements 

You cannot block zero-feedback bidders entirely, only after they have made a recent transaction with you.

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[laser121]

Yes, I’m a long time OCCASIONAL seller, and have been away from eBay for a number of years. One thing I’ve learned about eBay is that rules are continually changing. After dealing with a number of scammer trying to put the shaft to me, I’d prefer to be safe than sorry. I’m retired, and on a fixed income, and 200.00 is a lot of money to loose for me!