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Should I ship to buyer or cancel the order when I suspect a potential scam?
Thank you in advance for your advice!
SITUATION:
1) My listing for a $775 new/unused electrical surplus item had a quantity of 2. Although both are new/unused, there were very minor cosmetic differences so in the photos I include a post-it note ( "#1" & #2") to reflect that both of the quantity were thoroughly photographed.
2) One sold on January 13th and the buyer ("Buyer 1") reached out immediately asking "I just ordered this box I need this at our shop no later than Monday Jan 19th if possible please let me know if this is an issue so I can cancel and find another one." I responded that the item would be shipped out the day of purchase (and in fact it was delivered on Jan 16, ie in just 3 days). Buyer #1's account was opened the day before the sale, on Jan 12 (this will be relevant shortly).
3) I then adjusted the listing description to indicate that item "#1" had sold and item "#2" was the one available. (Hindsight: this was not necessary and in part set me up for the current headache).
4) Yesterday (Jan 22), another buyer (Buyer #2, who's account was opened on Jan 22 and who's shipping address is in the same zip code as Buyer #1), purchased the remaining item in the listing.
5) My shipping terms are same day, so I immediately start the process of packing up the widget and discover that my listing description adjustment in 3 above was in error (i.e. it was #1 that was available, not #2). And although for this type of widget, minor cosmetic differences make no difference to its value or use, still, because I technically made an error in the description AND because my suspicions about 2 different brand new accounts purchasing an expensive piece of electrical surplus were now even MORE heightened because I mapped the shipping addresses of Buyer #1 and Buyer #2 to find them just 5 minutes apart, I sent the following message to Buyer #2:
"Good Morning Ms. XXXXXX. Thank you for your order! I have started the process of packing up your item for shipment and just noticed that although the listing indicated that "#2" was the junction box available, in fact it is box #1 that is available for shipment. It is important to note that there is no functional difference between #1 and #2 (both are new/unused with merely cosmetic differences), but because the listing specified that #2 was available, I wanted to make sure that junction box #1 as shown in the photos is acceptable to you before I ship it out. Please advise and accept my sincere apologies for any confusion. We appreciate your business. " --Sent via eBay, 9:02 am 1/22
6). NO RESPONSE FROM BUYER. 1/23 at 1:45 pm, sixteen hours after sending the message on eBay, I send the following text to the phone number on the invoice: "HI Ms. XXXXX, I am the eBay seller from whom you purchased the junction box. I prepped your order for shipment right away, but because I discovered an error in the listing description (which I spelled out yesterday morning in an eBay message), I can't ship until I have your OK that you still want the item. Please check your eBay messages and let me know one way or the other. Once I have your "ok" I will get your item shipped right away! Thank you for your business." Buyer 2's cell phone sent me a "Read" receipt one minute later, but as of now (over 3 hours later) Buyer 2 has not responded either by cell or via eBay message.
QUESTIONS:
1) Should I keep waiting despite the suspicious circumstances (plus my shipping is already 2 days overdue and stands to spoil my 100% on time record) or should I go ahead and cancel the order due to the Buyer's non-response ?
2) If I cancel, can I avoid a "ding" against my seller record? I have not yet initiated a "Seller" cancellation so I am wondering will there be an opportunity to establish my reasons with the documentation that I have of a non-responsive buyer?
surplus-and-stuff
OP8 months agoDisregard question. The non-responsiveness from the buyer continued so I cancelled the order.