Fraud or legit?
Summary: teresa2262 expressed concerns about a suspicious buyer on eBay who requested additional videos and inundated them with messages outside the platform. Participants unanimously advised that this is a scam. They cautioned against sharing personal contact information and recommended utilizing eBay's tools to handle buyer inquiries. Many participants shared insights and tips about common scams and how to avoid them, encouraging teresa2262 to report the suspicious email to eBay and consider selling smaller, less valuable items to understand the platform better. Despite the negative experience, participants encouraged teresa2262 to consider giving eBay another chance for its potential benefits.
I just started Ebay and granted I dont fully understand. However, after posting a couple of coins, I get back a message for me to video the coins, which is understandable, but now the buyer has my number and I am innodated with text messages asking for me to ship the item tomorrow, when the funds has not hit my account. Further more, I get a suspicous email that shows ebay@aol.com.
Is this legit? My hunches that its not... and further more, this person added $300 more to the order than asking price.
gurlcat
·6 days ago · EditedGood thing you came to ask before shipping and getting scammed, but it makes me sad that your takeaway is "this is too hard, so I just won't sell here." Now that you know where to get the best advice, there's no reason not to proceed and get satisfying sales. And I don't know if you were joking about leaving a pile for your kids to deal with, but that is something I hear about more and more, how devastating that can be for kids to handle on top of the grief.
funfactorychannel
·6 days agoeBay has video option, if anyone ask for video take it and post it on your listing. Just stay within the time and size restriction.
juicydrupes
·6 days agoIf a buyer asks you for more information or pictures, the best practice should be adding those videos or photos to the listing. I dont like giving certain buyers exclusive information - especially if its just a detail I missed.
soh.maryl
·6 days agoThe fact that you state you don't understand is disturbing as well as dangerous. eBay offers a boatload of information for new sellers. Have you read it?
For new sellers, eBay will often hold your payment from your buyer for up to 30 days. That news is clearly included in the new seller information that eBay offers.
eburtonlab
·6 days agoA request for a video of a coin is a good way for a scammer to get the seller's contact info if the seller provides the video outside of eBay. Once a scammer has the seller's text or email, the scammer can send phony "You've been paid -- ship now" messages.
eBay has no way for a buyer to add extra money to an order to pay for gift cards or to compensate for "gas and stress", but that does not stop scammers from claiming to do so.
teresa2262
OP6 days agoThat exact thing happened.. I got a spam email that came from ebay@aol.com and went to my spam and the message stated that $300 had been added to the total. I am glad I double checked the from email address, because it did look authentic. Once bitten, twice shy. Thanks!
eburtonlab
·6 days agoYou are very welcome -- glad that you checked again!
mam98031
·6 days ago@teresa2262 Go to that email again and FORWARD it to spoof@ebay.com . It is important to forward it so they can see all the properties and such that the email holds. This way Ebay WILL look into it.
teresa2262
OP6 days agoGood Info! Thanks!
shado-x
·6 days agoDon't give the buyer your phone number. Block the buyer. Deny the greed.
caldreamer
·6 days agoNormally when customer purchases item you are supposed to ship it right away. You do NOT wait until money is deposited into your checking account.
Just so you know, you can get scammed even "after money deposited into your account".
Anyone can go to credit card company and get "payment reversed" after they receive your item. Keep both your money and your item.
Or they can you EBAY 30-Day Money Back Guarantee (supersedes "no returns") and return a "piece of junk to you" and EBAY will force you to give them a full refund (including postage BOTH ways).
This is just a few of the many pitfalls of selling online.
teresa2262
OP6 days agothanks! This sounds like its something that I dont want to deal with. Life is hard enough without having to deal with this. I will just let my stuff pile up and my kids can take care of getting rid of it. :). I guess if the deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Who in their right mind would give you an extra $300 for shipping an item less than 3 ounces? lol. Thanks again for your input.
eoma689485
·6 days ago"Who in their right mind would give you an extra $300 for shipping..."
A scammer would - new sellers with expensive items - prime targets. If you want to sell on eBay, sell small inexpensive items until you fully understand the pluses and pitfalls of selling on eBay.
teresa2262
OP6 days agoGood info. I think best thing for me to do is just stop trying to sell stuff. Thanks again for your input. Kinda puts thing into perspective. You know, the other oddity is, that the same item I was attempting to sell, there was another one just like it, much cheaper. So, that was yet another reason my red flag went up. Have a great day!
mountaingigi
·6 days agoNow that you've gotten all this good information from experienced sellers, you might want to give it another try. I'm a small seller who has had great customer experiences from the start. I do think certain kinds of listings most likely attract scammers, but it's really not hard to identify scammy buyers. If someone wants a video or more photos, you just add those to the listing. You never have give out your personal contact info.
Your children will appreciate not being saddled with possessions they probably have no interest in. Read ebay's tips for new sellers, start small, and you'll find it can be a good experience, as well as putting a little extra $$$ in your pocket.
Just my 2¢.
teresa2262
OP6 days agoThanks! Yes.. my children will appreciate not being burdened with my stuff. This was my first attempt that could have turned really bad. I am thankful for folks like yourself who has helped me learn from this instance. I almost decided to just delete the account for this reason. Nobody needs scammers and having to deal with these disturbing issues. Thanks for everyone's input on this.
shire123
·6 days agoRun away fast! And block.
susanb1872
·6 days agoScam!! Never give out your phone number or personal email. Scammers look for new buyers to take advantage of.
kensgiftshop
·6 days agoNo, you're about to be scammed.
Anytime they want you to contact them outside of Ebay, they are up to no good.
teresa2262
OP6 days agoI have blocked. The payment still shows pending and prior to blocking them, they stated that Ebay was waiting to get the tracking on the item before the dollars hit my account. Thanks so much for your input.
eoma689485
·6 days ago"they stated that Ebay was waiting to get the tracking on the item before the dollars hit my account."
The email that stated that - not from eBay.
kensgiftshop
·6 days agoNo, that's not how it works.
They are hoping you'll ship before you find out you haven't been paid.
In 5 days, cancel the order for nonpayment.