Suspicious buyer...
Small time seller here - recently I sold 2 items to a buyer who had created their account the same day they made the purchase. Transaction totaled about $250 and as far as I can tell everything is fine. I typically message my buyers with order updates and in this case I asked if they were interested in another of the same item at a discounted price that I would create a new listing and they could make an offer that I would accept... But I never heard back from the buyer and they never left any feedback on the transaction. Odd, but I guess not everyone wants to chat.
OK - fast forward a few days and I list another of the same item and I see it's the same buyer, but they have again created a brand new account that day and their address is slightly different (first mentioned an apartment #, second account same street but no apt #). Phone number is the same on both accounts. I message buyer wanting to confirm shipping address but again hear nothing back whatsoever. They bought at full price and didn't attempt to take me up on the offer to save about $30 that I had messaged them during the first sale.
I am a little concerned about this buyer - why create new accounts the day they buy? What happens if the address is not correct and delivery cannot be made? Or - worst case - I am dealing with a fraudulent payment here?
I am tempted to cancel the order and refund payment, but I heard that can go against my ratings. As a small seller, that would be very harmful. What options do I have? Do I let eBay handle any possible fraud? what happens if the address is not correct and the shipment is returned to me? Who eats the cost of shipping?
Thanks for any suggestions.
EDIT - I don't have any proof that anything is actually wrong or fraudulent, just a gut feeling.
albertabrightalberta
·8 months ago@ttl_logic
Personally, I think you're overthinking this.
If the buyer(s) bought and paid, you should ship.
jonathanbrightlight
·8 months agoThat sounds like they're purchasing with guest accounts and haven't actually created an account, which will also limit or prevent messaging. Nothing you described would make me cancel an order. What reason would you even select to cancel the order, honestly? If you choose Out of Stock or Damaged, that counts as a strike against you. If you choose Buyer asked to cancel, that's clearly not honest or correct, and if the address is not incorrect, the same applies to Problem with buyer's address. I would ship to the address on the order.
ttl_logic
OP8 months agoThanks for the input! LOL today I found out you can buy on eBay as a guest and that means you may not get messages. Like I said, I'm an occasional small time seller and despite having been a member for nearly 25 years did not know that you didn't need to create an eBay account to buy things.
In that case, I will ship the order and I guess the buyer misses out on the offer to save a few bucks.
kibble-net
·8 months agoIf you are uncomfortable making this sale, cancel it and eat the defect. It is your business.
ttl_logic
OP8 months agoThanks for the reply. That's what I am leaning towards, but it really doesn't seem fair. I'm selling things to make some cash - and now I'm forced to consider cancelling a sale? And that action could knock my ratings and potentially affect future sales? Seems like for the big chunk of profits that eBay eats on every transaction that this should be on them - at a minimum by not tagging a transaction defect to my account ratings for being a conscientious seller concerned about potential fraud.