What to do if a scammer wins bidding on my item
Hi
i’m Selling a phone at present, and letting the auction run. It has only been up for 2 days and so far I’ve had 4 offers, all from different usernames, with a location in Zambia and obviously suspicious profiles from what they’ve written in their descriptions. One profile even said don’t worry when you get a message saying I’ve insufficient funds when I buy your item! I’ve declined all these offers and added them to blocked list. However if when the auction ends the bidding is win by another obvious scammer - what can I do? Is there a way I could cancel the sale without affecting my 100% feedback? Or should I just abandon my attempt at selling a used iPhone and chuck it in the bin? Thanks.
13 comments
inhawaii
·10 months agoIf you know for sure he's a scammer (which you don't) you should cancel the order.
fullers_uk
·10 months agoI understand what you say, ebay isnt my only sales channel and I do get orders that look suspect from unusual places, even when you check them out as best you can they still dont look safe but if its low value I send it anyway and rarely have a problem.
As always never sell anything you cant afford to lose on ebay.
richard1rst
·10 months agoWell, it might be questionable but one valid reason for a cancellation ()without a ding) is Problem with Buyers Address (Zambia).
maryinlikely
·10 months agoYou need to block International buyers. That might help to keep the field clean. Also you need to state no one with low feedback can bid. Protect yourself. Check out the buyer before you ship. Cancel the sale if the buyer has problems or leaves more negative feedback than is normal. Make sure you pay the extra for Signature delivery to the address Ebay supplies and buy your label from Ebay. That gives you some protection.
albertabrightalberta
·10 months ago"You need to block International buyers."
International buyers aren't the only scammers.
"Also you need to state no one with low feedback can bid."
That's not a restriction that can be applied. Everyone started with 0-feedback. (Every problem buyer I've had was an experienced longtime member.
"Cancel the sale if the buyer has problems or leaves more negative feedback than is normal."
The only honest reason for cancelling after a sale would be for out of stock/damaged and it's a quick way for a seller to find himself suspended.
"Make sure you pay the extra for Signature delivery to the address Ebay supplies and buy your label from Ebay. That gives you some protection."
For items where the total price is <$750, signature confirmation offers no more protection (and only against INR (item not received)) than tracking showing delivery.
12345jamesstamps
·10 months agoItem should be sold only in your country if you must sell it.
You do get an eBay charge for canceling an auction...so don't do that.
Big ticket item : if you ship it to another country (or even in UK)...here's what I do :
I take a photo of package with postage on it and send that to the buyer as a friendly email...and I do a 'Hello Dave and eBay' in the email...with whatever you wish to say.
If it is to another country I will tell buyer because it is going to such and such a place it will take longer and name that 'country' and put date on the email when sent.
Though emails mean nothing as a safeguard...some buyers don't know that and buyer might think twice about screwing the seller.
I do this to my 'freight forward' buyers from USA to another country.
You can get a buyer's country in their feedbacks eBay ID...which you might know already.
Good luck.
ittybitnot
·10 months ago@booker_jl
See message #4.
the_fancy_fox
·10 months agoThe way I limit my exposure to scammers is not to sell the items it’s scammers like to buy. Phones and electronic items are at the top of the list. Couldn’t give them to me for free as it’s not worth the potential trouble,.
That’s not saying I haven’t run into a few scammers since I started in the 90s, I have. But I do try to reduce my risk as much as possible I self ensure my items by adding a small amount to my shipping fee and over the years it’s turned into a good little pot of money.
it helps me stress less when I know I have 100 times replacement cost in my insurance fund. This is also why I very rarely buy postal insurance anymore. It’s not necessary to do so anymore as if something goes missing or gets damaged, it’s covered.
luckythewinner
·10 months agoHowever if when the auction ends the bidding is win by another obvious scammer - what can I do?
Every eBay transaction carries a risk of fraud, and the most effective scammers are the ones who are not "obvious scammers".
If the buyer pays, you either ship the item or take a hit to your metrics and perhaps to your feedback.
kensgiftshop
·10 months agoSell local for cash.
meme6253
·10 months agoWhere the heck is Zambia??
bennotbill
·10 months agoIn exactly the same place where Northern Rhodesia used to be.
Unavailable member
·10 months agoI don’t see anything listed, but then again you're in the UK and probably don’t ship to the US.
Cell phones and other high ticket items are usually targets for scammers. Ending the listing is up to you. Not sure if UK eBay has the same rules, but in the US if a seller cancels all bids and ends an auction, the seller is charged a final value fee for the highest bid amount. Secondly, if the auction ends with a winner and you cancel the transaction, your only true reason to cancel would be for out of stock for which the seller gets a defect against the seller account because, the buyer didn’t request it. The other reason would be for problem with buyers address if the buyer is in Zambia then that would be a problem. The buyer can still leave you bad feedback regardless. I wouldn’t worry much about just one of those.
Abandoning the attempt to sell is your call.