I think I've been scammed.

[dirtroaddomestics]

Hi Ebay community, I listed an auction item and woke up to an offer, I naively accepted it because I am a newbie seller and didn't look at the new profile and zero reviews. Anyways, I received an email that buyer wants an invoice and my PayPal information.  I also paid for a promoted listing, so is that money going to be refunded or lost? How do i cancel without it looking bad since i already canceled my first item for a non paying scammer, but i didn't report it, didn't know how. How long do I wait? Also, when scammers don't pay or make offers, does that show up in the sold database and affect the price of items that never really sold? Seems it would be an issue for people researching for item and sales if the information is not reliable. One final question, I sold 3 items recently and shipped same day as well as sent a friendly message of doing so, however, I don't seem to receive any feedback, nor even an acknowledgement of at least my message, am I doing something wrong or are my messages not being received? Sorry for sooo many questions, but like anything else, but like anything with potential the scammer always show up to try to ruin it. Thanks in advance for any help.

[rfmtm]

Yes, buyer is a scammer.  On the fifth day cancel the transaction for non-payment to give buyer a strike on their account and relist.

As a new seller you will attract scammers, best you can do for now is do not use "best offer", and on you fixed price listing enable the "immediate payment required" option, which keeps the item available to others until actually pay for.

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

A message that says "I am interested in your item, kindly text me", an offer greater than or equal to your buy it now price, asking for your PayPal email address or a request for a gift card is generally the start of a scam where the scammer winds up sending a phony payment email that makes it look like the seller has received a payment when none has actually been received. Scammers like to target new sellers, particularly those selling expensive items.

Sending contact information (text or email) prior to a transaction payment is a violation of eBay policy; this policy is designed to protect honest buyers and sellers from this sort of thing, and to prevent off-eBay sales.

Never buy a gift card for anyone unless you are giving a gift.

As a seller you should always check your account directly (not following a link in an email) to see if you have actually been paid prior to shipping. If a user commits to a purchase but does not send an actual payment, after four full days you can cancel for nonpayment and give the "buyer" a strike. Be sure to set your buyer requirements to reject bids or purchases from users with two or more nonpayment strikes in the last year.

eBay will likely remove the scammer's account shortly, but the scammer will just create a new one or hijack an old one and continue sending scam offers and messages. Sellers must remain wary of any user that wants the seller to violate eBay policy.

You can avoid many common scams by listing your item for a fixed price with immediate payment required and by not accepting any offers. That way the buyer must complete checkout and actually pay in order to proceed.

Feedback is voluntary; not everyone leaves feedback, or responds to messages.

[dirtroaddomestics]

Thanks so much for your time I  will do that. I also had a few other questions in my original posting, are you able to answer those as well or do I need to make a new post for each question? Still learning how to navigate everything. 

[dirtroaddomestics]

Thanks  so much for the tips, I truly appreciate it. 

[rfmtm]

After you cancel for non-payment you will be able to relist.  This also reports the buyer to ebay who will eventually restrict or suspend him if he keeps doing this.

Feedback is voluntary,  and best not to ever solicit it.

As far as your promotion fees, I am not sure about that, but if you don't get them back, call ebay since the item was never paid for.

As far as non-paid items showing in a sold or completed filtered search, yes I believe they may still show, but that doesn't affect the prices of other items.

[eburtonlab]

You are most welcome. Good luck!