Is there a possibility of being scammed and if there is, how would the scammer scam me in this case?

[radz3714]

I have been back and forth on this for the risk to reward so here’s the juicy cliff notes: seller is (not surprisingly), 0 feedback with 1 month account. They are selling an item in healthcare (NOT business and industrial category), in an auction that no one is bidding on but the item has 1800$ shipping. If I got the item at current auction price, it would be around 15% of what this item would be worth new. Only 1 stock photo so I message the seller and ask for actual photos. They ignore my message. I call eBay support asking if there is any way I can end up getting burned since despite all the red flags, if it was legit, the deal is too good to not at least try. eBay support says if the item doesn’t come or is damaged I will get a full refund (including shipping). So far my only concern would be that if the item comes damaged, it is around 1000 pounds so I don’t know how to return it since I don’t have a forklift or truck to move it back to the delivery station. Interested in your opinion on this. (Red flags (item way too cheap, stock photo, no seller communication, seller account newly created with 0 feedback vs eBay support reassuring me I won’t lose my money if something goes wrong plus it’s not business industrial plus the deal if legit is too good to pass up on). What do you think? I am just trying to think of any angle I could get screwed over. (And what I have thought up is if the item is broken but so heavy I will have a hard time figuring out the logistics to ship it back). Thank you all and especially experienced buyers who can give me some insight on any angles that I could get burned in this transaction.

[wastingtime101]

Way too many red flags. If the price is too good to be true, it usually is.

Not worth a second of the hassle to deal with a claim on that one and have that amount of money on the line.

Buyer protections or not: move on.

[soh.maryl]

Now you have raised my curiosity.  What's the item?  Don't worry, am not in the market for whatever it is.  

[downunder-61]

Walk away, that is the beauty of being a buyer, you get to choose who you purchase from.

[radz3714]

Thank you all for the replies. So far, I have not seen anyone mention how I could possibly get burned so it sounds like I'm good to go! If I can get the item for a fraction of the price if it's legit but if it is a scam I can get my money back through ebay's money back guarantee, then I gotta try. Gotta buy the ticket if I want to play the game. Just wondering if there are any safety mechanisms I should look out for that I missed that would exclude me from getting my money back. So far it sounds like from the comments no one has found any loopholes for the seller (if they are a scammer) in taking my money - it's more of "don't get the item since if it is a scam it'll be a hassle to get your money back" type of deal. But as long as I get my money back (in the instance of a scam), then all good.

[radz3714]

I still feel like there is a more than a good chance of it being a scam but even if there's a 15% chance it is not, then the 85% hassle may be worth it for the 80% off price tag. Risk vs reward I guess but in this case the risk is just the hassle of filing and waiting for the reinbursement of funds since there shouldn't be any chance of losing my money if it is indeed a scam. What do you guys think?

[albertabrightalberta]

@radz3714 

EVERYTHING screams scam. 

If it's too good to be true, it is! 

[albertabrightalberta]

---

@radz3714 wrote:

 So far, I have not seen anyone mention how I could possibly get burned so it sounds like I'm good to go!

*snip*

if it is a scam I can get my money back through ebay's money back guarantee, then I gotta try. 

---

You are looking for trouble! 

Every response told you to hit the back button! 

You WILL be scammed and chances are, you won't have the MBG if the item is in a category that doesn't have buyer protection.

I'm not sure why you posted here if you aren't going to listen to the advice you're given.

[wastingtime101]

---

@radz3714 wrote:

I still feel like there is a more than a good chance of it being a scam but even if there's a 15% chance it is not,

---

From the info you relayed I'd say it's more like a 0.001% chance it's not a scam.

How could you be scammed? Seller could use the same zip code scam and get ahold of a tracking number that was shipped to your zip code, so when the 'package' arrives to an address that's not yours you will lose a non-receipt claim because the bots will look at the zip code. In order to overturn such a ruling, you need cooperation from the carrier on their letterhead to appeal with eBay. It's not an insignificant process and a lot of buyers report the carrier not wanting to provide those letters.

If the item's listed without MBG coverage then eBay won't back you up at all, no matter what kind of claim you file. It's also possible your credit card could deny a claim if eBay shows them there was no MBG coverage - depends on your card.

There are legit ways you could get scammed. We're not talking a $200 risk. We're talking at least a few thousand if they listed shipping as $1800.

The seller isn't even responding to your messages. An item at that high of a price should be generating real, excellent responses from the seller.

With an item at that price it seems like you're being blinded by the potential deal and not seeing the risk for what it is.

[kathiec]

I'm kind of astonished that you seem so chomping at the bit to get ripped off. One quite common way you can get ripped off is the fake tracking number scam. The seller would send a worthless item to a random address in your zip code. Because tracking would show delivered, eBay would find an item not received case in favor of the seller. That would leave you to jump through *many* hoops trying to get your money back.

Perhaps you've heard the old adage: "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck". This listing looks like, walks like, and quacks like a scam. You've asked for advice from experienced buyers and every single one of us have told you to run away. I'm totally bumfuzzled that you came here to get advice and are summarily ignoring it.

[mkaczorsee]

Way too many flags…

find another seller. 

[dryophelia]

@radz3714 

The seller is not going to ship this equipment to you. 
They are going to send a pebble to some address in your zip code. 
Then it will be up to you to prove you didn’t receive this piece of equipment. 

[radz3714]

Thanks for all the updates peeps! Quick update: I ended up having a 30 minute phone conversation with the seller. Seemed legit and provided me website in real time during phone conversation as well has helpful tips (because I had gotten into a detailed discussion regarding my ambitions and they happened to run a clinic that aligned with my ambitions) and it shows this person is the owner. The voice seems to not match the face I saw on linkedin. So I did a reverse phone trace. The phone number name and the name the seller gave to me on the phone does NOT match. But this could be sometimes due to phone records not updating if they had recently changed their number? The seller seems to not be running on imessage so wasn't able to facetime to verify if face matched linkedin profile. As far as the scam of sending the item to the same zip code but wrong address, I doubled checked with ebay support prior to this and ebay support agent said that they would do internal investigation should that scam be run, which would uncover the exact address and said I didn't have to worry about that scam. Again, appreciate all you fine folks. Good lookin out! Let me know your opinions as the story evolves. Will keep you all updated as new information comes in.

[mudshark61369]

@radz3714,

Since your one big concern is that if the item has to be returned, you do not have the equipment to move it or get it back to a shipping agency.  

Items with that type of weight and presumably size, may only be able to be delivered to a freight depot, for the stated shipping cost. You would then have to pay for the "final mile" shipping out of your pocket.  Most of the standard shipping agencies will not deliver large or very heavy items to a residence or business that does not have loading/unloading facilities. So one question I have and you should have is what carrier does the seller have listed for shipping/delivery? 

    If the shipping method does not say "Freight" but states USPS, FedEx, UPS or DHL, before bidding you should lookup the Mfr.'s specifications for size/weight, then see if any of the shippers will even handle the item. If a couple do, but will not deliver to a residence or business without loading/unloading facilities.  That could easily run you from $200 to $500 for a separate last mile service, one way,  that you will not be able to recover. The Money Back Guarantee will only pay back what you spent through ebay, not any further costs incurred by you over the stated shipping price, for the return.

Say the item by some miracle the device does get delivered.  You would then have to set it up and have it tested, to make sure it is properly functioning since it is a Health Care item, if you are thinking of turning it around for resale at your hoped for 85% profit. That would be another out of pocket expense not covered by the MBG. If it does not work you may have another out of pocket expense for repackaging for a return.

One last thing to think about is, If you do have to invoke the MBG protections, ebay will cover you if you jump through the needed hoops.  However, considering that they could be on the hook for the refund if the scammer does disappear with the money, they will also probably check out the transaction to see if there were warning signs of a problem, and they will see what you have already noticed. They could then decide in the future to limit your use of, or ban you from using their MBG protections. 

[radz3714]

So to recap current events:

Pros: amazing price, seller called me upon request and ended talking for 30 minutes and got to know seller as a person, sent pictures that are not stock photos to me, ebay says my situation will get money back if item is damaged or missing and if damaged they have a way to take the 1000 pound item away at no cost to me and I will still get full refund, also if like the above mentioners have mentioned about the tracking scam (delivery at same zip code but wrong address) - ebay can launch internal investigation to find the exact address delivered to prove it was not the one I listed as delivery address, also item is not listed under business and industrial category (an excluded category for ebay's Money back guarantee) so it's a safe category.

Cons: seller has 0 feedback, new account, voice does not match the face that I looked up on linkedin based on the full name and associated clinic website he gave me, reverse phone lookup yielded a different name than what was provided from the phone conversation.