Am I being scammed?

[qcables7]

I am auctioning an item with a decent value. A potential buyer with extremely broken english messages me asking if I would accept a much higher price than I expected the item to sell for. After I say yes, he says he placed a maximum bid for the proposed price. Because there is still some time left in the auction and the current highest bid is way lower than his maximum bid, he says he thinks the best option would be to cancel the auction and relist the item for the proposed price. I do this and do have a confirmed payment from him. Everything seems to check out, except the broken English, the fact that it seems to good to be true, and that the shipping address provided seems to be an airport shipping company (I assume it's going to China given the information I've been provided). Before I ship the item, I just want to make sure this isn't a common scam. I will be careful to document everything and get all the necessary tracking info and insurance. Thanks

[dogchow747]

Simple answer:

Never complete a transaction outside of the ebay system.

Do not follow through.

He needs an account and a valid bid to protect you against fraud

[qcables7]

I relisted the item as a regular (non auction) item on ebay, so I'm not going outside of the ebay system. He bought the item and I have pending funds in my ebay payments center. Anything else I should look for?

[katzrul15]

Is this the $100 patch?

[dryophelia]

@qcables7 

Cancelling the auction with bids will cost you fees based on the highest showing bid at the time you ended it.

It is never a good idea to end an auction early, as most bids will come in the last moments. You may have received more than the $100 he offered had you let it run it's course. Too late now.

Cancelling this Buy It Now will earn you a defect. You are required to ship to the address provided with the payment.

Are you being scammed? Only time will tell.

IMHO, you WERE taken advantage of. 

[qcables7]

Patch set, but yes

[mtgraves7984]

I do this and do have a confirmed payment from him.

@qcables7 

If you see the Order... Seller Hub/Orders (tab)/Awaiting Shipment... THEN you have a confirmed payment.

Do you see this item listed there? If so, the payment has been confirmed and will show as 'Processing'.

[dogchow747]

Sorry, I am tired and misread something. Bed time.

I have sold internationally. You have a choice, if his feedback is good and you sell to his confirmed address, you have some ebay backup.

I sold items to folks in Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong (pre China) Many have broken English, but they are usually pleasant and appreciative.

Good luck

[qcables7]

I've asked a few people and expected this set to go for about 50 dollars based on what they said. Honestly, as long as I actually get the funds from the transaction, I am happy.

[katzrul15]

It is going to a freight forwarder.

I would insure it and use signature confirmation. 

Good luck. 

[dogchow747]

"airport shipping company"

Freight forwarder is not a confirmed shipping address.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Proceed cautiously!! This sounds suspect. All he had to do was bid on the auction, but offering you way more for the item is a red flag. It was for $10 and he offers you $100.

Do not click on links in messages, but go directly to eBay to verify the payment has been made, to insure he didn't send you a fake payment notice. Did he ask to text you? Or send contact info prior to the sale?

[qcables7]

Nope, no solicitation of contact info. I did go directly through ebay to verify payment has been made. He did, in fact have automatic bidding set up to go to at least 55 (verifiable, but I believe he did in fact have the maximum bid set to 100), I can verify that through the bid history. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

Ok, i had a chance to do some quick check on the value of your item. I see these patches from Jamborees can sell for upwards of $400. So his offering you $100 isn't out of the realm of possibility. 

Likely this could be a legit sale then.

That said, in the future, be wary of someone wanting you to end the auction to sell to them. It could be they are hoping you are unaware of the value and can get an otherwise expensive collectible on the cheap. You ‘ll never know if your patch could have fetched more. But as long as you are satisfied, all is good.

[downunder-61]

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@dogchow747 wrote:

"airport shipping company"

Freight forwarder is not a confirmed shipping address.

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So long as it is the address on the buyers order FF is an acceptable shipping address