Anything I can do about bots/ scammers

[anerdsbookshelf]

I have been trying sell an item for a day or so. So far I have attracted two bots or scammers.

The first guy joined yesterday made in offer.

And sent me some bot sounding message that said 

"Dear Seller, I have purchased your item please send me your paypal information, and phone number so I can send payment"

I didnt reply and cancelled. As I've sold things on ebay/amazon before and know the procedure.

I relisted and got my second scammer this morning. He signed up today bought but has not paid yet. 

I can't cancel because I have to wait 48 hours but I simply relisted again.

Could cancelling on these impact my rating/performance?

How can flag or block these guys, and is it a good idea to put a note in the listing stating I'm only selling to people with a good buyer's record?

[loveyourimagination49]

What are you using as the reason to cancel?
You should open up UID’s
You can put them on your BBL.
Check immediate payment required on listing.

[retrose1]

You are selling a high dollar/high scam item on a low selling feedback id.  You are chum in the water for scammers.  There is nothing you can do to avoid scammers.  And the odds are good that if anyone purchases it, you will scammed before it is all over as scammers will get to your listing before an honest buyer will.

If you do not know what to do if the buyer files a dispute...

If you do not know how to respond if the buyer says it's broke...

If you think that no returns means the transaction is over....

If you do not know what your rights are if the buyer sends back a rock...

If you believe that ebay has consistant seller protections....

Then you need to sell a lot of cheaper items until you do know what the real risks are selling on ebay.  Because not knowing means that you will lose the item and the money and there will be nothing ou can do about it.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@anerdsbookshelf

I agree with the others. List a few lower price items until you get the hang of selling here and build up some feedback and selling history ... and list with "Immediate Payment Required"

You should be opening Unpaid Item Disputes and not just cancelling.

Canceling without a buyer request can end up getting you a "Seller Initiated Cancel" defect if the buyer refutes your cancel reason of buyer requested.

If you use "out of stock", you get the defect automatically.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347

Putting "negative wording" in your description is strongly advised against. (Plus it may attract scammers looking for a challenge)

"People with a good record"? All buyer-only accounts have 100% positive feedback. Buyers have not been able to get negs since 2008. And high feedback numbers don't necessarily mean "white hat" ... it on my means that they are good at it and have managed to fly under eBay's radar for a long time.

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Regarding UID s ... open the UID and don't relist until it closes...otherwise you can end up with 2 buyers for the same item (buyer can still pay while the UID is open)

##unpaid macro##

You can open an Unpaid Item Dispute 48 hours and one minute after the listing ends.

You then close it 96 hours and one minute after you open it.

You get your fees back, the "buyer" gets a strike and nobody gets to leave feedback.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/unpaid-items.html

2 or more Unpaid Strikes will make it difficult for a buyer to purchase anything from sellers who have their Buyer Preferences set correctly,

By adding buyer requirements to your listing, you can stop members from bidding on or buying your items based on certain criteria. You can block buyers who:

Are in countries you don't want to send items to.
Have a negative Feedback score.
Have unpaid item cases recorded against them.
May bid on several items and not pay for them.
Don't have a PayPal account.
Have breached eBay policies.

To add buyer requirements:

Go to Site Preferences in My eBay.
In the Buyer Requirements section, click Show, and then click Edit.
Select your requirements, and the click Submit.


If you don't want to sell to certain bidders and buyers, you can put them on your blocked list. They won't be able to bid on or buy your items unless you remove them from the list. You can block up to 5,000 users.

To add people to your blocked list:

Go to the Blocked bidder list page.

 https://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin
Enter the username(s) you want to block, and then click Submit.

[anerdsbookshelf]

Thanks for replies guys. I have sold consoles and laptops here before. Just not within the last year.

I just haven't come across this issue before.

[retrose1]

The OP has a high dollar item for sale and nothing in the sold section.  So the new 'purchase' was probably a scam email.

OP, always check paypal directly - and do NOT go to it through a email message that says paid - to see if the money is there and if paypal says OK to ship.

And ALWAYS ship ONLY to the address on the payment.

[lewisburggold]

There is just no way to avoid.  Best regards

[soh.maryl]

You re-listed but did not open an unpaid item case? Rookie move.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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It seems you don't really "know the procedure". You should be filing unpaid item claims, rather than canceling transactions.  Canceling can put defect points on your account and just a few of those can get ou permanently suspended from selling.

Don't bother with notes -- the scammers ignore them and the legitimate buyers will just think you're difficult to deal with.

List your items in fixed price format and use the Advanced (not Quick) version of the listing form, so you can check off "Immediate payment required."