The buyer having only 1 feedback and such a new account. I forgot to set my buyer preferences to deter this.
There is no way to block new buyers.
Plus, all the scammer messages before and after the sale.
From other people, right?
I contacted to see if I can get a response. I'd feel more secure with a message exchange. Something about this seems real scammy. The item is high value. I'm looking for as many precautions to take to ensure a legit sale.
There is reason to be concerned, but given what you're saying here, that concern is generalized, rather than specific to this buyer.
The problem is, a scammer will give you the answers you want to hear. A legitimate buyer may not notice your question, or may be wondering what your problem is. Summary: this kind of contact is unlikely to help you block a scammer, and it's somewhat likely to introduce grief into your transaction.
I intend on shipping out per my shipping terms, but I'm trying to make sure I can do as much as I can in case there is an issue later.
When you sell on ebay, you have to accept that you're taking a risk with every sale. A determined, skilled crook can steal your stuff, and you cannot prevent that. You have to decide before you list it as to whether the risk is acceptable. There's not much you can do once it gets to this point.
There are situations when it might be indicated to just dump the sale and suffer the rather severe consequences, but those situations all involve some hard information about this specific transaction. Usually, communications involving demands.
