Buyer Scam?

[girlgator1995]

Hi All,

I haven't sold anything on Ebay in a while, but I just sold something and paypal has the funds on hold. The buyer is from the US, but the name is Asian. I sold another item today, and name is also Asian. Normally I wouldn't think anything of this, but my son got burned last December selling a laptop on Ebay to a foreign name buyer (in the US) and the funds were being held. After he shipped it, the buyer cancelled the transaction and USPS was never able to find the package. I just don't want to get scammed again. 

Would appreciate any feedback from more experienced sellers than myself. Thanks

[tiramisu41]

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@girlgator1995 wrote:

Hi All,

I haven't sold anything on Ebay in a while, but I just sold something and paypal has the funds on hold. The buyer is from the US, but the name is Asian. I sold another item today, and name is also Asian. Normally I wouldn't think anything of this, but my son got burned last December selling a laptop on Ebay to a foreign name buyer (in the US) and the funds were being held. After he shipped it, the buyer cancelled the transaction and USPS was never able to find the package. I just don't want to get scammed again. 

Would appreciate any feedback from more experienced sellers than myself. Thanks 

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@girlgator1995

First of all, if you haven't sold on eBay for a while, you're considered a new seller.  New sellers automatically have their funds held 21 days before disbursement, so that in itself isn't a red flag.

An Asian name doesn't necessarily mean anything either.  Nor does a US address.  Foreign buyers can have a US address and be using a freight-forwarding service that ships them their goods to a foreign location.  There are various ways to try and prevent though not everyone who uses a freight-forwarder is a crook.

If USPS could not find your son's package, even if the transaction had been cancelled, there are/were several remedies for that.  But let's not muddy the waters with that other issue, now.

You have a low feedback score so you *are* a target for scammers.  On the ID you used to post here, I'm not seeing any recently sold items.   What are the two items you most recently sold that you're concerned about?  How much did they sell for? 

In the meantime, do not respond to any messages you may get from your buyers -- especially any that may be sent to you via outside email, text, or by phone.    Let us know the answers to the above questions and then posters here will be able to advise you better.

[girlgator1995]

Thank you @tiramisu41 I sold homeschool curriculum and the amounts were $46 and $15. It's not a lot of money, but like I mentioned, I don't want to get scammed again. I also noticed that when I went into Paypal to put in the shipping info, I selected USPS (twice) but for some reason, it kept defaulting to DHL, which I know ships internationally. I haven't dropped the items at the post office yet. Wondering if I should just refund the order??

[tiramisu41]

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@girlgator1995 wrote:

Thank you @tiramisu41 I sold homeschool curriculum and the amounts were $46 and $15. It's not a lot of money, but like I mentioned, I don't want to get scammed again. I also noticed that when I went into Paypal to put in the shipping info, I selected USPS (twice) but for some reason, it kept defaulting to DHL, which I know ships internationally. I haven't dropped the items at the post office yet. Wondering if I should just refund the order??

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@girlgator1995,

Okay, hold on a bit.   And, don't mail anything yet.

First of all, log directly into your PayPal account and click on the Activity tab.  What does the status of either of the transactions say?   What you're looking for is something that says:  "OK to Ship."   Do that first and report back.

[buyselljack2016]

Shipping should default to what you put in the listing.

Buyer does not change the carrier

[girlgator1995]

Thanks all. I didn't feel good about the transaction, so I canceled it.

[tiramisu41]

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@girlgator1995 wrote:
Thanks all. I didn't feel good about the transaction, so I canceled it.

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You shouldn't have done that @girlgator1995.  You now have earned two defects on your eBay account which may well mean your selling privileges are suspended.

[Anonymous]

There was no reason to cancel - I don't see any red flags based on the information available. You just created a bad experience for a buyer who may never return to the site as a result.

I understand you were nervous because of one past experience, but one past experience does not mean all future sales will have the same outcome. If you came here when that last bad transaction happened posters could have helped you through it resulting in a better outcome. Posters here were offering help with your current transactions and I wish you would have let them.

[bonjourami]

$46 and $15 sales hardly seems scam worthy.

[femmefan1946]

to a foreign name buyer

What's a foreign name?

Ming-Na Wen?

Zbigniew Brzezinski?

Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette?

Kristjen Nielsen?

Nimrata Randhawa?

Just for reference, eh?

[ed8108]

 Not everyone can take the stress that is involved, selling on eBay these days.

  Not as easy as list, get paid, ship.

[kensgiftshop]

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@girlgator1995 wrote:
Thanks all. I didn't feel good about the transaction, so I canceled it.

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You didn't have to cancel the orders.

The two items you sold don't look like they would be that much of a scam target.

As a new seller, your payments can be held for 21 days, but if you ship with tracking, payments are usually released 3 days after tracking shows package has been delivered.

What reason did you use to cancel the orders?

[kitschy*loot]

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@girlgator1995 wrote:

Hi All,

I haven't sold anything on Ebay in a while, but I just sold something and paypal has the funds on hold. The buyer is from the US, but the name is Asian. I sold another item today, and name is also Asian. Normally I wouldn't think anything of this, but my son got burned last December selling a laptop on Ebay to a foreign name buyer (in the US) and the funds were being held. After he shipped it, the buyer cancelled the transaction and USPS was never able to find the package. I just don't want to get scammed again. 

Would appreciate any feedback from more experienced sellers than myself. Thanks

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Many Asian people have Asian names in America and they are Americans, not "foreigners". Is the name Jessica Wu too foreign to you, or perhaps you would allow someone with a name like that to buy from you? 

Are you going to penalize all people with Asian names because of your son's experience?

How would your son's buyer have cancelled the transaction after he shipped? Buyers can only request to cancel, so your son must have agreed to it. I don't understand how that foreign name buyer was responsible for the post office losing the package. How did they scam?

[missjen831]

Your sons buyer didn’t cancel the transaction, buyers actually don’t have the ability to do that. If the buyer cancelled the PAYMENT then your son screwed up and shipped before payment had cleared. The only time a payment can be cancelled if is it’s an e-check or the payment is unclaimed due an error on the sellers end (wrong PayPal info for example). 

[missjen831]

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@kitschy*loot wrote:

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@girlgator1995 wrote:

Hi All,

I haven't sold anything on Ebay in a while, but I just sold something and paypal has the funds on hold. The buyer is from the US, but the name is Asian. I sold another item today, and name is also Asian. Normally I wouldn't think anything of this, but my son got burned last December selling a laptop on Ebay to a foreign name buyer (in the US) and the funds were being held. After he shipped it, the buyer cancelled the transaction and USPS was never able to find the package. I just don't want to get scammed again. 

Would appreciate any feedback from more experienced sellers than myself. Thanks

---

Many Asian people have Asian names in America and they are Americans, not "foreigners". Is the name Jessica Wu too foreign to you, or perhaps you would allow someone with a name like that to buy from you? 

Are you going to penalize all people with Asian names because of your son's experience?

How would your son's buyer have cancelled the transaction after he shipped? Buyers can only request to cancel, so your son must have agreed to it. I don't understand how that foreign name buyer was responsible for the post office losing the package. How did they scam?

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He either agreed to cancel or he shipped before payment had cleared and the buyer cancelled the payment.