eBay

uzumakey · ‎07-31-2018

I know I probably should have blocked them after getting the first message, but it's been a hectic couple of weeks.

This person messaged me a week ago asking for a discount on an item with Best Offer enabled, then requested my address so they could mail me cash. Super shady, so I ignored them. Several days later they sent me an offer (albeit a very fair one), and again offered to pay me in cash via snail mail. I ignored again, they retracted the offer, and I thought all was well.

The next day though, I see the same buyer who's been messaging me has purchased through Paypal. What's the likelihood of getting scammed here? Everything about this person screams "scammer" to me but they literally have tends of thousands of feedback and appear to be a big-time seller themselves. I can't even find feedback left for sellers because they sell such a high volume.

I suppose it's too late at this point to do anything but mail out but wondering what you guys' thoughts were on this.

luckythewinner · ‎07-31-2018

@uzumakey wrote:
Super shady, so I ignored them
wondering what you guys' thoughts were

My thoughts are that cash in the mail is completely immune from both chargebacks and PayPal fees.

sam9876 · ‎07-31-2018

Ship it.

gracieallen01 · ‎07-31-2018

There was a time on ebay, before paypal, when cash (not recommended and maybe not legal anymore), money orders, and personal/business checks - by mail, were acceptable.

Believe it or not, some of us would still be using those methods, if it were allowed. I did USPS International money orders to Japan for 3-4 years with never a problem.

Not saying 'NO' doesn't mean 'YES'.

The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.

Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, many people would use them more often.

Respect, like money, is only of 'worth' when it is earned - with all due respect, it can not be ordained, legislated or coerced. Anonymous

ohnojoey · ‎07-31-2018

Accepted payments policy overview

Not allowed

Sending cash through the mail

"Payment in cash is allowed for payment on pickup, or cash on delivery sales.

However, cash isn't a generally accepted payment method on eBay, and cash payments can never be sent through the post"

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/accepted-payments-policy?id=4269

ohnojoey · ‎07-31-2018

I wonder how that would work if the buyer filed a not as described claim and won a refund if they had sent cash?

sam9876 · ‎07-31-2018

You can't file a SNAD complaint if you pay with cash.

reallynicestamps · ‎07-31-2018

I believe the seller is allowed to accept any payment, not just electronically trackable ones, IF the BUYER offers.

Just as a seller can accept cash (or money order, or PP, or Canadian Tire Money) on pickup.

When it is received , the seller marks the item Paid and ships.

The Buyer leaves himself open to crooked sellers who don't acknowledge receipt of the payment and do not ship.

Which is why eBay demands proveable payment. It's a Buyer Protection.

Not particularly shady, but kinda dumb to send money to a stranger (even a fine upstanding one like the OP).

reallynicestamps · ‎07-31-2018

they literally have tends of thousands of feedback and appear to be a big-time seller themselves.

How long since the last sale/feedback?

If there is a gap of months,the account may have been abandoned and then hacked.

mikgile-39 · ‎07-31-2018

Log into paypal to make sure the payment has cleared. IF buyer use a check to pay it can take some time for the check to clear. As long as payment has cleared you have to ship this item. IF you do not want to deal with them in the future add them to your blocked list. While in the past money orders mailed in to sellers would have been a reasonable way to pay there are too many ways to place money on prepaid debit cards and set up a paypal account. These days if someone wants to mail you money for a item I would not accept. OR at least make sure you receive the payment before shipping the item.

a_c_green · ‎07-31-2018

If he mails cash, he is the one taking the risk, not you. If the transaction has now occurred and he's promising to mail cash, then he needs to get it in the mail, pronto. If payment does not arrive in, say, four days (technically, two is the minimum), then just file the Unpaid Item dispute as usual.

I have to say that if he's that determined to pay cash, he probably does that routinely. There are still folks out there who believe in cash and nothing but.

P.S. When you say "cash," I assume you really do mean cash... not some whacko money order from the Service Desk of Ed's Bait & Tackle or similar place that you've never heard of ("See Us for All Your Worm Needs!"). With the singular exception of a USPS Money Order, which can be verified and/or cashed for full face value in your local PO before shipping, I wouldn't waste time on anything else.

city*satins · ‎07-31-2018

@reallynicestamps wrote:
I believe the seller is allowed to accept any payment, not just electronically trackable ones, IF the BUYER offers.

It used to be allowed if the buyer offered. But now the buyer isn't allowed to offer, either and it's considered a policy violation for a buyer to offer though I doubt that they get reported very often.

And if the seller agrees, then there's the problem of providing an address for the buyer to mail the money to the seller - bots spot it and then there's heck to pay at the seller's end.

THIS SPACE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK

city*satins · ‎07-31-2018

I miss the time buyers were trusting and sent cash. One buyer in Japan sent me 6 $100 bills wrapped in aluminum foil and then in the letter envelope. That was a bit of a heart-stopping moment, opening that one!

THIS SPACE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK

reallynicestamps · ‎07-31-2018

@city*satins

Welllllll..... Japan.

Did you know that Japanese banks invented the debit card because their customers would not use checks for even the largest purchases?

Combine that with their preference for using a chop/stamp rather than a written signature.

The debit card allowed men's suits to fit much more nicely without that huge wad of yen in the back pocket.

a_c_green · ‎07-31-2018

@city*satins wrote:
And if the seller agrees, then there's the problem of providing an address for the buyer to mail the money to the seller - bots spot it and then there's heck to pay at the seller's end.

Duly noted that eBay does not like it before the purchase or auction win, though I think their primary concern (which I don't disagree with) was that it's for buyer protection, preventing an unscrupulous seller from luring a buyer into an off-eBay sale for which he would have no protection. (Again, in this case, it's the buyer insisting on a cash payment, not the seller.) In terms of fees and so on, eBay gets their same cut of the proceeds regardless of how the item is paid for.

However, after the sale or auction win has occurred, eBay provides the seller with the buyer's email address and phone number as well as their full address, so the seller is clearly being allowed to contact the buyer however they want to, and chat about the weather or anything else that comes to mind.