eBay

carpentersgothic · ‎08-30-2021

Thought this was strange so checking the pulse of the seller community here.

I listed an item last night and it was purchased right away. No negotiation or anything, so my guard was up, but it's a somewhat sought after collectible and it was priced fairly. I exchanged a few messages with the buyer regarding the item's condition and shipping, and he paid right away (it's currently processing and my payout is scheduled for tomorrow). Bought shipping through eBay and dropped it off at the post office first thing this morning.

I went to leave feedback after returning from the post office and was unable to because the buyer is no longer a registered eBay user. Strange, I thought. No attempts to contact me outside of eBay, a seemingly legit payment en route through eBay, and the buyer's feedback is all positive as both buyer and seller, and stretches back for years.

I'm a little concerned there might be a scam brewing but I can't figure out exactly what I might be in store for. Could this be a stolen credit card situation? Will he claim I shipped an empty box? I called eBay and spoke with a representative who looked into the transaction and assured me I did everything by the book.

Anyone have any thoughts on what might have happened here? My course of action might have been different had I noticed the buyer was no longer registered before I left for the post office, but I didn't even think to check. Now that the item is on its way, there's really not a whole lot I can do but let this play out, but any guidance/advice from the community would be appreciated.

justafemster · ‎08-30-2021

If the price of the item is high enough, you can recall the package. Costs $15.

I would even if the price was cheap ($50ish).

donsdetour · ‎08-30-2021

try the intercept and then if you get it back you can then refund them.

What method did you use to ship??

vintagecraze50 · ‎08-30-2021

If this was not a successful transaction ebay should sent you an alert shortly on a suspicious account. I have had a few situation where a suspicious account was flagged and they sent me an email shortly after the purchase. On one I had already mailed it out and they covered me as far as protection. The other one i had not sent yet so the transaction was cancelled by ebay right away.

vintagecraze50 · ‎08-30-2021

If for some reason you DO get a suspicious account flag from ebay, you can do a package intercept from USPS for about 14 bucks. They, Ebay, will ask if you can retrieve the package. If you cannot then I believe you are covered if something like this happens.

eleanor*rigby · ‎08-30-2021

@carpentersgothic

Can you still find the listing? It doesn't show up on your "sold" or "completed" listings on the account you used to post this thread. It may have been removed by eBay because of the circumstances . . .

I'm a little nervous about your comment that it was a "seemingly legit payment." Did you get a message from eBay that the payment was received and it was okay to ship? Can you still access the payment information through Managed Payments?

carpentersgothic · ‎08-30-2021

Hi there,

Still showing up in my sold listings when I check for it. And yes, payment seems to be legit in that I received all the expected messages from eBay once payment was initiated (including a prompt to ship) and it has so far behaved exactly like any other payment I've received through eBay. In other words, nothing immediately suspicious about the payment itself.

carpentersgothic · ‎08-30-2021

Thanks so much for your help. It seems like my best course of action is to wait to see if I get a suspicious transaction flag, and then recall the package if that's the case. I shipped via USPS Priority and the delivery is currently scheduled for Thursday, so I should be able to intercept through Wednesday if necessary.

asset_liquidators · ‎08-30-2021

You mentioned they have been both a buyer and seller in the past. They could have an outstanding seller balance with ebay so they could be NARU'ed until that is paid. I have seen accounts go NARU only to be active again a day or so later.

I don't think I would even worry about it unless it is a significant amount of money (which is subjective to each individual).

stuff4divas · ‎08-30-2021

@carpentersgothic wrote:
Thanks so much for your help. It seems like my best course of action is to wait to see if I get a suspicious transaction flag, and then recall the package if that's the case. I shipped via USPS Priority and the delivery is currently scheduled for Thursday, so I should be able to intercept through Wednesday if necessary.

Hope your sale price isn't above the included insurance on Priority packages

coffeebean832 · ‎08-30-2021

Was this the $3,000 game? I hope you shipped that with signature confirmation because if you didn't, your seller protections are exactly zero.

You may be dealing with a hacked account / stolen CC situation. Don't wait for this to blow up- file the package intercept now.

carpentersgothic · ‎08-30-2021

Thanks for this perspective, seems like a logical possibility. It is fairly significant amount of money in my subjective view, but I also feel based on feedback here and my conversation with eBay support that I'm well protected in case something has gone wrong.