Buyer wants me to "send private message" to personal cell re: purchase

[happybeck42013]

Good Morning eBay,

I had a sale overnight, which is great. But... they have not paid for the item yet (no big deal), and I received an email from the buyer, leaving their phone # and asking me to "kindly message them re: the purchase". I don't feel comfortable doing that.  I've never had a request like this in the 8+ years I've been selling, and when I put the provided phone # into Google, it came back as high risk POTENTIAL SPAM.  I replied to the buyer via eBay's email system and told him/her I am not comfortable going outside of eBay's site to communicate, and that they can reply to me via email on the eBay portal.

I don't want to lose the sale and don't wish to be paranoid, but this doesn't smell right to me. 

Is this common? Am I being reasonable in being cautious? This buyer has a good feedback record and yet, I can't help feeling like something is off. Is the buyer's request for me to contact them outside of eBay's portal against eBay policy?

Thanks for any feedback,

Becky

[stainlessenginecovers · Accepted solution]

Typical SCAM. Cancel order and block buyer.

[nobody*s_perfect]

You aren't being paranoid; you have good intuition.  

A request to communicate outside of eBay's own messaging system is usually a setup for a scam.  Most often, they'll ask for your PayPal address and then send a fake message claiming you've been paid; I'm not sure how this transitions to eBay's managed payments system.

I wouldn't bother replying. There's nothing you can do except wait for the 4 days to elapse before you can cancel the transaction for nonpayment, and move on.

[dryophelia]

@happybeck42013 

Be careful when cancelling. If you choose the wrong reason you will get a defect on your account. 

On the fifth day eBay will allow you to cancel because of nonpayment. That will give them a strike. 

You can add them to your blocked bidder list anytime. The sooner the better. 

[glasser]

Also could be someone trying to convince you to sell via PayPal and avoid eBay fees and then ask for a discount. Have had this a couple of times.

I send a definitive email that states, I only accept payment via eBay and will not consider any off eBay arrangements. I notify them that it would be a violation of eBay terms for me and them.

If it's not a scam they will pay the right way.

[happybeck42013]

Thanks for the replies. I failed to mention that the item was available at a lesser price and buyer could have saved approx. $15 had they just opted for "best offer accepted". I found that quite strange... 

Yup, I think this one is going to be a lesson learned, rather than a dollar earned, and that's OK with me!

[cstpos]

@happybeck42013In addition to canceling the order, I would report that buyer to ebay and add them to your Blocked Buyer List. Any communication done outside of ebay is not considered valid by ebay and they will not consider it as evidence if you get scammed, and it is not covered by the ebay MBG. Good Luck!

[greatstuff80]

"leaving their phone # and asking me to "kindly message them re: the purchase".

Ebay policy violation

block, report, cancel 

[bbravo65]

...thanks everyone above for precisely advice...

...money can't buy peace in mind...

[dirk12955]

Rule #1      Anything out of the ordinary,    Walk away.

[simba6]

SCAM.   Yep stay away from that one.  They want to set up a fake you have been paid scam to get the item for free.

[albertabrightalberta]

I wouldn't cancel because that gives the buyer a free pass to try this with someone else without consequence. 

Instead, just wait out the timeframe to file UID and let the buyer get the well-earned strike.

[ckimodog]

Scam!!  Do not reply.  Feedback means nothing.  Someone could have had their account hacked and are trying to contact you from there. Be smart! Block and report. 

[a_c_green]

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@happybeck42013 wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I failed to mention that the item was available at a lesser price and buyer could have saved approx. $15 had they just opted for "best offer accepted". I found that quite strange... 

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It would be strange, if you had a real buyer here. Because you have a scammer instead, it doesn't matter to him what the purchase price is, because he's not really going to pay it. He plans to lure you into a communication path that eBay cannot see, then send fake but very official-looking payment instructions, usually directing you to ship and upload tracking before you will see money in your account. Needless to say, no money will ever appear.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

I wouldn't cancel because that gives the buyer a free pass to try this with someone else without consequence. 

Instead, just wait out the timeframe to file UID and let the buyer get the well-earned strike.

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@albertabrightalberta 

The unpaid item process was changed a few months ago; it is now a subtype of canceling.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/resolving-unpaid-items?id=4137