Buyers sending an offer asking me to text them

[scmontg_4137]

Not new to on line selling but new here. I have had 3 potential buyers send me an offer at full list price but then in the comment section there will be something like "

just a question about this item kindly text me on this number"

I have responded to each to send me a email with their questions. I am just trying to find out if anyone else has experienced this type of activity.

Thanks

[vintage-car-magazines]

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@scmontg_4137 wrote:

Not new to on line selling but new here. I have had 3 potential buyers send me an offer at full list price but then in the comment section there will be something like "

just a question about this item kindly text me on this number"

I have responded to each to send me a email with their questions. I am just trying to find out if anyone else has experienced this type of activity.

Thanks

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A buyer asking you to text or email them to arrange payment is like someone going into a B&M, telling them they're interested in something in the store and asking to meet in the alley out back so they can pay for it.

[universalsmartaleck]

Why doesn't ebay have a button to report these "buyers"? The scam artists need to get their accounts pulled

[universalsmartaleck]

The scammers use accounts with acceptable reputations to lure sellers. If ebay allowed us to report them they would not be able to do this.

[eburtonlab]

The scammers use new accounts obtained with fraudulent credentials or hijacked accounts to send such scam offers. eBay has ways to detect many common scams, but scammers are persistent, creative and highly motivated to keep trying until they find a way around any roadblocks that eBay erects. There is no single solution that will solve the problem once and for all; it is an arms race -- a series of evolving measures and countermeasures.

eBay will eventually notice and pull those accounts, but not before the scammers send out dozens or even hundreds of such offers. Then the scammers will use other accounts to start sending those messages again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Sellers must be constantly on guard to watch out for users that want the seller to violate policy or take a transaction off eBay -- any instance of which could be the start of some sort of scam.

[bluemorpho10]

Thanks for posting this.  I just had someone do this to me for the first time.  Glad I found this and declined immediately.

[cathfili_12]

Me too!

[alaynapearl10]

Absolutely a scam of some sort any time they try to take the sale off of ebay. I think you can also get your account in trouble by taking the sale off of ebay as well, but do not quote me on that. I have had this happen many times and I always block them without even responding. I have also had buyers find me on social media and tried to talk to me there, I screenshot it and send it to ebay. I would never take a sale off of ebay ever, it will cancel out your seller protection. 

[tamri32]

Same thing happened to me, I made a new eBay account and two scammers sent me "offers" but with the original price and message giving me through number to text them because they have a question about the item I'm selling, a dress, but not knowing I have been selling on eBay for along time, I have another account (I made a new one because I don't like the new managed payment for sellers and wanted to use PayPal again, it's faster) and not stupid to fall for a scam. 

[tamri32]

And just ignore them because they want to scam you.

[bahamaspm]

I think Ebay should make you register and have some type of reserve in order to bid.  

[eburtonlab]

@bahamaspm 

I think Ebay should make you register and have some type of reserve in order to bid.

Whatever sign up requirements eBay currently has (it has been a while since I signed up, and requirements have certainly changed since then) do not seem to be preventing scammers from signing up and sending offers.

And no requirement, no matter how stringent, can prevent an otherwise legitimate account from being hijacked and used to make fraudulent offers.

Which is why sellers must be constantly on guard to watch out for users that want the seller to violate policy or take a transaction off eBay.

[ashleyhargrove]

I just do the ebay chat from customer support so I can report their account that way. They responded in the chat within 1 minute.

[spaja-48]

Definitely a SCAM. I have been getting these messages since I posted my products.  eBay has it's own messaging why would a text be necessary. I ignore the requests.

[samkh-5821]

The person that messaged me has 222 stars 100% positive feedback. How can you explain that?

[eburtonlab]

@samkh-5821 

All buyers have 100% feedback since they cannot receive negative feedback unless they are also sellers.

Scammers sometimes hijack an existing account in order to list items or make such offers. Many hijacked accounts can be identified by noticing a large gap since the last time the account received regular feedback.