Help answering email from customer

[jtvintage8318]

I have just listed a cell phone.  I never have listed one before.  It is my old personal phone.  Buyer wants me to send screenshot of the "About phone" screen.  This screen contains the serial number and IMEI.  Should I provide it?  If not, how should I respond.  Thanks in advance.

[kensgiftshop]

I wouldn't list a cell phone here unless you can afford to loose it.

[muchmerch]

I see both opinions online when i search if it is okay to give out this info, but more of them tend to lean this way:

they use it to confirm the phone advertised is the phone they get, and they can look it up to see if it is reported stolen. Basically the only reason you wouldn't give it is if it is stolen. It is similar to a serial number but unique across all manufacturers.

I have no idea myself, so maybe wait for more opinions.

[duffy4444]

   If it hasn't already been actually sold, DON'T DO IT!

   Cell phones are one of the most highly-scammed items, and scammers all over the world, including here in the USA, know all sorts of ways to get the phone for free. You could very well be out the phone and any "money" paid for it on a forced refund over which you will probably have no control.

   I, and many other seasoned sellers here on eBay, recommend relatively new sellers, especially those with low feedback like you have, to increase the time you have been here and increase the number of feedbacks you have to at least a few hundred, before you even attempt to sell electronics, especially cell phones.

   Above all, read down a few hundred posts here and see how many new sellers, just like you, have been scammed by jumping into selling highly-sought-after electronics by scammers.

   Get smart, not scammed.

Cheers, Duffy

[a_c_green]

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@jtvintage8318 wrote:

I have just listed a cell phone.  I never have listed one before.  It is my old personal phone.  Buyer wants me to send screenshot of the "About phone" screen.  This screen contains the serial number and IMEI.  Should I provide it?  If not, how should I respond.  Thanks in advance.

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I would yank that listing pronto, and sell it locally for cash. No one halfway across the country (or halfway around the world) has a pressing need for your particular phone, but they do have a vast and varied assortment of ways to scam your phone for free.

For starters, if they were actually asking you to email or text them that screenshot, doing so would reveal an off-eBay means of contacting you back, leading to fake payment notifications or directions to ship before funds will be visible in your account. (Generally speaking, if you get a request for a particular photo not already in your listing, you can take the photo and then add it to the listing.)

Smartphones are one of the worst items to sell on-line, as there are multiple scams in play and you may not be experienced enough to spot them all. In addition, the buyer can claim false shipping damage or return some trinket in place of the item sold, and eBay will still enforce a refund.

[caldreamer]

Scammers target new sellers or anyone who sells "high value items" (especially electronics).   If you get scammed EBAY will NOT reimburse you.

Customer can make purchase and then "reverse payment" with credit card company after they receive your item.   If this happens customer keep both (phone and your money).