Help me figure out the angle on this buyer scam

[lalo9797]

I had a recent sale of an Apple iPad and something about the transaction seems hinkey. I just thought I'd put something up there to see if anyone has had a similar experience and can help me figure out what the scam is. I should first say that I've been an eBay seller for a long time and as such I've experienced more than a few scammers and fraudsters, especially with selling Apple gear. 

In this case, the sale of the one year-old Apple iPad Pro ended and the buyer was M.I.A. No after sale communication. 48 hours after sale and the payment never came through. Fearing I had a deadbeat bidder, I looked at the account to see if there were any clues that they were a scammer. Of course, they had feedback and the account was not new. But other than a few recent transactions for small things, there seemed to be a gap in the account usage. Not a good sign.

I sent a message to the buyer asking her to let me know if she did not intend to complete the transaction so that I still had a decent chance of getting a Second Chance buyer before everyone had moved on and I had to re-list the item and wait for another 7-day auction to run. The buyer did finally get back to me with some drama-filled story about how she went to make payment but realized her wallet was missing so she had to scramble to retrace her steps to find it. (Something did not ring true about this but I didn't feel the need to comment). She said that she was ultimately able to connect with her PayPal account and make payment. (The payment came through eBay's system, actually. So I'm not sure if the source was PayPal. I guess it could have been). 

Anyway, with the payment in hand I shipped the iPad to the provided PO Box in Tennessee the next day. The name of the recipient was "Annie G." (no last name provided beyond that) which was not the same name as the eBay account holder.  The parcel was delivered a few days later and then........nothing. No one picked it up.  According to the USPS tracking they sent a reminder to the person that the parcel was available to pick up but no one ever retrieved it. And three weeks later it is presumably still sitting there at the PO Box.

A subsequent message was sent to the buyer but to date I've not had the courtesy of a response. So this is the basis of thew weirdness, beyond the (suspect) drama-filled tale about lost wallets.  Who pays $1,000 for an iPad on eBay and then seems fairly unconcerned about receiving it?  I mean, I've been around for a while and I've seen and heard some things. But this one just seems odd. More than three weeks elapsed. The iPad still sitting there. And the buyer no longer responding to messages. 

I called eBay support today and discussed this situation. They agreed it is odd and have made a note on the account. They've also assured me that Seller Protection should cover me should this woman retract her payment.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my podcast. If anyone else has had a similar experience I'd be grateful to hear from you. 

[katzrul15]

It is sitting at the PO awaiting pickup and SIGNATURE to do so, correct?

[chapabargain]

They'll probably ask for a refund and then rush to to the Post Office to retrieve it.

Do not give a refund unless you have the item in your hand.

@lalo9797 

[gracieallen01]

Personally, I would recall the package ASAP and wait to hear from the 'buyer' before refunding.  Also, I wouldn't initiate further conversation/communication.

[tdumonde2014]

Recall the package ASAP.

[lalo9797]

Thanks. Actually, eBay support told me today that if the package is returned I can keep the item and the payment, which seems like a pretty good deal for the effort.

[wahlstreetmkt]

The buyer is probably going to try to do a return/get refund then pick the package up.

[pikabo-icu]

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@lalo9797 wrote:

Thanks. Actually, eBay support told me today that if the package is returned I can keep the item and the payment, which seems like a pretty good deal for the effort.

---

Uhmm I wouldn't count on that..

But if you recall, hopefully you can get your item back at least..

[cat20sew]

Since you haven’t heard from your buyer and the order is sitting at the post office maybe something happened like an accident, etc. 

[duffy4444]

      It could be a scam, or maybe just a case of the buyer's left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

      I, however, see a lot of red flags in your details, especially with the explosion lately of all the variations of eBay buyer scams going on.

     Scammers are getting extremely clever in manipulating eBay sellers and getting them all tied up and spending lots of time and emotional energy trying to figure out what to do. Couple that with eBay currently not having acceptable seller protection against easy scamming and Customer NoService going thru an identity crisis, it's no wonder that sellers can fairly easily eventually lose their item, and even their money to boot by eBay AI bots or incompetent CS reps forcing a refund when it is obviously the wrong thing to do. It happens--- read down a few hundred posts here and check it out.

   Perhaps your situation is a scam, maybe not. But with all the red flags and missing wallet drama you detailed, I would not have shipped it. I would instead have cancelled the order, refunded the money, relisted the item and waited for a better buyer. Or better yet relisted it with Local Pickup. Which is worse - perhaps a minor eBay demerit for cancelling an order, or losing a $1000 iPad and maybe the money for it as well? This only happens occasionally, but the risk is your choice.

   Moral of the story: Never, Ever sell a $1000 item on eBay if shipping is involved, until eBay gets their act together and institutes firm anti-scamming Seller Protection. Until then, it's best to use Local Pickup, where you at least have some common sense protection, and maybe you can even agree ahead of time on payment in cash. The buyer shows up at a time and location agreed upon, sees the item, agrees to purchases it as-is (hopefully with cash), then leaves after a handshake. This way you've taken all of the shipping scams out of the equation. You may have to wait longer to make a legitimate sale, but at least you will not be out your item while it is stuck in a PO box in Tennessee. and potentially out your money as well - a double insult that can really hurt.

   All the best of luck to you in retrieving your iPad. I really hope this situation from a fellow seller works out positively for you, and maybe even the buyer can come thru... Be wise with high-value items!

Cheers, Duffy

[bbravo65]

...immediately contact USPS to file "Intercept a Package", the cost will be from $14.95...but better than losing $1,000.00...

[chapabargain]

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@duffy4444 wrote:

Moral of the story: Never, Ever sell a $1000 item on eBay if shipping is involved, until eBay gets their act together and institutes firm anti-scamming Seller Protection. Until then, it's best to use Local Pickup, where you at least have some common sense protection, and maybe you can even agree ahead of time on payment in cash. The buyer shows up at a time and location agreed upon, sees the item, agrees to purchases it as-is (hopefully with cash), then leaves after a handshake. This way you've taken all of the shipping scams out of the equation. You may have to wait longer to make a legitimate sale, but at least you will not be out your item while it is stuck in a PO box in Tennessee. and potentially out your money as well - a double insult that can really hurt.

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Incorrect. Don't sell an $1,000 item on (or to) an account with low feedback.

@duffy4444 

[chapabargain]

Here it is:

https://www.usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm 

@lalo9797 @bbravo65 

[lalo9797]

Correct.

[lalo9797]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Unfortunately, the USPS system is saying that the package is ineligible for intercept.