eBay

hansen_9952 · ‎05-22-2018

I'm a new ebay seller and just started two days ago. I was nearly scammed once with the whole pishing paypal confirmation email thing and know now not to trust buyers with 0 Feedback. I relisted both my items (one being a computer and the other an apple watch) and got loads of offers again from fishy buyers. However, this time two buyers stood out. Both had extremely good feedback and also recent feedback from the last 12 months. What makes me suspicious is the fact that the two buyers decided not to purchase the items at the "Buy now" price and instead made offers that were relatively higher than the "Buy now" price. How do I know if they're legitimate or not?

missjen831 · ‎05-22-2018

A legitimate buyer wouldn't offer more than your BIN price. Those buyers are scammers who made highly attractive offers in order fool you into accepting them while allowing them to bypass the immediate payment required on listing, which allows them to then request your paypal info so they can send fake paypal emails & trick you into thinking they paid.

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**Formerly known as MissJen316**

gkyn29 · ‎05-22-2018

Offers above BIN price are always a scam

hansen_9952 · ‎05-22-2018

Then how com they have such good feedback?

One with 155 and another with 68

a_c_green · ‎05-22-2018

They're not legitimate. That is not how real sales go, but they are hoping you don't know that. They will attempt to get your PayPal/email address in order to send you a fake payment notification, telling you to ship in order to receive the funds in your account.

Realistically, no one here would recommend that you sell a computer or smartwatch here as a new seller. (A lot of experienced sellers wouldn't touch those items either.) If you feel you must sell those here, sell them as BuyItNow fixed-price listings only, with no Make Offer option, and with the Immediate Payment Required option set (you will find that on the full Sell Your Item form). That way no one can buy your item without actually paying you for it first. That gets you past the fake-payment stage, and you can then worry about fake damage claims or empty-box returns.

It would be best if you sold such high-scam items locally for cash.

jonathankirkland · ‎05-22-2018

As stated above, these are obvious scams.

However, it is very flawed thinking to assume a 0 feedback buyer is a scammer when a buyer with 10,000 feedback could just as easily scam you since sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers, and you virutally have no way of knowing if someone is out to "get" you or not.

There are certain things you can do to protect yourself, however.

One of them is not listing expensive items on an account with no selling experience. Low to no selling feedback + high priced item = extreme scam magnet.

I highly recommend you start selling smaller items and familiarize yourself with all of the policies (especially listing practicies & the Money Back Guarantee), as well as reading these forums to just learn general knowledge about selling here.

There's a few old sayings around here that I keep repeating to every new buyer because they are good rules of thumb, #1) "Don't list anything you can't afford to give away fore free" and #2) "Don't list anything worth more than your feedback score (i.e., if you have 50 feedback don't list anything above $50)".

Good luck!

gkyn29 · ‎05-22-2018

@hansen_9952 wrote:
Then how com they have such good feedback?
One with 155 and another with 68

Feedback means a lot less for those that don't sell because as a buyer, you cannot receive bad feedback and false positives are forbidden (where a seller leaves you a positive but the wording is obviously negative).

a_c_green · ‎05-22-2018

@hansen_9952 wrote:
Then how com they have such good feedback?
One with 155 and another with 68

They may be hacked accounts. Also note that buyers can have nothing but good feedback, as sellers can only leave Positive feedback for buyers. (I know, it's ridiculous, but that's the way it is.)

Getting back to the main point: receiving offers that are higher than your BuyItNow price are scams, period. Don't lose sight of that one fact.

armyairforce4 · ‎05-22-2018

Did you file non paying bidders for those listings? If not, you will be stuck for the selling fees. No, you can't tell if a buyer is legit. All buyers have good FB since seller's can't leave negs.

ittybitnot · ‎05-22-2018

How do I know if they're legitimate or not?

It is a scam. They may have feedback, but are using a hijacked account to try and fool you. Even if a buyer PAYS, you cannot predict that the payment may be snagged back at a later time. Do not sell things here that you cannot afford to lose and ship to a thief.

goodluckselling · ‎05-22-2018

@hansen_9952 wrote:
Then how com they have such good feedback?
One with 155 and another with 68

You mentioned you were new and the sellers here that have given you the correct advice are very experienced sellers and you need to just trust what you are being told. You are trying to reason why you should sell to them and the fact is they are trying to circumvent the buying process here at eBay by not using the BIN and IPR you have set up which automatically makes them not honorable.

Scammers will use