How do I know someone is legitimate or not?

[chafur_70]

I'm trying to sell an expensive and very heavy item. I listed it for "Local Pickup" only. Someone is inquiring about it, but has not made an offer yet. I clicked on their ID and it shows member since February 16, 2000. This person has 18 positive reviews, 0 Neutral, and 0 Negative. How can I be sure this is valid? Can someone "fake" positive reviews or their membership date? Could this person be using someone else's account? Simply  clicking on someone's ID and seeing good reviews and a long membership history is not much information to go on, especially if it can be manipulated. Can I trust this?

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@chafur_70 wrote:

I'm trying to sell an expensive and very heavy item. I listed it for "Local Pickup" only. Someone is inquiring about it, but has not made an offer yet. I clicked on their ID and it shows member since February 16, 2000. This person has 18 positive reviews, 0 Neutral, and 0 Negative. How can I be sure this is valid? Can someone "fake" positive reviews or their membership date? Could this person be using someone else's account? Simply  clicking on someone's ID and seeing good reviews and a long membership history is not much information to go on, especially if it can be manipulated. Can I trust this?

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Look at their "feedback left for others"

All buyer only accounts have 100% positive feedback received. Sellers have not been able to leave non-positives for buyers in over 10 years.

If you are selling local pick up only, get paid in cash when they pick the item up.

Do not fall for the "my associate will give you a certified check/cashiers check"".

Do not give your PayPal information to anybody.

Do not give your cell number until the buyer actually commits to purchase (BIN or accepted BO) and then, only for communication about where and when to pick the item up.

Do not agree to ship.

Good Luck.

[18704d]

@chafur_70

Return to this thread each step that happens.

You have 0 fb, as a buyer or seller, offering 1200 dollar and 1400 dollar items.

Much can go wrong.
It could be easy to get scammed..

Or, you may get a buyer who doesn't pay, and then you cancel the sale

and get charged 120 or 140 dollars by eBay.

Lynn

[chafur_70]

Thank you for the tips. I appreciate it.

[18704d]

And you should revise your listings to cash on pickup only.

Remove the Paypal option.

Lynn

[pr0414]

General rule of selling on eBay: don't sell anything you can't afford to lose

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@18704d wrote:

And you should revise your listings to cash on pickup only.

Remove the Paypal option.

Lynn

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You can't 😞

All listings are required to have an electronic payment option.

You can have an additional "Cash on pickup", but you can't list it as the only option.

Try it.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@chafur_70 wrote:

Could this person be using someone else's account? Simply  clicking on someone's ID and seeing good reviews and a long membership history is not much information to go on, especially if it can be manipulated. Can I trust this?

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Someone can ALWAYS be using someone's account... you can never know that. Heck, I can be hacking into this account here and posting this reply and you guys would never know. That's the risk. But meeting up and getting cash for your purchase usually makes the use of a hacked account useless if the money/item exchange is done correctly.

I haven't done many pickups in the last few years but I assume it's similar as before. If you only accept cash, then the only risk I see is if the buyer strings you along and never shows (or tries to re-negotiate price), or gives you counterfeit money. Those are the risks I can see in relation to the transaction. Risks regarding security and safety are another thing. For that, use the same precautions as meeting up with someone you don't know or never seen before (like a first date from someone online).

[femmefan1946]

ID and it shows member since February 16, 2000.

Were most of those FB recent or were they back at the turn of the millennium?

Abandoned accounts can be hacked. The gap is the red flag.

Can someone "fake" positive reviews or their membership date?

No.

You are selling a heavy item for Local Pickup.

Use Contact Buyer to reiterate that you cannot ship this and it must be picked up.

If the person is legit, he should be able to agree. (But watch out for anything like "my buddy will pick it up and pay you at that time". That's a scam using a rubber cheque. Cash only. )

BTW -- on the Foo Dogs-- are you selling one or both?

The title and the picture are inconsistent.

[luckythewinner]

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This person has 18 positive reviews, 0 Neutral, and 0 Negative

18 positives could mean 18 transactions with 18 happy sellers, or 1000 transactions with 18 happy sellers and 982 unhappy sellers. You have no way of knowing. You seem to be assuming that a buyer's feedback will tell you anything meaningful about a buyer. It doesn't.

How can I be sure this is valid?

That depends upon what "valid" means.

Can someone "fake" positive reviews

Yes. And don't forget that it is impossible for a selelr to leave a neutral or a negtive for a buyer.

Can someone "fake" their membership date?

Not unless they hijack an account. But don't forget that buyers - likse sellers -  can have more than one account.

Could this person be using someone else's account?

Yes.

Simply  clicking on someone's ID and seeing good reviews and a long membership history is not much information to go on, especially if it can be manipulated. Can I trust this?

No, but you really have no choice if you decide to sell here.

I'm trying to sell an expensive and very heavy item. I listed it for "Local Pickup" only.

If you take payment by paypal and have local pickup, you have no online viewable tracking from an eBay-recognized carrier to prove you delivered the item to the buyer. I would not sell locally unless I was sure I would be in a safe location and receiving a cash payment.

[chafur_70]

I already had one scammer almost get me. He sent me a bill pay check for $2,500 for a $1,200 item. He said he had arranged shipping. He told me to keep the $1,200 and take the rest to Walmart and do a Walmart to Walmart money transfer to the shipper. I took his check to my bank. The bank manager insisted the check would clear at midnight and could not be stopped or canceled after that. The next day, I went to a different branch of the bank. I spoke to the manager, he said the money is in my account and the check cannot be stopped or cancelled. So I withdrew the part of the money that was supposed to be for shipping. I went to Walmart. The lady at Walmart asked me the amount. She asked me if I knew the person I was sending the money to. I told her about the Ebay transaction. She told me it's a scam. She said I should go to back to the bank and to the police. I went back to the bank. I explained the situation to the manager. The same man who said the check can't be stopped or canceled. He called the bank's fraud department. After ten minutes he told me they were investigating and thought it was fraud. I re-doposited the money. At midnight, the bank removed the entire $2,500 from my account. They sent me an email saying the originating account had been closed, therefore, the funds were removed from my account. They even had the nerve to charge me $12 because the check was bad. I went to the local police to report it. They were very friendly and patient. I gave the officer a complete description of the entire transaction and copies of all the messages and the check, etc. I doubt if they will catch the guy. But I did what I could. Now I'm nervous about doing anything on Ebay.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@18704d wrote:

And you should revise your listings to cash on pickup only.

Remove the Paypal option.

Lynn

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I thought local pick up listings still had to offer an electronic payment method?

To list this item, you'll need to choose at least one approved electronic payment method. - Learn more about the eBay Accepted Payments Policy.

[chafur_70]

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BTW -- on the Foo Dogs-- are you selling one or both?

The title and the picture are inconsistent.

I have revised my description. It now says "price is for the pair".

Thanks for pointing that out.

[sam9876]

"If you take payment by paypal and have local pickup, you have no online viewable tracking from an eBay-recognized carrier to prove you delivered the item to the buyer."

So what?

[femmefan1946]

So the scammer can open an Item Not Received dispute and without Proof of Delivery (with Signature Confirmation if the item is over $750 including shipping) he will be refunded.

And keep the item that he claimed was not received.

All tracking and Delivery Confirmation is for the benefit of the Seller.

That tracking gives nervous buyers the warm fuzzies is just a  Value Added by-product.