How do you handle the sale of high-priced item against scammers?

[coleyjohn62_3]

Perhaps you may say that if I don't feel comfortable, or don't want to lose money, bla bla bla, don't do it, don't sell on eBay, etc. Please don't get me wrong,the point is I want to know how you handle it. For example, there're 3-4 of 10 buyers are scammers. You can say things like sending them a courtesy message, explanation, offer, etc. but scammers never care about that. They all want the item for free and they know how to take advantage of the loophole. The thing they can do is claiming SNAD and returning empty boxes. I'm sure that's enough to boil your blood.

I've heard about this a lot and eBay rarely protects sellers. You can possibly win the case against scammers but it's really PITA and time-consuming for you. The chance of winning is also small. On the other hand, I know that's a norm to sell high-valued items to experienced sellers but I do feel nervous when I have only a few hundred feedbacks. Especially the item is usually the target of scammers (smart phones, watches, computer hardwares, game consoles, GPS, etc.)

In addition, I do sell items worth a few hundred bucks but it's less popular and I'm sure not many people want to scam it. Luckily, I've met none with those items and that's how I survive till this day. So I would like to know how you would manage the sale of those items that I mentioned above on eBay.

[myboardid]

I simply would not sell a high-value item here, there is NO way to protect yourself. eBay will take the scammer's side and refund his money no matter what you do.  It has happened to many sellers.  And I have a lot of experience selling. 

[discountme]

It’s a gamble for sure. I cap my sales at $200 or less. Ive been very fortunate. I sold a Collectible Victoria Secret Sleeping Bag in my other account last Saturday for $200 with shipping. $18.95 was for FedEx Smart Post. I upgraded her shipping to priority for $21.00. She got it today and left me Positive Feedback. She was in Hawaii with 3 Feedback Score. It’s hit or miss with these situations. Fortunately, I’ve had great luck selling my high priced items on here. I don’t list them very often though. Cept at Christmas.

[dtexley3]

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@coleyjohn62_3 wrote:

Perhaps you may say that if I don't feel comfortable, or don't want to lose money, bla bla bla, don't do it, don't sell on eBay, etc. Please don't get me wrong,the point is I want to know how you handle it. For example, there're 3-4 of 10 buyers are scammers. 

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It's more like 3-4 out of 100 or even 1000 buyers are scammers.  But that still doesn't matter when you are the victim.

[coolections]

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@coleyjohn62_3 wrote:

there're 3-4 of 10 buyers are scammers.

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Your odds are very good that you will not get scammed. I have no clue where you got your info (must be from these boards), but 3-4 of 10 buyers are scammers is the most ridiculous stat I've read to date. 19 years and have never been scammed here.

With that said, describe your item ACCURATELY which includes each and every flaw. Take pictures ACCURATELY which includes all angles, close up and bright light. In other words make sure buyers know EXACTLY what they are getting. Do not cop-out by saying you do not know something. If you do not know find out before you list. Get signature confirmation and make sure Ebay and Paypal say it is OK to ship. Make sure funds have been transferred to your account.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, i have not had trouble selling my high-priced items, the top range was $1000 and i’ve been selling for about 9 years. I have found customers dealing in high dollar items to be honest and never problematic. But selling here is all about risk tolerance.

I know scamming happens but i never go into a transaction fearing the worst. That can be a self fulfilling prophecy and skew one’s judgement.  I am aware it can happen but i don’t anticipate it. My job is to sell my items and i will worry only after something happens, not before. This works for me.

I do go the extra mile to protect my interests with the tools eBay offers. My Buyer Requirements are set to the strictest levels (such as blocking members without a PayPal account, and blocking members with 2 or more non-payment strikes). I set my Shipping Exclusions to avoid selling to what i consider to be problematic countries.

My number one priority is customer service, so i do not block potential buyers who ask questions nor do i sweat 0 feedback ebayers. If they buy, i ship. The only names on my Blocked Buyer List are the non-payers i have encountered. I buy shipping insurance when i deem it necessary and add signature confirmation on sales over $750 as eBay requires. Mostly i self-insure by adding a few cents to each sale to be set aside in case of loss. So far i have not needed to tap that reserve. 

I rarely deal in high fraud items and most of my listings are Fixed Price with Immediate Payment Required. Knowing the policies also helps minimize loss. So there are things a seller can do to mitigate some risk when selling on eBay. It is up to each of us to decide how much of that risk we can take, and hopefully this is decided prior to listing that first item.

[frodobagginskennedy]

First rule of E Bay fight club is NEVER EVER NEver, NADA list something you cannot afford to lose.

[hawkwind5454]

Scammers RARELY scam merchandise that is not easily liquified.... They aquire it, to re-sell it, and not keep it. Thus their listing preferences are for the type of merchandise you mention.  No matter what they sell it for, it's positive money, as they have nothing in it.  As previously mentioned, the odds are in your favor for not getting scammed.  To either qualify or extinguish your fears, check the buyer out, on-line.  The internet has much free information on an individual's character.  Check out their address location on Google Earth...  If they are a bad risk, you should be able to detect it.  This may be a little bit "judge a book by it's cover", but it usually turns out to be information in the buyer's favor, and lessen your scam fears.  And something else I always do... Add "signature requied upon delivery" and post your intentions in the listing. This strategic investment usually detours would-be scammers, and will help you, ebay-wise, should there be an issue.  This is what works for me.

[luckythewinner]

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@coleyjohn62_3 wrote:

Perhaps you may say that if I don't feel comfortable, or don't want to lose money, bla bla bla, don't do it, don't sell on eBay, etc. Please don't get me wrong,the point is I want to know how you handle it.

{snip}

So I would like to know how you would manage the sale of those items that I mentioned above on eBay.

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There is no way to prevent SNAD fraud. You can take a few prudent steps to reduce it, but it is simply a fact that if you take payment and ship an item, it is possible for someone to use a fraudulent SNAD to steal it from you. But it sounds like you already know this.

Given that, here are the prudent steps I take:

• do not list it here (the only way to prevent eBay fraud)
• describe completely (reduce the chance of the buyer feeling ripped off)
• do not sell overseas (reduce postage losses and eliminate tracking issues)
• only ship to the paypal address
• use tracking
• use signature confirmation if required

Other than those common-sense things, I treat like I do any other transaction.

I'm sure a lot of people will tell you to videotape you packing it, videotape you shipping it at the post office, have a postal employee observe you opening the return, use an invisible ink pen, get it "notarized"  (?), record the serial numbers, etc. But I've never heard of a situation where any of that actually helped a seller win a case.

IMHO it all comes down to what the item is and the seller's risk tolerance.

[retrose1]

With the way ebay is set up now, I will not list/sell high dollar items here.  Even if they are not high risk.  Ther are professional scammers out there, and if they are scamming their merchandise to flip, why stop there, they can get everything in their life for free or at greatly reduced prices.

And with the rep that ebay has, wth vids on YouTube about how to scam leading the way and word of mouth, anybody can put their toe in the shark tank to see if it really is as easy as they say, all it takes is an email.   Once they find out it is, they are on their way and work their way up.  There was a guy that hung out at the auctions I go to that used to brag that he got over half everything he bought on ebay free or refunded, and he bought a lot and not just stuff to flip.

I would rather have less cash in hand than the stress of waiting 6 months (yup, that is the waiting period because of paypal) to see if I can keep that money, so local pick up for cash is the only way to go on ebay. 

[dan4402]

For example, there're 3-4 of 10 buyers are scammers

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Got a source for that figure?

[thevintagesilvershop]

OP, your 30 to 40% of scammers is way off.  I have been selling here for 22+ years and my scammer/loss percentage is less than 1/4%, way less.

You will get a lot of "don't sell it here" advice from this Board.  If you want to talk to someone with experience, search on Ebay for someone who sells expensive items like you are planning to sell and ask them.  There are thousands of Ebay sellers who sell high priced items.

[yuncreations]

Well, I've been selling here for 5 years, and most of my items are over $100. I've actually only got two scammers. First one actually won. On the Second one I got protected by Paypal.
So, your numbers are very exaggerated. I would say 1 in a 100 buyers is a scammer. and if you do everything right, you have better chances of being protected by eBay or PayPal .

[darla3073]

On my main account I've been here for 20 years.

I've sold roughly 15, 000 items, many of those were worth several thousand dollars.

I've been scammed twice once on a necklace that the lady returned but she didn't return my necklace she returned a lower value necklace, and I fought that out and won with PayPal.

The second was a $100 item the buyer wore to an event, trashed and then returned.