eBay

olivesartshop · ‎10-22-2020

I am an artist. I mostly sell paintings and most recently decided to sell on ebay. I am inexperienced in selling on ebay, having a paypal, shipping, talking to buyers, etc. but I would like to think I am intelligent enough to figure these things out.

Today after about a month, I got offers on 3 of my paintings (originals) The buyer told me to text them about shipping. I was weary so I did a number off of a texting app and haven't given them any info. They are claiming to be on a military base overseas and want me to go buy a 300$ vanilla giftcard, put it in the box, and ship all items to their "cousin" in california for his birthday. He said he would send 300$ extra for the giftcard and 100$ for the shipping for them. I am just really weary, but excited because this would be my first sale and I am a broke college student.

alcoforever · ‎10-22-2020

@olivesartshop wrote:
I am an artist. I mostly sell paintings and most recently decided to sell on ebay. I am inexperienced in selling on ebay, having a paypal, shipping, talking to buyers, etc. but I would like to think I am intelligent enough to figure these things out.

Today after about a month, I got offers on 3 of my paintings (originals) The buyer told me to text them about shipping. I was weary so I did a number off of a texting app and haven't given them any info. They are claiming to be on a military base overseas and want me to go buy a 300$ vanilla giftcard, put it in the box, and ship all items to their "cousin" in california for his birthday. He said he would send 300$ extra for the giftcard and 100$ for the shipping for them. I am just really weary, but excited because this would be my first sale and I am a broke college student.

Definitely a scam. Any buyer that wants you to text them or any buyer that wants you to add gift cards to a purchase is a scammer. You will get a fake paypal email saying you have been paid but when you look in your paypal account, there will be nothing there. Scammer is hoping you will ship the goodies before you catch on.

duncanvr · ‎10-22-2020

The gift card scam is an old scam as soon as someone asks you to text them outside of ebay this is the first sign something is not right. Keep all communication in ebay messages. Stop communications with this person and block their id. As a new seller if your selling high priced material you'll be an easy target for scammers. Never listen to any person asking you to add gift cards.

Only ship fully tracked when someone hits buy it now, pays and you check the payment is in PayPal. Also if someone tries to offer you a higher price than your BIN price it is also a likely scam. You could do with reading up on known ebay scams in this community board. Be prepared to lose the item and the money with some scammers. So protect yourself and make sure you know all about the known scams there are plenty of posts about them. Its a good idea as a newer seller to sell smaller value items first and get a feel for the platform. Plus build your feedback up a bit.

fab_finds4u · ‎10-23-2020

S c a m !

bargainnation · ‎10-23-2020

I'm glad you came to the community and asked your question before you fell for this scam. A lot of new and/or inexperienced sellers come to the community and ask questions after they have been scammed.

Most experienced sellers know this has scam written all over it but eBay get hundreds or maybe thousands of new sellers everyday and they do not know about these scams and they are the ones that these scammers try to scam out of merchandise and money.

I did not always participate in the community but reading the message boards is one of the best things I have done to keep up with what is going on with eBay including scams or potential scams.

toysaver · ‎10-23-2020

SCAM. Never text, consider eBay your silent partner who must be privy to everything said and stay within the confines of eBay messaging.

candd205 · ‎10-23-2020

I agree with the others, a classic very common scam. I'm glad you didn't lose your painting and lose the money. Your paintings are very nice. However, if you are interested, I have a couple of suggestions on improving your chances to sell to a real buyer. Take them or leave them, just trying to help you out.

1. Include the size in your Title.

2. Use all the space in your title. Fit as many keywords as you can in. Include a description of what the painting is in the title. In one you might include face, storm, under water, just whatever you describe it as. The other could have woman in repose sun wilted flower, grass, just whatever fits. You are trying to attract a buyer that likes that subject matter.

3. Capitalize the first letter of each word in the title to look more professional.

4. In the description of the face painting, you have a huge description of a book. Maybe you copied another listing to make your listing, which is fine, but you need to edit out all the info that was there already.

4. Include a picture of the back of the painting. Include a picture at a different angle, include a close up of the face and your signature.

dhbookds · ‎10-23-2020

@olivesartshop

agree that it's a scam.........

Just for information though...........that "original oil painting" has some weird book information in the description that should be taken out.....

japan-treazures · ‎10-23-2020

@olivesartshop

This is one of the oldest scams out there! Glad you didn't fall for this scam! Scammers target new sellers such as yourself. I am including info below so others can read and hopefully not fall for this type of scam. Sorry, this potentially got you excited, but, IT IS A SCAM 100%, stop all communication or you will be out inventory and money!

Anyone that asks you to send gift cards and that they will pay you for them and give you money for doing it is scamming you. The sellers next step if you agree is to send you a dummy "invoice" that will really look like it came from eBay, asking you to add a gift card and they will pay you for it. The buyer will take the numbers from them and cash out and you will not be able to get you money back! Then the buyer disappears. You loose everything.

They will send you fake Paypal invoices and paid emails, hoping that you will send without checking.

Never agree to send to another address that isn't registered with eBay, you will loose what little protection you have if you do that. This is part of the scam!

Block the buyer, stop messaging them and run!

I would advise that you report this ad to the site that you found it on to try and get it removed if not found on eBay.

You can also report the ad to:

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) www.ic3.gov

Here are eBay’s links to info on scams:

https://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/security/index.html

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes/online-vehicle-sale-fraud

Here is eBay’s link to gift card scams:

https://pages.ebay.com/giftcard/terms_conditions.html

Hope this helps!