Is a real buyer?

[darrenxieyuxiang]

I received an offer from a buyer, and the address is "76180, north richland hills, TX,United States".  is this a real buyer or scammer? I have no idea how to see if he is real or not. Also, he has 61 positive feedbacks. He did shopping last month.

Thank you!

[dougsue123b · Accepted solution]

Google the address, other than that you didnt give enough info.

[a_c_green]

76180 is the ZIP code for that town (actually I think they have two). I have a regular buyer down there myself.

I don't see any current listings for you, and the only completed listing I see is for a MacBook from last April. I hope that sale went well.

You won't see the interested buyer's actual shipping address until they pay. eBay only shows you their location, but not their street address. 

If you accept their offer, make sure that you log in to your PayPal account to be sure that their payment has cleared and that PayPal says that you're okay to ship. If the sale is $750 or higher, you will need Signature Confirmation on the package. 

[ten_o_nine]

I received an offer from a buyer, and the address is "76180, north richland hills, TX,United States". 

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Why the paranoia, when I receive an offer I only look at the state and zip code to see what the total cost would be, but never investigate a zip code. Many buyers with  good zip codes turn out to be PITA, and many buyers with no zip code turn out to be the best.

[cherry*fizz]

So they are missing the street address portion of the address? Is that something that comes through with just an offer? Maybe you'll get the full address once you accept the offer, if you do. It might just give you that for shipping calculation. If not, you could always cancel for problem with address if you tried to contact them and didn't receive a reply. 

[thallidguy]

You're not going to get his full address until he actually buys from you. Until then, all you need is the zip code and city name so you can determine cost of shipping.

[luckythewinner]

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@darrenxieyuxiang wrote:

I received an offer from a buyer, and the address is "XXX".  is this a real buyer or scammer?

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IMHO an address alone cannot possibly tell you whether a buyer is "real" or a "scammer". Especially when you don't even know if that the address is the shipping address. 

[cherry*fizz]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

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Why the paranoia, when I receive an offer I only look at the state and zip code to see what the total cost would be, but never investigate a zip code. Many buyers with  good zip codes turn out to be PITA, and many buyers with no zip code turn out to be the best.

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I know. I don't get it either. I see quite a few posts from people who are Googling addresses. I'm not sure what for? Even if it's to see if it's an apartment and they didn't give an apartment number, doesn't mean much. I just send to the address I'm supposed to, and I've never had a problem. I know some sellers want to be thorough or protect themselves, but I thought sending to the address on the transaction with tracking was enough. Of course people can conduct their business however they choose, I just think sometimes they seem to give themselves more headaches than necessary.

[thallidguy]

I Google addresses if something about the formatting seems unfamiliar or odd, but that's just to make sure I'm using the right format or the buyer didn't make a typo. It's not really a trust thing.

But yeah, I don't see why you'd Google the zip code/city name.

[rixstuff]

You only need the zip code to estimate shipping costs.

[pburn]

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@cherry*fizz wrote:

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

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Why the paranoia, when I receive an offer I only look at the state and zip code to see what the total cost would be, but never investigate a zip code. Many buyers with  good zip codes turn out to be PITA, and many buyers with no zip code turn out to be the best.I

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I know. I don't get it either. I see quite a few posts from people who are Googling addresses. I'm not sure what for?

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Two thoughts come to mind:

• According to several threads I've read, there are a few addresses of forwarding services that have a less-than-stellar track record--or, I should say, their customers do.
• The seller appears to be new to selling, not from the U.S., AND selling a super high-scam item. 

My guess is this seller and others who are concerned about trying to verify addresses are just trying desperately to protect themselves from a deal gone wrong.

Edited to add: The Macbook listing ended April 4, so that's probably not the transaction the OP is concerned about . . .