Just had a strange offer for my auction. How do I handle this one?

[scottlmusic]

I just had an auction end and no bidders.  I relisted it and have had a couple of offers in messages.  The one that has me concerned is the following.  They just joined ebay on the day my auction ended and started the new one so they have 0 feedback.  Here is the message:

"With due respect i'm offering you $700.00 for the xxxxxx because i won't be able to wait until the auction end due to the nature of my work am always very busy to check my eBay inbox but you can text me #xxxxxxxxx saying offer accepted to ease up the transaction. Thanks"

I suspect it is a scam.  But on the other hand I'm considering telling him to bid like everyone else.  Then again I've considered blocking him but am concerned he may be a legit buyer.

I've also thought about calling ebay and discussing this. 

What do you think about this?  What should I do?

Thanx

[imakesugar]

Wow!!! flavored infused gin? I tried to magnify the flavor but I still couldn't see what it was infused with. I drink Gin...No One I know drinks GIN! Which is Ok with me cause good Gin IS expensive, I suspect that is why no one likes it, they buy CHEAP brands! Mostly ALL cheap brands are NASTY! I like Gin gimlets with a lot of Roses Lime syrup...Bartenders these days don't even know what a gin gimlet IS! 

I feel old! When I was a Hairdresser and would drink with the girls many of us drank Gin gimlets...  Sugar

[annindallas]

This is what I'd do, but I'm not new here:

End the auction. List it again as a buy-it-now for $700. You have his name? Put that in the title. "Joe Smith, Just For You". Text the link. No conversation. Just the link.

Send a message through ebay messaging that you could get booted off ebay if you attempt to do business outside of ebay messaging.

Tell him you'll leave the listing for him for twelve or twenty four hours, then you'll take it down and relist as usual.

Tell him you'll have to verify with Paypal that his address is verified.  And he will have to sign for it.

When payment arrives, call Paypal and explain "new buyer, unusual circumstances, new seller" and ask if they see anything fishy about the buyer. 

They will check.

Pack extra well. Buy extra insurance. This will delay delivery, possibly for a week. Let him know that since you're both new at this, it would be best for you both to take every precaution.

And by the way, what is the nature of your business? 

[gracieallen01]

When they offer more  than you are asking, it is usually a scam or  they are hoping to buy it for less that what they figure it will go for if the auction goes full term.

[muttlymob]

End the auction. List it again as a buy-it-now for $700. You have his name? Put that in the title. "Joe Smith, Just For You". Text the link. No conversation. Just the link.

If you don't recognize the message the OP received as being very high likelihood of scam, and actually think it's a good idea to try to have a transaction with the "buyer" then you probably should learn a lot more about scams before advising sellers.

Further, if you read any of the responding posts prior to your own, and still believe it is a good idea to try to sell to this "buyer" your advice is beyond irresponsible.

[a_c_green]

This is not directed at gracieallen01; I'm just clicking on the latest posting as a Reply point, but I'm sensing a little fuzziness creeping back into this thread as to whether that interested party might actually be a legitimate buyer with deep pockets. He isn't. 

He is a scammer. The message you received is, word-for-word, a standard scam text that many of us long-time responders here (in either the Answer Center or Discussion Groups) can recite back to you from memory. There is absolutely zero chance that this is anything other than a scammer contacting you. I hope that's clear.

That message is sent out in bulk to as many new sellers as possible before his account goes bye-bye. He is attempting to get your outside email address from you in order to send fake (but very official looking) payment notifications and such. Don't respond. 

If you're a new seller with a big-ticket item, I'd say that the only way to attempt to sell that here would be as a fixed-price BuyItNow with no Make Offer option and with the Immediate Payment Required option set. (You cannot add Make Offer if using IPR, and IPR is the important setting.) That way, no one can snatch your item off the market without actually paying you for it first.

[muttlymob]

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@scottlmusic wrote:

my concern is that if I allow him to bid he may be a nonpayer in that his email sounds fishy.  On the other hand, I could block him but there is nothing to prevent him from opening a new account an d bidding.  See my point?

---

There's nothing you can do to prevent someone from opening a new account to bid again, so don't worry about this possibility.  Like someone else already said these scams are aimed at easy pickings.  If you don't bite the first time they move on to the next.

Ignore the message, don't respond other than to add the ID to your blocked bidder list if you want.  Any response from you may lead the potential "buyer" to think you might still fall for their story.

[turquoisetulips]

Its an attempted scam , probably from outside of the U.S where our law enforcement can't touch them .

[southern*sweet*tea]

https://www.google.com/search?q=i+won%27t+be+able+to+wait+until+the+auction+end+due+to+the+nature+of...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Suspicious-activity-from-a-potential-buyer/qa...

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/buyer-scam/qaq-p/27289335

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/reporting-scams/qaq-p/27014690

Does this answer your question?

[scottlmusic]

Thank you all for your assistance. For the record let me let you know that I have previously sold hundreds of items on ebay, had a store and had them shipped worldwide. Some were high priced items similar to my present offering. I closed that account about 10 years ago and just opened a new account. I did have one buyer claim that when it arrived that it did not work. In working with the shipper etc, I did not lose any money on the deal. I am aware of possible problems selling to customers and am on gaurd at all times. So, I do have some experience in selling on ebay. But, of course I don't claim to know eveything and come here to get added input on my decisions.

Some have suggested I stop the auction and list it as a Buy It Now with Immediate Payment Required. I don't quite get the idea behind this because you still can pay manually for IPR. I don't know if there is an automatic payment option for buyers, but I know I have used this recently and have done it manually.

Keeping that in mind, what would the benefit be over auction where it is stated that payment is required in 48 hours. I have also restated this on the listing. So, what's then the difference here that I don't see.

I am tempted to leave it as it is as an auction unless I get an understanding that there really is more protection for me from a bad buyer.

If it becomes apparent that a Buy It Now listing would be better, can I just switch this listing to that or do I need to end the auction and put up a new BIN listing?

[pikabo-icu]

You would need to end the auction and relist as a BIN adding immediate payment required. 

[partial*eclipse]

It is not possible to change the format of an active listing (e.g., from auction to fixed price).

The advantage of "fixed price with IPR" is that the listing doesn't end if it's not paid-for.  Thus, no chance of you getting stuck again with a non-paying "buyer."

Merely stating that payment is required in 48 hours has no impact at all on the transaction; you still would have to file and close an unpaid item claim.

The scammer doesn't know your earlier selling history, of course. As an apparently new seller, you are a magnet for scammers.

[scottlmusic]

interesting to note that in checking previous posts about this problem, this scam is shown word for word, they just change there ID.  I noticed that he goes after musical instruments. BTW

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

https://www.google.com/search?q=i+won%27t+be+able+to+wait+until+the+auction+end+due+to+the+nature+of...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Suspicious-activity-from-a-potential-buyer/qa...

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/buyer-scam/qaq-p/27289335

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/reporting-scams/qaq-p/27014690

Does this answer your question?

---

[syddi50]

i GET THAT SAME MESSAGE FROM DIFFERENT EMAILS! A SCAMM!!

[nfsdk-0]

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@scottlmusic wrote:

I just had an auction end and no bidders.  I relisted it and have had a couple of offers in messages.  The one that has me concerned is the following.  They just joined ebay on the day my auction ended and started the new one so they have 0 feedback.  Here is the message:

"With due respect i'm offering you $700.00 for the xxxxxx because i won't be able to wait until the auction end due to the nature of my work am always very busy to check my eBay inbox but you can text me #xxxxxxxxx saying offer accepted to ease up the transaction. Thanks"

I suspect it is a scam.  But on the other hand I'm considering telling him to bid like everyone else.  Then again I've considered blocking him but am concerned he may be a legit buyer.

I've also thought about calling ebay and discussing this. 

What do you think about this?  What should I do?

Thanx

---

I would safely ignore this individual as they've already moved on to their next target victim.  You have already spent far more time on them than they have on you, this person has moved on and so should you.

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread here: https://community.ebay.com/t5/forums/postpage/board-id/selling-db.

Thanks.