NEW SELLERS NEED TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Went to the post office this morning to ship an item. The clerks there know I do eBay.

The clerk told me that just this past week she had two young sellers that were new to eBay and making shipments. One was ear buds and the other sneakers. 

The clerk said they did not know how to go about shipping. That is very common these days. I  actually see all ages come into the post office as if they never been inside one before. The clerk figured out after talking to both customers that they were being scammed! 

Both sellers were being scammed by a buyer stating they will send payment after tracking number is provided. 

No matter what the buyer offers you, never ship without secure payment through eBay / PayPal! 

[1grandmashope_1]

More Cautious....Not!!!!  Maybe More Informed!!!!  To ship prior to payment or in managed payments via pending payments is ridiculous!  This is not going to end well whether they now have that knowledge or not.  

If they did not understand that, what else have they missed.

Wow...

I hope they stop before they end up with big losses.  

Grandma

[southern*sweet*tea]

It's easy to understand a new Ebay seller's confusion, especially if they are used to selling on a platform like Mercari.

On Mercari, the seller does not get paid until after the item is delivered and the buyer has rated the seller. Yes, you ship before you get paid. If the seller isn't rated by three days after the delivery, Mercari automatically rates the seller and releases the payment.  (the scam over there was sellers convincing buyers that they needed to rate them first before they ship. The payment would be released, the seller would never ship.) 

Thing is, Mercari manages payments and THEY know they are paid. No REAL payment, no sale for the seller. Scammers can't send a fake Paypal email to Mercari.  When accepting Paypal on a third party venue that uses peer-to-peer payments, it's up to the seller to make sure they've been paid by checking their Paypal account.

Managed payments should practically eliminate this scam once it's fully implemented as long as sellers understand that in managed payments they aren't getting paid directly. If they still fall for the fake payment emails, that's on them.

[bargainnation]

Shipping merchandise to people you don't know based on their promise to pay once they receive the item is naive. I'm glad the postal clerk schooled them and hopefully they listened and didn't ship the merchandise if they hadn't been paid.

Of course providing a tracking number doesn't mean a seller has or will ship the item but most times a shipping label isn't even generated until after payment. Sellers that are new to selling online need to do themselves a favor and educate themselves about the process and how to avoid some of the more common pitfalls.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Glad you mentioned that!

Actually the clerk let them process their shipments and she told them to go sit in the car and upload the tracking and wait 10 minutes or so and see what happens.  

Both came back in an asked if they can cancel their shipment and get their packages back. 

Kudo's to the clerk!

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

This is a very good reminder for all new sellers...guess what newbees you may have to read eBay's rules!!  When I first started out, I ran a copy of all the rules/regulations and I sat and read them over and over, I started small, 1 item, 1st class ship, weighed it, USA ship only..etc. It amazes me that new sellers are putting high end designer bags, jewelry, Iphones, shoes and shipping them all over the world without a care (for about a week) then the scams start rolling in or before (as you stated about tracking). EBay selling is not as easy as buying, you must wear many hats such as photography, shipper, packager, customer service and you need to get it right the 1st time. Thanks OP for your insightful post.

[yuzuha]

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@bargainnation wrote:

Shipping merchandise to people you don't know based on their promise to pay once they receive the item is naive.

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You would think that anyone with a brain in their head would know that, but apparently not.

[donsdetour]

I hope the fools did not include gift cards with those items they got back: if so the gift cards are gone.

Common scams on new users.

[1grandmashope_1]

southern*sweet*tea,

I see your correlation between the two sites, but that doesn't dismiss the fact that this is eBay and not Mercari.  Sellers new, old or just old (like myself) need to stay on top of their selling platforms.  READ READ READ....Not just the boards, but read the rules as both a buyer and seller.  I don't want to see all this go down the tubes for people that aren't taking the time to read and think that eBay is a fast way to pick up some extra cash.  It is work and that, I hope, means that you invest yourself in a positive outcome.    

To go in blind means that you will see more crazy problems that should of been avoided to begin with on the boards to be addressed. 

A very proud eBay seller...

Grandma 

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@1grandmashope_1 wrote:

southern*sweet*tea,

I see your correlation between the two sites, but that doesn't dismiss the fact that this is eBay and not Mercari.  Sellers new, old or just old (like myself) need to stay on top of their selling platforms.  READ READ READ....Not just the boards, but read the rules as both a buyer and seller.  I don't want to see all this go down the tubes for people that aren't taking the time to read and think that eBay is a fast way to pick up some extra cash.  It is work and that, I hope, means that you invest yourself in a positive outcome.    

To go in blind means that you will see more crazy problems that should of been avoided to begin with on the boards to be addressed. 

A very proud eBay seller...

Grandma 

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Very, very true. If someone can't bother to read up on their chosen selling venue, there's not much we can do about that short of cutting off the top of their head and pouring the info into their brain.  Too many people just dive in head first with no clue as to what they are doing. Some things you just can't fix.

I was just giving a reason WHY some new sellers could be duped into mailing before they're paid. If they're already selling successfully on a venue that requires shipment before payment, and they haven't done their research for another venue then yes, they could be easily scammed on Ebay or any other venue where payment is P2P.

[luckythewinner]

NEW SELLERS NEED TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS

Both sellers were being scammed by a buyer stating they will send payment after tracking number is provided.

If by "be more cautious" you mean "bother to read a basic tutorial" then I could not agree more. 

[malijaya_gn6jx0b]

oh thank you brother to share this with us.. im new to start selling this article helps me a lot thank you

[malijaya_gn6jx0b]

mmm dont trust anyone do the job done from paypal and ebay 

thankyou again

[malijaya_gn6jx0b]

is this happen often? 

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I was told both shippers were young. 

The young generation are all over the internet, multiple apps, and social media. I'm guessing they can become relaxed communicating with others. 

Possibly the scammer was trying to sell them on avoiding fees. I don't know!  You ship, send me the tracking, and I will pay through another payment format and you can avoid eBay fees.