Need advice for unusual behavior

[cellar_door]

Hi - Just received top offer for my listed item. Buyer writes: “Please contact me for payment and shipping because I want this item shipped today. Once you receive payment call me at (###)###_###.”  Buyer intermingled  text to sneak phone number into message that came with offer.  In short, he offered me top dollar, wants me to contact him by phone. And is rushing me to ship. I don’t want to call. Does this look legit to you? And am I required to accept an offer presented to me this way?  Thanks for the advice.

[klhmdg]

If you accept the offer just wait for payment. 

There is no reason to contact the buyer for payment.

It looks scammy to me and I would ignore the "offer" - You are not required to accept any offer especially ones that start off making you question the legitimacy. 

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

No, that does not look legit.  Sellers are never obligated to accept any offer. And there's no valid reason for a buyer to covertly send you their direct contact information.  Don't even reply to him.

[cellar_door]

I’m just going to ignore this guy. Thanks you both for the advice 

[fashunu4eeuh]

Glad you hesitated. This is a prelude to a scam. Once they get your contact info they will send you a phony but convincing payment notice.

A buyer does not need your phone # or email or PayPal email address in order to remit. Plus it is a policy violation for buyers and sellers to send contact info prior to a sale. Always keep communication in eBay Messages to avoid such scams.

[evelyb30]

Is there a way to report scammy messages sent through the system? If so I'd hit the button and BLOCK this clown.  It might just be a hijacked account, but even if so I'd block buyer.

[Anonymous]

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@evelyb30 wrote:

Is there a way to report scammy messages sent through the system?

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Not anymore the feature was removed long ago because staff stated that they were unable to respond to them due to volume so there was no sense in continuing to have the feature.

[cellar_door]

I’d like to remove this suspicious offer and block the buyer. But, Ebay reports username is invalid when I try.  Ironically, the name does appear when I do a username search. BTW, this individual has been a member since 2019. And has zero Ebay buy/sell experience.  Since I am unable to remove this offer, I’m wondering what the right next move is. Will it confuses other buyers if I either leave the offer hang or delete it?