New buyer wants to use diff. payment method? Potential scam?

[computerparts4cash]

I received and accepted an offer on one of my items this morning. Upon not receiving immediate payment, I reminded the buyer to complete payment, and assured them I would ship as soon as they paid. They said they did pay, (they hadn't) and then followed up later with a message telling me their card was declined (hence why I didn't receive payment) and instead would like to pay through Venmo or a straight PayPal payment. Coming from a week-old account with just 3 feedback total, all of which within the last month, I was skeptical. I told them I would only accept payment directly through eBay's PayPal system, and have not received a follow up as of right now.

Is this a scam? If they do not pay, where do I go from here?  What should I do immediately?

[southern*sweet*tea · Accepted solution]

If they don't pay like they are supposed to, file an unpaid item dispute. If it's been more than 48 hours after the sale, do that now. Close it out 96 hours later.  Your fees will be refunded and you will be able to relist.

Only accept payment made through Ebay checkout.

[aldente28]

What I can say as a seller (rarely a buyer) is that (a) I never have problems with buy-it-now listings because people are required to pay to complete the purchase, and (b) every other nonpayment scam story begins with "the buyer asked me to take the transaction outside ebay".

I'm not saying that's what's happening here. For all I know the buyer's story is legit. But they should be able to pay via PayPal within ebay, and you run significant risk if you take it outside ebay.

I wouldn't do it. If it were me and a buyer couldn't figure out how to pay within ebay, I would cancel. I cancel for less: for example, when someone asks me to change their address after the purchase. This keeps everything simple, easy to track, and if they're serious, they will understand and buy again after figuring things out on their end.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@computerparts4cash wrote:

They said they did pay, (they hadn't) and then followed up later with a message telling me their card was declined (hence why I didn't receive payment) and instead would like to pay through Venmo or a straight PayPal payment.

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If the buyer has access to make a straight PayPal payment, then there’s no reason why they can’t use that to pay you thru the purchased listing. It doesn’t even need to be their own PayPal account. When you click “pay” in ebay and choose PayPal they’ll ask for login info.

[computerparts4cash]

That was the initial red flag for me, thanks for the advice