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Notice of an offer

I received an email, supposedly from eBay indicating I have a buyer for an item I listed at $38.  The offer is good for one day at $60.  I am new to this and have ever sold anything and am not sure if this is a scam, so I have not clicked 'respond now', as I am not sure if it is legitimate.  Please advise.

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Notice of an offer

     A couple of things you may want to check since you are a new seller and a scam magnet although they don't usually go after low value items. Look at the offeror's feedback and see how long they have been an eBay member. If they have little or no feedback or are themselves fairly new high probability that it is a scam but that is not always a guarantee they could be legit just new. Also if you are selling internationally check to see where the offeror is located a lot of the scamming efforts are out of China, Russia and the other FSU countries. 

     I sell internationally quite a bit but have excluded a lot of countries because of the scamming efforts and I will cancel a sale to one of those countries that tries to skirt the process by using a freight forwarder. 

     You may not be aware but for auctions there is also a BIN option that you can also use but it has to be 30% higher than the starting auction price so for a $38 posting that would be $49.40 or more. If you use this option you can also check the immediate payment required with BIN. Nothing you can do will protect you 100% from being scammed on eBay but you can minimize your risk. Always operate under the #1 rule and that is to never post anything you cannot afford to take a loss on. 

Message 16 of 21
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Notice of an offer

It is usually not normal to receive a legitimate offer to pay more for something than its asking price.  However, in the case of an auction with a BO option attached, the starting bid price is not the selling but merely the starting point for the bidding.  Of course, it should be noted that in the case of someone placing a bid any offer that is currently on the table becomes void.   

 

You are running auctions so the offer may be a legitimate one.  Was it received via the BO option? 

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."
Message 17 of 21
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Notice of an offer

Agreed that has always been a frustration and on occasion some of the items have sold for more than what the BIN price was, a couple considerably more. 

Message 18 of 21
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Notice of an offer


@donsdetour wrote:

simple why would some one make an offer of an amount they can get by just a click for less:

 

Its a scam man: to try and get you to contact them and send fake payment notice and or: or say its a gift and would you enclose gift cards etc:

 

Never send photos of a gift card with the back scratched off: a fast way to lose your money

 


Ignore that advice I did not look at your listings. I assumed that you had such at buy it now: not at auction.

As others have said it could be a legit offer. By keep in mind what I posted as scammers target new users.

Message 19 of 21
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Notice of an offer


@donsdetour wrote:

@donsdetour wrote:

simple why would some one make an offer of an amount they can get by just a click for less:

 

Its a scam man: to try and get you to contact them and send fake payment notice and or: or say its a gift and would you enclose gift cards etc:

 

Never send photos of a gift card with the back scratched off: a fast way to lose your money

 


Ignore that advice I did not look at your listings. I assumed that you had such at buy it now: not at auction.

As others have said it could be a legit offer. By keep in mind what I posted as scammers target new users.


The OP is running auction style listings, I have checked, and they have a BO option attached and not a BIN option.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."
Message 20 of 21
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Notice of an offer

legit offers will come to you via eBay messages and your Seller Overview page - not via an e-mail

"I have the right to remain silent but I didn't have the ability." Ron White, Fritch, Texas
"Stay away from negative people, they have a problem for every solution." A. Einstein
"The Devil made me do it!" - Flip Wilson
"If the band can only play loud - they ain't no good - peps too!" J.R. Johnson
Message 21 of 21
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