Protecting myself from scam buyers.

[jttrain]

I have read the discussions suggesting immediate payment, signature confirmation etc, but no answer to the problem of someone saying they got a box of rocks. Their payment is refunded and you have lost a valuable item. Mine is worth about $1000 and I have a zero feedback buyer winning so far with a few days to go. Is there any method to remove him as a buyer? If it was a less expensive item, I would just go ahead and sell to him.

I see that Ebay has a form to cancel a bid on your auction, but would a zero feedback be an acceptable reason? Any suggestions on how to avoid a loss?

[missjen831 · Accepted solution]

There is no way to avoid a loss here. You can cancel bids for any reason. If you cancel the bid, make sure to put the member on your blocked bidder list. 

[a_c_green]

You're selling a high-value but not particularly high-scam item, and your zero-feedback bidder's actions so far look genuine, not the bidding activity of a scammer. He's not bidding in multiple auctions, and is bidding only enough to stay ahead of his competition.

Generally speaking, a scammer is going to wait until the end of the auction, and then snipe to win with 3 seconds left, with some sky-high bid that he doesn't care about because he'll either attempt a fake payment notification, or pay while planning to file a bogus dispute later on.

So I see no value in cancelling this particular bidder. Generally speaking, though, you might have been better off just listing it as a BuyItNow at your desired price, with no Make Offer and with the Immediate Payment Required option checked. That would get you past the fake-payment scams, and then you need to worry only about the post-delivery scams. Your current leader may just be a train collector who opened an eBay account in order to get your item.

[orangehound]

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@jttrain wrote:

I have read the discussions suggesting immediate payment, signature confirmation etc, but no answer to the problem of someone saying they got a box of rocks. Their payment is refunded and you have lost a valuable item.

 Any suggestions on how to avoid a loss?

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There is only one way that I know of to protect against a loss:  local pick-up and cash.   Other than that, there is always a chance for a loss.   So, only list items where you feel the profit outweighs the risk (I don't list items on eBay over about $300 for this reason).

[a1robotrepair]

You can put them in your blocked buyer list now. See if that ends their bids.

[itsjustasprain]

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@a_c_green wrote:

So I see no value in cancelling this particular bidder.

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Plus if you do - the price will collapse down to about $630 from $731 due to the offers from the two bidders that will be left in play.

[jttrain]

Thanks everyone. I have learned a bit more about Ebay. Have emailed the bidder as a fellow model railroader and his quick reply sounds pretty authentic as to his reasons for bidding. I will probably wait a while and see what happens. He may not win.

[jonathankirkland]

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@orangehound wrote:

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@jttrain wrote:

I have read the discussions suggesting immediate payment, signature confirmation etc, but no answer to the problem of someone saying they got a box of rocks. Their payment is refunded and you have lost a valuable item.

 Any suggestions on how to avoid a loss?

---

There is only one way that I know of to protect against a loss:  local pick-up and cash.   Other than that, there is always a chance for a loss.   So, only list items where you feel the profit outweighs the risk (I don't list items on eBay over about $300 for this reason).

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Actually, if I'm not mistaken, I think I recently read on one of these threads from a blue that ebay even has protections in place for local pick ups and you could still claim SNAD....

[missjen831]

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

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@orangehound wrote:

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@jttrain wrote:

I have read the discussions suggesting immediate payment, signature confirmation etc, but no answer to the problem of someone saying they got a box of rocks. Their payment is refunded and you have lost a valuable item.

 Any suggestions on how to avoid a loss?

---

There is only one way that I know of to protect against a loss:  local pick-up and cash.   Other than that, there is always a chance for a loss.   So, only list items where you feel the profit outweighs the risk (I don't list items on eBay over about $300 for this reason).

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Actually, if I'm not mistaken, I think I recently read on one of these threads from a blue that ebay even has protections in place for local pick ups and you could still claim SNAD....

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They don't have protections in place a local pickup paid for with CASH which is what Orangehound suggested.

The buyer can't file SNAD when they pay with cash.