eBay

brucdobbe0 · ‎02-26-2020

Hi all. New to the selling end if eBay and I'm wondering how you all deal with legitimate and scam offers.

I recently posted a gaming laptop for sale,12:15 am this morning actually. I have received a good many offers and use their profile to gauge the legitimacy of the offers. Am I really getting that many fake offers? Based on feedback ratings it seems I am. How does one weed through all the phishing, or "here's my number, tetext me back, I have questions". Already regretting their are few safeties to the offer process.

coolections · ‎02-26-2020

You deal with it by the fact if you think it is a scam don't do it. Do you have best offer on your listing ? If so remove it and just use BIN immediate payment required.

coolections · ‎02-26-2020

@cashvaluerecovery2011 wrote:
There is almost no shot of this transaction going well. Even if you avoid the obvious scams your inexperience will likely lead to a swithcharoo or a junk return.

That would be completely false info. You have a good chance of a sale. Not everyone on Ebay is a thief, in fact 98+% are honest.

lightlily_arts · ‎02-26-2020

First I would go to your account under site preferences to set your buyer requirements and block buyers that:

Have received 2 Unpaid Item strike(s) within 12 Month(s)
Have a primary shipping address in a location I don't ship to
Have a feedback score of -1 or lower
Are currently winning or have bought 2 of my items in the last 10 days and have a feedback score of 5 or lower

I would not sell to anyone with a new account but I don't know if you can prevent it.

lightlily_arts · ‎02-26-2020

Perhaps that would be true except this is a high end gaming laptop which is a scammers fantasy score wet dream

fashunu4eeuh · ‎02-26-2020

As a new seller with very expensive items, i would recommend saving your high dollar items for later. List them when you have acquired more selling experience on eBay.

The platform has a wide learning curve and sellers need to know how best to protect their interests. Ebay safeguards its buyers first and foremost, with its Money Back Guarantee. (PayPal also has its Buyer Protection program.) The terms of the MBG can leave sellers vulnerable in Not As Described cases. This allows anyone intent on fraud the opportunity to steal virtually any item from any seller at any time. If you haven't seen the terms, see link below.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy...

Not trying to dissuade you from selling here, just recommending some early caution. Fortunately the large majority of buyers are honest. In the last ten years of selling, have never been defrauded, not even an attempt. (This is my posting ID.) As a buyer for years, my feedback number was higher, helpfully making me a less-likely target.

However one approaches it, selling online has risk. Can possible loss be covered if you encounter it? Therefore before listing, assess your risk tolerance for each item and list accordingly, starting with strong in-demand items with low-scam potential. Setting up one's Buyer Requirements (as recommended by @lightlily_arts upthread*) can help minimize your exposure to serial non-payers. See link below on how to set BR up.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=...

Wish you all the best and much success on eBay.

*(Would not advise avoiding new buyers as this poster suggested. We all started at 0 feedback.)

earlyant-77 · ‎02-27-2020

@gracieallen01 wrote:
Selling that gaming laptop, consider that you have a very large, neon glow, multi-color target on your back, that can be seen for 10,000 miles and someone just posted 'Open Season', with an arrow pointing to YOU.

Absolutely - It can even be seen from the space station ......... !!