eBay

joycerncen · ‎09-17-2021

I recently listed an item to begin bidding for $28.50….soon received a bin offer for $50 then another for $150. These buyers have no buying /selling history …..is some kind of scam going on? Should I ignore it and wait for a more “legit” bid?…..or just delete it and forget selling it on eBay? 😔

alcoforever · ‎09-17-2021

Ignore those kind of bids as they are all coming from scammers. They can bid high because they have no intention of ever paying you.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎09-17-2021

Yes, they are potential scammers. Ignore them and let the auction run.

One common scam is to win the item and then try to take the transaction off-eBay such as asking for your phone number or PayPal email address. Then they send you a FAKE text or email that seems to be from PayPal telling you that you've been paid but it won't show up in your account until after you've provided proof of shipping.

a_c_green · ‎09-17-2021

@joycerncen wrote:
I recently listed an item to begin bidding for $28.50….soon received a bin offer for $50 then another for $150. These buyers have no buying /selling history …..is some kind of scam going on? Should I ignore it and wait for a more “legit” bid?…..or just delete it and forget selling it on eBay? 😔

You can add a BuyItNow price to an auction that has no bids, if you like. It's valid to make an offer to a seller who has no current bids, regardless of whether a Make Offer button is showing, although I would recommend a BuyItNow price rather than a Make Offer because you can apply the Immediate Payment Required option to a BuyItNow price, but not to a Make Offer. (The IPR option is a checkbox on the full listing form.) That way no one can snatch your item off the market without actually paying you for it first.

I cannot see your listing and don't know what your item is, but some buyers just want to bypass the auction process and hope that you're in a hurry to sell. I would say that with this much obvious interest in your item, you should let the auction run to its conclusion. The final minutes and (especially) seconds can be fun to watch.

ittybitnot · ‎09-17-2021

I recently listed an item to begin bidding for $28.50….soon received a bin offer for $50 then another for $150.

@joycerncen

Was this on another ID?

Since your listing was an "auction" (assuming with a best offer feature?) as opposed to fixed price, it is a bit more difficult to say.

It could be a "bidder" that knows the product will likely go for a higher price should the auction run its course, and wants to get a "better deal". OR

It could be the usual "text me" scammer that wants to play you. The user ID could be "new", or it could be an older one with lots of feedback that has been "hijacked" for this purpose. You don't get to know for sure until you accept the offer. The text me scammer does not pay, but accepting the offer will tie up your listing for a few days either way.

They used to target newbies with high end products. Now the product doesn't seem to matter, for they are really after the pre-paid gift cards they are going to ask for once they get you to "text them". The "higher than normal" offers are to entice you to "accept".

Best prevention is to NOT use the best offer feature. That is hard sometimes because eBay will stick it on there anyway, and eBay allows members to make offers even if the option is not selected.

Some indicators of a scam attempt/offer:

New ID registered within a few days.

Offer is very unrealistic according to normal pricing and availability of the product in general.
Feedback left for others (they don't leave any)

etc.

joycerncen · ‎09-17-2021

Thanks for your input!

joycerncen · ‎09-17-2021

Thank you for answering!

jayjaspersgarage · ‎09-17-2021

I shut down people who contact me about the price when all the information they need is in the listing. If I am taking offers then the listing would show that option, which is almost never. On a $300 watch someone wrote me an email offering something like $80. I ended the item and blocked them within two minutes.

itsjustasprain · ‎09-17-2021

@jayjaspersgarage wrote:
On a $300 watch someone wrote me an email offering something like $80. I ended the item and blocked them within two minutes.

Do you do that every time someone sends you a lowball offer? I expect lowballs in my selling account and get them from time to time - but ending the listing over that seems like youre throwing the baby out with the bathwater.