Sellers beware of scammers

[12345jamesstamps]

I had two returns from the USPS yesterday...Addresses I googled and they were parking lots...some would say it was "old" googles of the addresses. I disagree. I talked about this before. Those who buy from me just to get a feedback because some of my items are very cheap.

And they want to have lots of feedbacks so sellers will sell expensive items to them.

    Today I woke up to 2 purchases from 2 different buyers for .99 each.

I list .99 items hoping a buyer buy a bunch of stamps.

I thought I look at both buyers.

Both buyers joined eBay in May 22 ,2024...both buyers have 6 positive feedbacks from 6 different sellers.

Here's where it gets interesting...both buyers live in Texas...different suburbs just outside Houston.

This is where a seller mails an expensive item to one buyer...buyer wants to return it...gets refund and returns it to their friend using a different zip code in same area.

This is the return item to seller for a refund but return it to their friend with a similar code.

Both purchases were made at the same time last night. LOL..

These are returns from parking lots where buyers just want a feedback. LOL.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

who buy from me just to get a feedback because some of my items are very cheap.

And they want to have lots of feedbacks so sellers will sell expensive items to them.

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It is very hard for me to believe they are buying for this reason.

It is too easy to view just FB received as a seller, so it will only help them with clueless buyers.

Your theory is one of the few which could be correct, since FB is mostly unused in evaluating sellers.

My alternative theory is that these buyers are mentally ill, and they are accumulating FB to meet the needs of their illness.

[12345jamesstamps]

I got another return today. LOL.

I googled the address and it's a parking lot to some Industrial site.

The buyer also just open for a refund today for an item not received.

Buyer only asked for a refund...not the item.

This buyer also never purchased stamps.

My block buyer list is growing LOL.

[turtles-trading-post]

Interesting!  I haven't seen this one yet.  

What I am getting lately is USPS flubs of  Return To Senders.  I've gotten a few back after a few weeks, often after the buyer wants to call it lost and get their money back,  I check the "bad" address and it's what the buyer had listed. I confirm it with them, send it out again and it is received the next time.

Yesterday  I had an envelope that was 3 weeks out from PA to TX and it comes back, postage due.  I check and it has the correct postage on it.     And other coast to coast mail taking up to a month... but I get positive feedback from Italy 6 days after I mailed one!   

[yuzuha]

Frankly, this seems to be a very specific problem that is not applicable to 99% of eBay sellers.

I have had exactly one "Not deliverable as addressed" return and it was because the buyer forgot to put their apartment number in the address. They fixed it, repurchased, and I reshipped and all was well.

[wastingtime101]

Sometimes it's about testing stolen credit cards. I've seen reports from mostly postcard sellers, but also a couple other categories with items in the $1-2 range where buyers make purchases of low value items just to see if the purchase will go through, before they turn around and use the credit card for high value purchases, often electronics. Although usually when that's the reason, the same seller will get hit with massive amounts of these test orders in a short span.