Selling to a buyer with negative feedback??? (and that's the only feedback they have!)

[thevintageparadise]

So I just got an offer on item and when I looked at the buyers feedback it says -1 next to their name. I've seen 0 before, but I don't think I have ever seen a negative number lol

I wrote to them saying I was declining the offer because selling to them is a risk and while I appreciate their interest i wasn't willing to take the risk.

They have NOT answered the message, instead they sent me another, higher offer. I am taking all of these things as red flags. They have 5 items listed, 2 sales and zero positive feedback and 1 negative feedback. The buyer that left the negative said the person never sent the package and never responded to their multiple messages.

Am I wrong here? I mean don't get me wrong, I'd love the sale but I'm also not trying to eat $75 plus shipping because this person is potentially a scammer

[gurlcat]

It's 'Best BUDDY List.'  -BBL.  Geesh, man!  

[gurlcat]

Is it this item?



Yes, cookie jar obsession is toward the top of the list of diagnostics for psychopathy in the DSM-5.  
No but seriously, I cringe just thinking of packing that pretty thing to send to a PERFECT buyer.  Large fragiles are so precarious, but add to that someone who has already shown manipulative tendencies, and I see the bad moon rising.  I really would consider just taking this listing down for a week or so.  Don't even let this freak buy it at full price or I can just about promise you'll have a bad post-delivery outcome.  

[fbusoni]

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@gurlcat wrote:

It's 'Best BUDDY List.'  -BBL.  Geesh, man!  

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I'm new here and still learning the terminology.  😁

[fbusoni]

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@gurlcat wrote:

 I see the bad moon rising.

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I've long wondered what John Fogarty was referring to.   

[thevintageparadise]

No lol it's this item, that has 328 views and 53 watchers in the past 40 days or so. That's why they offered $75 from their first account and $70 from their second account. After they messaged me from the 3rd account i wrote the following:

"Hello,

I don't think you're getting it - this is now the THIRD account you are messaging me from. I will not be selling this item to you at any price. Messaging someone from multiple accounts is a very shady practice. Especially when your selling account has -1 feedback. I have blocked your other 2 accounts and will now be blocking this one. Please stop. This is tantamount to harassment. "

I blocked their 3rd account before they had a chance to respond and so far they haven't created a 4th account to message me again thankfully.

[redlinear]

@thevintageparadise 
   Check my current feedback and there's your answer

[house*of*paws]

@thevintageparadise 

WHY do you keep replying to them?  🤔

EVERY message you send them = HOPE.  😖

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Did you look at their complete feedback profile? 

Meaning what they have left for others, received as a buyer, and received as a seller. 

[thevintageparadise]

Sorry man, that sucks - at least people can see you have 1,000's of positive feedback and only a couple of negative, one of which is from an account that's -1

[thevintageparadise]

Of course, i do that with every single potential buyer that sends an offer. That's exactly how i saw they had -1 feedback where the person called them a scammer and said they never mailed their package.

[redlinear]

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@thevintageparadise wrote:

Sorry man, that sucks - at least people can see you have 1,000's of positive feedback and only a couple of negative, one of which is from an account that's -1

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Just letting you know that cancelling was the right decision.
This buyer sent a message Saturday morning wanting me to ship it on Sunday (and ended with "It better be here by Wed).
I should have cancelled it right then.

[gurlcat]

@redlinear and @thevintageparadise I would encourage you both to utilize the Report Buyer feature any time you have a buyer behaving or writing abusively.    Unfortunately it has the reputation here in the forums of being like a Fisher Price button, as in, not doing anything.   But that depends on what you think it should do.  If it's about punishing a bad buyer after they have done something bad and caused you harm, don't hold your breath.  But if it's about making a record of them doing something bad BEFORE it causes you harm, then it is absolutely what CSR's will consider important, when you go to fight the harm (appeal a case, get negative feedback removed, get your SELLER PROTECTION).  

Too many sellers think it is useless because they don't use it at the right time.  

[reallynicestamps]

20/20 hindsight but:

"I strongly doubt that this purchase will be in your hands within the deadline you have set. I am willing to cancel the transaction if you wish, since it will not arrive in time."

Then cross all your fingers and toes.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I do the same thing. 

I will check the address on Google. If the item is on the expensive side, I will pay that little fee for signature required. 

You have to weigh the risk / loss.

Many scammers will refuse to sign for package. The negative of the process is it may take 3 plus weeks for you to get your package back, but at least you have it. 

I have received packages back with no communication from the buyer of where is my item. I'm thinking stolen gift card numbers or some other scam. 

[thevintageparadise]

Update:

So some of you called it - they used another account and purchased the item at full price. First they messaged me and asked how much I would take for it and said "Sorry, I want to buy this for my daughter" no mention of the 10+ messages they sent from other accounts and the back and forth messaging we had where I told him I wouldn't sell to him at any price.

Here is the really weird part....the account they ended up buying it on is ON my blocked bidders list. Maybe the system didn't catch it in time from when i added them to when they purchased it. This has been quite the ordeal, the person is obviously not working with a full deck of cards.

I spent an hour on the phone with customer service and they made note of all of their accounts and confirmed it was the same person they were just using different email addresses. I cancelled the order and eBay said they will do an investigation. Really sucks you have to lose all your views and watchers when someone does something crazy like this.

So my advice? Next time you have a gut feeling about someone...block them. If they start messaging from a second account block that one too lol The item is now re-listed, hopefully they don't create a 5th account and buy it again! Lesson learned, trust your instincts.