The Delaware affect

[randysauto01]

I've read a number of previous posts about a "scam artist" or at the very least, dishonest buyer located in Delaware seems to be the most talked about one.

I sell not only on ebay, but we have our online storefront (we sell used auto parts from our 2 wrecking yards) as well as 2 other e commerce platforms aside from ebay.

I've received an email from a customer who listed about 12 newer (2015-2020) vehicles that he's looking for 8-10 parts off of each one. On these newer cars, things like headlights are no longer just a matter of left or right anymore, at times there can be as many as 7 different options.

This also applies to the other types of parts he's asking about.

It would take many many many emails to sort out exactly what options and questions were needed for all of the parts, so I gave him our phone number (its not an ebay sale, so were not restricted in that fashion for this particular platform) and suggested he give us a call so we could more quickly and accurately look up all the items and get the questions right.

He responded that he provided the list of what he needs, and wants them sent to Delaware to his PO box. Having read what I've read about some people being scammed by a person or people in Delaware, it raised a red flag instantly, and the signature/name that he included at the end of this one, raises another red flag for me.

Does anybody out there thats been scammed happen to have a first name or any info I could tie to this email I received. 

[pburn]

If by "Delaware," you're referring to the freight forwarder located there, thousands of sellers have had successful experiences with freight forwarders located around the country. Keep in mind people on the internet generally post about unsuccessful transactions, not successful ones. For every one complaint, there are probably a thousand positive transactions.

You could search this Community site for the word "Delaware" or "freight forwarder" or whatever, and read the threads others have posted.

There are scammers everywhere. Could be a person in your town or state or church or golf league. There's no way for anyone to tell whether your customer is honest.

Since it's not even an eBay transaction, you could just examine your own business model to determine whether the time you'd invest in researching this potential customer's requests is worth it. Only you can answer that.

[ise710]

Whenever you feel that a buyer might be using/is planning to use a freight forwarder, perhaps because they've already paid and the FVF was higher due to the cross-border upcharge --

Send a message from within eBay asking if they are here in the country, or if the item(s) will be reshipped.

If you don't get a definitive answer, cease communication/cancel citing problem with address. eBay needs this reply, necessary to invalidate buyer protection when an item is reshipped.

[releasethekraken_1]

The Delaware "buyer" you've been reading about is actually a reshipper for people living mainly in Eastern Europe. They're located in Delaware because there is no sales tax. In most cases, transactions are fine, but there are some dishonest buyers who use the service, just as there are dishonest buyers located in the USA.

[toysaver]

The Freight Forwarding services I've sent to in Delaware have physical addresses; warehouses, not a PO Box.  The red flag for me would be the buyer not elaborating on his exact needs.   Sounds like a sale destined for return issues. 

[soh.maryl]

You need to inform that person that, in order to find what he wants, he needs to post the item in the Search box on eBay, and then buy from whatever sellers he finds.  Maybe he (and you) are unaware, but he could be trying to do an off-eBay transaction.

As far as that Delaware address is concerned, it's usually a perfect legitimate freight forwarder that's used by shoppers in Europe rather than something sinister. 

Summary:  He needs to do his parts shopping just like any other eBay shopper.  When he buys and pays, he needs to make sure the shipping address is for the freight forwarder in Delaware. 

[randysauto01]

I have a lot of engines, transmissions doors etc that I know when I see the address, its going to a freight forwarder and to another country, and I've not yet had an issue with any one of them. 

My concern is having seen the posts about the specific state of Delaware is what raised a red flag for me.

If I elect to just flat out say that we don't have any items, he may move on to searching on ebay, at which time if he finds the item listed and happens to buy ours, I have no choice in the matter, and have dealt with CSR's enough time to know that a vast majority of the time, no matter the documentation or messages I have, I will most likely lose if the customer decides to scam.

[randysauto01]

Thankfully he isn't trying to buy on e bay yet. Rather from our hollander store front online. I again asked him to call us so that we can look up the parts and ask the correct questions, in live time, instead of 1 email at a time for every question.  He is asking about a total of 73 different parts, and each one of those has a minimum of 5 questions per part, to get the accurate item.

I responded to his last email and again informed him that he needed to call for this reason alone.

His response is that he is from the Ukraine and doesn't speak good enough english for a phone call, but would rather use either "viber" or "telegram" to chat. 

I think at this point and time, my communication is going to stop with him.

If he decides to try and buy our items on ebay, I have no way to prevent that, but it will force him to actually search for the part, and know the answer to all 365 questions.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@randysauto01 wrote:

My concern is having seen the posts about the specific state of Delaware is what raised a red flag for me.

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So you're concerned about the whole state of Delaware? Sorry, I'm not following where you're going with all of this.

[randysauto01]

No I'm not concerned about the whole state of Delaware, but if 10 people were familiar with having been scammed and they could collectively say, it was this one particular town, wouldn't it raise a concern with you?

On their own, the prices of each item would run anywhere from $200 to $800 per item. If the seller discussion board isn't a place to express concerns, I guess I've come to the wrong place.

[releasethekraken_1]

As you've already been told, there are bad buyers who use reshippers, and bad buyers who don't. The bad ones who do will be concentrated in just a few addresses, because there are only a few reshippers. The fact that you find 10 references to a particular address, if they're a known reshipper, doesn't mean the address is a problem.

[randysauto01]

So don't be concerned if 10 people reply to this message and say, yup, a person at this specific address have scammed us, I shrug my shoulders and say to myself, what are the odds I will be the 11th? I think I should have just taken this to a facebook forum where on a daily basis we collectively as a wrecking yard community are constantly asking about new business's (specifically parts brokers) and ask each other if we've dealt with them before. Ya know, kinda like team work and watching out for each other, even if we are competing against each other for sales, nobody likes to see anybody get screwed, were all just trying to make a living.

[pburn]

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@randysauto01 wrote:

Ya know, kinda like team work and watching out for each other, even if we are competing against each other for sales, nobody likes to see anybody get screwed, were all just trying to make a living.

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You know what? You posted about a transaction that isn't even taking place on the eBay platform. People try to give you their best answers, and this is how you respond?

If you can't make your own decisions for your own business, it's probably not a good idea to post about it to a bunch of strangers and expect them to advise you on a transaction that isn't even raking place on eBay, and then chastise them for not telling you what you apparently want to hear. 

So, here goes:

Yes. the guy is a scammer. Don't sell anything to him. Don't sell to anyone who uses a Delaware address.

[frodobagginskennedy]

I live in Delaware.  There are a few reshippers located up in the Wilmington Area.  As mentioned before they have a physical address not a PO Box.  THe address will have the street address with Locker# or agent #

[randysauto01]

Your right, seeking advice about how to head off a potential problem on ebay before it happens isn't the right way to approach it.  Its better to wait until it happens, and then bring the problem to a bunch of strangers. 

Having never sold on ebay, or our other 3 e commerce platforms up until a year ago, I've found most every incident or question I had about the whole experience was found by me reading up on peoples past experiences.

Had I not ever done that, the posts about Delaware wouldn't have even raised concern with me.

There has been more than one valuable lesson I've learned from this community that helped me prevent making beginners mistakes.

I'm just an hourly employee trying to get the other 76,000 items listed that we have, listed, at the same time, providing profit for my boss. I get paid the same whether something sells or not, but that doesn't mean I don't take to heart every time a customer isn't happy, or a used door in the yard from 7 years ago gets sold, only to find out was damaged at some point in time.

I value all your opinions and responses, and look forward to continuing to read this forum so that I can continue to learn.

I got ahead of myself thinking about the worst case scenario, before anything had even happened yet. Ultimately I have no control over who buys what, and where it goes, and have made a failed attempt at stopping something I have no control over.

Thank you all for your time.