Tips to protect from scams on a physical item with a digital component

[supertziva]

Hi guys

I am looking for tips from experienced sellers on how to safely sell a physical item that has digital component.  I am sure I not the first person to ask this but when I tried searching for similar stuff all that came up is people selling digital goods which I know is not permitted or protected.

The item I have is a physical collectable card from a special event.  On the card there is a scratch-off bar that reveals a code that is redeemable online for a digital item.  I know that selling the code itself or the digital item is not allowed, but I would be selling and shipping the physical card which I believe is allowed under ebay's policies.  However, it would be disingenious to pretend that the code is not what makes this card valuable.  

I want to protect myself from any kind of fraud where the buyer takes the code and tries to return the item.  I had a friend years ago try to sell a similar card and the buyer did a chargeback, said the item was not as described and returned the card - with the code scratched off and redeemed, which obviously made the item near worthless.  Then it was basically his word vs buyer's word and Paypal errs towards buyer protection and my friend lost the money.  There are also plenty of stories of this online within the community that collects these sorts of items.

So aside from documenting everything, using ebay's interface for communication, and getting tracking/signatures on the package, is there anything else I can do to protect myself?  Should I insist on a money order instead of Paypal?  Does limiting who can bid tend to help much?   I have been sitting on this card for two years just because I am wary of scams but I really need to sell the item now.  

Also, I haven't used this account to buy or sell much in a very long time.  If the worst does happen and if it does go into dispute, will that count against me with ebay?  I know it may make it difficult to find a buyer, but I also want to make sure it won't result in ebay themselves automatically siding against me.  I suppose worst case I can make my spouse handle the sale for me on his own account that has more than three things in its history.

Thanks in advance for the feedback and I do appologise if this is an overdone topic.

[sam9876]

You can't protect yourself.

[bonjourami]

Money orders are not an acceptable payment option on Ebay. Doesnt really matter about the signature confirmation unless the item is over $750,otherwise, delivery confirmation is fine. Theres no real way to protect yourself from a snad complaint. Buyer wins. you lose.

[bubbleman2010]

List it as no shipping pickup only.....

[supertziva]

FWIW listings for the same item right now are around $1k-1.3k USD right now on ebay.  Good to know about money order.

[orangehound · Accepted solution]

The only way to avoid a scam is cash only, local pick-up ... other than that, there will be a risk.

[bonjourami]

Yes I think so too..and meet the customer in front of a police station.

[supertziva]

Okay, thanks guys, that's all very ehlpful!

[shipscript]

@supertziva

You have a physical item, with physical delivery, so there are no eBay rules against mentioning the digital component - only the risks you mentioned.

Classified Ad format allows an off-eBay sale. The sale format is used to line up the buyer, while payment and delivery are outside of the ebay framework. That means you can specify whatever payment requirements you want, including cashier check. There are no buyer/seller protections and no feedback.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/selling-classified-ads?id=4167

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/classified-ads-policy?id=4250

You are allowed to sell digitally delivered items in the Classified Ad format in the "Everything Else" category, usually under "information products". 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/digitally-delivered-goods-policy?id=4...

But, with a physical item, you could list in any appropriate category that supports the Classified format, as does tickets, but not memorabilia. Only a few categories support classified format and eBay has removed a helpful page that listed those categories, so you'll just have to open a "sell one like this" and see if the format can be changed from Fixed Price to Classified if you want to go that route.