Too Many Scammers

[kreutzer47]

I've been trying to sell a sealed iPhone 7 Plus 128G and the only customers I have been getting 

1. Contact you outside of eBay, using your cell phone. 
2. Ask to have your PayPal email so they can send you money. 
3. Either add a ridiculous shipping option ($150 for FedEx Next Day) to "sweeten" the deal. 
4. Never pay. Just uses a phishing email to make it seem like money is in your PayPal, but it's a fake PayPal. 

I have relisted my item three times, only to get these scammers. They usually have just 0 feedback. 

What can I do? I don't want to go to Craiglist to make this happen... 

[rainbowcolorz · Accepted solution]

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@kreutzer47 wrote:

I've been trying to sell a sealed iPhone 7 Plus 128G and the only customers I have been getting 

1. Contact you outside of eBay, using your cell phone. 
2. Ask to have your PayPal email so they can send you money. 
3. Either add a ridiculous shipping option ($150 for FedEx Next Day) to "sweeten" the deal. 
4. Never pay. Just uses a phishing email to make it seem like money is in your PayPal, but it's a fake PayPal. 

I have relisted my item three times, only to get these scammers. They usually have just 0 feedback. 

What can I do? I don't want to go to Craiglist to make this happen... 

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Have you read here about a new seller with only a small handful of feedbacks like yourself listing an expensive item like an iPhone and what the risks are?   

Everyone who started out had -0- feedback.   

What I did when I decided to start selling was to first buy lots of inexpensive items so I could build up my feedback stars and not look like a magnet to scammers.  

Good luck.  

[kreutzer47]

That is a great idea. Yes, I think that would help tremendously. Or at least, selling cheaper stuff for more valid transactions and feedback. 

[rainbowcolorz]

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@kreutzer47 wrote:

That is a great idea. Yes, I think that would help tremendously. Or at least, selling cheaper stuff for more valid transactions and feedback. 

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Absolutely.  And never forget -- don't ever list anything you cannot afford to lose.  

[slati_2013]

I am a long time and experienced seller, and yet whenever I came across a iPhone lot or anything by Apple for that matter, I pass it up. Apple products invite scammers. Especially iPhones. It is one of those status things that many people want, especially younger folks but can't afford them, hence the countless scams. 

I highly recommend you sell the phone to a friend or co-worker. The scammers get more brazen and creative by the day. In the Washington Post recently, the police reported a seller was scammed by a buyer who used motion picture money (for movies only) to buy an iPhone. He gave the buyer $500 fake money and got $50 change for the $450 price. So even a face to face meeting means nothing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/in-scam-seller-of-iphone-is-given-stage-money-pol...

[vintagecraze50]

Report each and every one of these scammers to Ebay so they can fight this better by getting their accounts closed. They usually open more and more accounts, eventually they may be able to trace these people.

[megadestroyers]

1.  Sell your phone with the local pick up option only, CASH in hand.

[kreutzer47]

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@slati_2013 wrote:

I am a long time and experienced seller, and yet whenever I came across a iPhone lot or anything by Apple for that matter, I pass it up. Apple products invite scammers. Especially iPhones. It is one of those status things that many people want, especially younger folks but can't afford them, hence the countless scams. 

I highly recommend you sell the phone to a friend or co-worker. The scammers get more brazen and creative by the day. In the Washington Post recently, the police reported a seller was scammed by a buyer who used motion picture money (for movies only) to buy an iPhone. He gave the buyer $500 fake money and got $50 change for the $450 price. So even a face to face meeting means nothing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/in-scam-seller-of-iphone-is-given-stage-money-pol...

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Thanks you're absolutely right. I'll probably just sell local and with family or friends. Not worth wading through all this junk on eBay.

[swenson8781]

You could try a local Facebook selling group also.  If you are on there, they usually have one (or multiple) for each city/county.  Those seem to be real popular for selling items nowadays.  Similar to Craigslist, meet in person, receive cash, not as many worries as selling on here.  

[soh.maryl]

Have you considered listing with fixed price, immediate payment required? 

[odditiesandantiquities1]

Go to 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences

and makes sure all your settings are protecting you as much as possible.

[digitekinc]

I just sold a video card to a scammer. List price was fixed and required immediate payment but the buyer was still able to scam me. He claimed my item was not as described. I asked him to send me a photo of the item and it was total out of wacks, nothing like mine. Ebay closed the case in the buyer's favor.... just terrible.