# Do you report fishy eBay buyers? Also, am I wrong thinking this is fishy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481 "2018-08-12T17:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/1 "2018-08-12T17:26:36Z")
Selling an item on eBay. Get a best offer. Potential buyer sends me a message through eBay asking for my email. I do not reply. 10 minutes later same potential buyer sends me another message saying “I think we can make a deal, please text me” and includes his phone number in a attached GIF file. Seems fishy to me. Would you report it or ignore it? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/2 "2018-08-12T17:49:14Z")
Fishy. What kind of rating does the guy have? ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/3 "2018-08-12T18:07:49Z")
He has 100% positive feedback, with 69 positive comments in the last 12 months. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/4 "2018-08-12T18:09:24Z")
I don’t think it’s fishy, but he’s probably one of those idiots that wants to haggle. I politely say eBay doesn’t allow changing the terms of a sale (which it doesn’t). If he gets jerky, then report him. That’s what I’ve done. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/5 "2018-08-12T18:15:29Z")
I’d ignore, then raise price. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/6 "2018-08-12T18:55:02Z")
Not “fishy” for you, but likely looking to cut out the middleman. Dont report, but tell him you have to go thru ebay. Now if the item has been listed for a while, and you have some wiggle room, you can tell him if it doesnt sell you will relist with a lower price. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/7 "2018-08-12T19:07:28Z")
Or relist with a best offer option. Then you can negotiate through eBay. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/8 "2018-08-12T19:16:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Or relist with a best offer option. > > Then you can negotiate through eBay. Yes, that works also. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/9 "2018-08-12T19:34:26Z")
Thanks all. For clarification, this was a best offer. It was below my asking price, but not unreasonable. Before I had a chance to respond he sent the emails requesting communication outside of eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/10 "2018-08-13T01:52:40Z")
eBay frowns heavily on circumnavigating their fees for something that’s been listed on their site and puts your seller status at risk. Don’t do it. You can tell him the same thing. ETA: Which is my guess what he’s angling towards. You can tell him that for his protection and yours, you need to communicate through eBay’s system. I hate buyers like this! Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Astraea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@Astraea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astraea)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/11 "2018-08-18T19:43:31Z")
May or may not be fishy that he gave you his number to talk. He may not know that it’s against eBay’s rules to communicate outside of ebay (the email listed on the site. This protects everyone involved, in case of any disputes all the info, emails, etc is already available on eBay. I’d politely tell him you don’t feel comfortable calling him and that you can discuss any deals over email. (within the site) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/12 "2018-08-18T20:47:31Z")
So what did you do, OP?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/13 "2018-08-18T21:08:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Astraea** : > > He may not know that it’s against eBay’s rules to communicate outside of ebay He definitely knows. Why do you think he put his phone number in a GIF? Because when he tried to put it directly into a message, eBay gave him an error message and told him that wasn’t allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/14 "2018-08-20T19:25:36Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Thanks all. For clarification, this was a best offer. It was below my asking price, but not unreasonable. Before I had a chance to respond he sent the emails requesting communication outside of eBay. If you aren’t willing to accept below your asking price, why did you select “make me an offer” in your listing? ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-report-fishy-ebay-buyers-also-am-i-wrong-thinking-this-is-fishy/819481/15 "2018-08-20T23:40:38Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If you aren’t willing to accept below your asking price, why did you select “make me an offer” in your listing? The OP didn’t say he wouldn’t accept an offer below the asking price. He said before he could respond to the offer, the potential buyer tried to communicate outside of ebay. He just wanted opinions on whether he should report this buyer.