I just sold a 1950s German radio on eBay, and although the listing said I’d only sell to US buyers, the winner has the user name orientalradio and an e-mail address with an .hk (Hong Kong) domain. The messages he’s sent me do not sound like a native English speaker. And his eBay account was created in April, and he only has one previous transaction.
He wants me to send it to a friend in the US, and the shipping address for his account is a person with a standard American name in Bethpage, NY.
He hasn’t paid yet, and says he’s going to send me pictures of how he wants me to prepare the thing for shipping. (It has a glass panel and tubes.)
Is this fishy? Should I cancel his bid and go to the next bidder, who is in the U.S. and has a longer eBay record? What happens if I do that and the winning bidder really was legit? Can he complain, give me bad feedback, etc?
Provided you wait long enough to ensure his payment won’t bounce, and he agrees to all your other terms, what is the problem? My biggest concern would be the $ arriving and staying.
I’ve heard about fake cashiers’ checks, but is Paypal safe in this respect? I’ve assumed that if I get the money in my Paypal account, it’s good and can’t be taken back, right?
Here’s one concern. Whether this happens or not is an excercise left for the reader.
He’s paying with a paypal account and an eBay account linked to a particular address, but asking you to ship it to an entirely different address. So if he puts in a dispute saying he never got the item, Paypal will ask for verification of shipment. First, as you may know, tracking is impossible through USPS for international items and may be impossible on UPS items as well. Second, you aren’t shipping to his confirmed address so showing them a tracking number saying it’s been successfully delivered to the wrong place won’t fly. Paypal won’t be able to verify shipment and they’ll return the funds. If he decides to dispute your shipment, there’s nothing you can do about it.
On the other hand, I buy cycling/climbing/paddling gear all the time from U.S. retailers who don’t ship to Canada. I use my cousin’s U.S. address for the shipping address, to satisfy their U.S.-only policy, and then my cousin forwards it on to me (I reimburse him).
So it could be an honest attempt by a collector to get a radio via friend or family, but I agree that if he disputes it, it’s going to be messy.
Nothing is an overstatement. As long as the seller saves the correspondence, etc. There’s a lot that the seller can do to show ebay that the buyer directed the items to be shipped to the other address. Far from nothing.
I wouldn’t touch a situation like this with a 10 foot pole. The only payment method that can’t be taken back is cold hard cash. Paypay payment could be paid with a stolen credit card, and if they charge back paypal will come after you regardless if you can prove it “shipped” or not.
So if you are going to get involved, get cold hard cash. The only way I know of to do that is western union (which is why it is so popular with scammers - no getting that $ back).
You actually have a contractual obligation with ebay to conclude the transaction. The buyer hasn’t violated his side of the contract yet. Until he does so, you’re supposed to follow through. That’s what you agreed with ebay that you would do.
I’d suggest just selling it to the next highest bidder (at least make the offer). Your auction specifically said only U.S. bidders, so you can legitimately not sell to buyer #1. What fewer dollars you make from buyer #2 will more than offset the worries that you have about buyer #1. If buyer #1 complains let him file a grievance with eBay, but you should prevail at the end. Most likely he’ll just go away.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think to set a hard deadline for receiving payment in the listing. I’m going to give the guy a little more time to pay, but if he doesn’t come through soon, I’ll give him a deadline.
As a seller you can’t just make that decision. There’s a protocol and you have to follow ebay’s rules.
Besides, your statement doesn’t even make sense. He doesn’t have to ship the item until he receives payment. If he receives payment, how does he lose the entire sale?