Agreed: I’m a long time seller (FB > 1000) and there are certain item areas *I won’t touch anymore *because of the flakey buyers that are attracted.
Two things I thought of:
Does the form of shipping they asked for have a less rigorous form of tracking such the the package could be “not received” - for a full refund?
Many people aren’t aware that Parcel Post no longer exists. The buyer might have wanted to be sure they saved a few bucks and this was the closest description to Parcel Post. Then the PO Box chaos aspect happens…
I can totally see messing around when I’m comfortably retired, bidding on trinkets, making unusual demands, never picking up the package, and giggling like a kid.
Can you elaborate?
As to the OP, not seeing a scam here. Especially if you have the part in hand and he paid for the part and shipping up front with PayPal… Unless there is a way he could get your account info somehow, which I am not seeing.
You clearly had contact with this guy to get the specific delivery instructions. Has he not responded to you since the item was returned? Also, has his account been active since your transaction? You should be able to see if he has had feedback/activity since your dealings with him.
At such a low price, I can’t see this being a scam. For under $15, I can see just not caring if he didn’t need the part anymore. If he got his own switch working or found a replacement locally, he might not want to take the time, effort and cost to return it to you. I’m guessing he closed the POB because he didn’t need it anymore and didn’t care about getting the switch at that time.
Can you elaborate?
As to the OP, not seeing a scam here. Especially if you have the part in hand and he paid foshippnotvv555instructions for up front with PayPal… Unless there is 7
First - I’m kind of a vintage technology junkie. There’s just certain cool older items - maybe outmoded but still useful or unique - or say old tools or sporting equipment that’s perfectly usable, just not the shiny new tech.
So - stuff I probably won’t offer again…or ever…
electronic games: Generally no great value, buyers are broke and fickle.
Antique CB and police radios: Every redneck trucker wants to plug and play with no real knowledge of the product. I sold one collectable CB 3 times.
R/C cars and planes: Plane stuff is kinda OK. Cars and parts are bought by 20-somethings in apartments that expect like-new for pennies on the dollar or it’s returned. Why bother?
Collectible sporting goods: Reels, lures, knives, etc. Often sold to retired old men who don’t NEED anything and use Ebay as a guaranteed return if their purchase doesn’t improve their collection.
Unless you have something of real rarity it’s hard to offer an item as “great for restoration” even if it is. You almost don’t want buyers to be excited about their purchase or you get dinged on feedback when the item REQUIRES restoration…
A couple of months ago I ordered a replacement door switch for my refrigerator. A few days later I had a new and much more serious problem with the refrigerator and opted to replace it. The door switch came and I stuck the padded envelope in a cabinet, unopened, where it will probably get thrown away eventually.
If the switch hadn’t come I might not have noticed. Or I might have woken up in the middle of the night a few weeks later thinking, jeez I ordered that switch and paid eight bucks for it and never got it, better look into it. Then in the light of day I would’ve thought - I have no use for the switch and I don’t want to waste any time and energy on this.
Maybe the window problem resolved itself or turned out be something else. Maybe he wrecked his car and didn’t need a power window switch anymore
As soon as I got the item back last Friday I sent him an email asking what he wanted to do next. No response.
As above, he has 10 feedbacks in the last month (all positive). Apparently eBay’s feedback pages no longer link to the actual transaction, so it’s difficult to get anything more precise than that.
