Is this a scam?

[procclesworth]

Hi people, first post here..

I'm selling a 27" monitor for $850, and the guy who'se bought it sent this:

Hi Procclesworth
I'm trying to pay for this item via PayPal but they send me an email saying that since this is a high priced item they cannot release the funds to the seller unless they get confirmation that the item has been shipped to the buyer. Apparently this is part of the new Seller/Buyer protection policy. Can you please ship this as soon as possible for my friend.

I understand Paypal actually does do something like this, but nothing is showing up in my papal account - It should say the funds are there even though it won't release them, right?

Just seems a little fishy, combined with the fact that the guy has no feedback and has also bidded on the other monitor I'm selling (which is even more expensive).

He sent a screenshot of apparantly his paypal account with payment pending to me, but I don't know if that could be faked.

Thanks for any advice!

[harley_babes_hoard]

where does he want it sent Nigeria?

please be very careful. Do not allow yourself to be scammed. Do not send anything until you have the money in your account and if your are sending (that is going to be expensive) only send by registered or trackable means.

It sounds suss to me.These scammers tend to prey on new members with little feedback.

[thecatspjs]

Yes it is a scam.

In Australia Paypal do not hold funds until item is shipped to buyer. 

Report the buyer to ebay - probably quicker to ring them, or get them to ring you back to report - than trying to find a link where you can report a buyer.

Request eBay to cancel the transaction - if they won't then open a non-payment dispute as soon as you can on the 30 November after 4.40pm EST , then close it 4 days after that - when it shows in the resolution centre "you can close this case now" - you then get your final value fees back.  

[thecatspjs]

Make sure you cancel their bid on your other auction too

The link is here http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CancelBidShow

In addition add their ebay user ID to your blocked buyers list (BBL) so that can not place any further bids on your current or future auctions

The link to add to your BBL http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin

[procclesworth]

Okay thanks guys. Just managed to cancle his bid on the other auction before it ended!

It looks like Ebay would rather I went though the non-payment dispute thing than report them now - as you said thecatspjs no obvious place to report a buyer for suspected fraud. Maybe I'll give it another 2 days then do that.

[procclesworth]

Oh by the way, I googled the thing about Paypal holding funds for expensive items or in some other cases, and I did find a bunch of posts complaining about this - but do they just do that in America or something, not Australia?

[thecatspjs]

Not done in Australia, as we fortunately retain the right as sellers to "choose" the payment services that will offer the required eBay "safe payment" option.

As the US mandates that Paypal must be offered it is a different kettle of fish, A new US seller can have their funds held for around 21 days, until delivery is confirmed, positive feedback received and no disputes or claims are started by buyer.