Potentially fraudulent ebay buyer?

[teabrush]

An ebayer has just "purchased" a bike I'm selling - auction and BIN option, for $1,100.
They purchased it a few hours after I listed the bike.
I've listed it with COD as I'd prefer this option, not prior payment through PayPal.

However, upon looking at this person's "buyer" feedback ratings (2), both sellers report that the person did not pay for the items (one over $1,000), even though there is a positive with their comments - as sellers can not now leave negative/neutral feedback for buyers, sadly.

Should I be concerned that this person is engaging in mischievous or potentially criminal activity?

Please advise me on what actions to take if this turns out to be dodgy.
I want to be able to relist the item ASAP.

Will I incur charges if this turns out to be a "false sale" and I re-list?

This ruins the ebay experience for genuine sellers and bidders.

Thank you for any advice.

[curraone · Accepted solution]

Don't do anything hasty - wait until some experienced poster replies tomorrow..  

In the meantime, I would just go with the normal process.   Send them  the invoice, outlining terms of pickup, etc, and request pickup and payment within ... (4 or 5) days.

You cannot relist the item without going through the right process of a non-payment dispute.

[curraone]

In the meantime you will probably be jumped on by posters for listing the item as COD.   COD is an Australia Post option which means you post the item and Australia Post collect the money for you with a large fee.

Or perhaps you did mean to post the bike?

[viewmont1071]

Giant Mountain Bike completed listing search

If the buyer only has 2 feedback and they are both negative positives for non payment for like items then I would open a NPB

dispute after 4 days has passed starting at the buyers commitment date....regardless of what their repsonse was (other than payment obviously).

I would also require pick up this coming weekend at the latest. You can request the buyers details to see  where they are located in Australia.

If they are located somewhere beyond the black stump from your address and circumnavigation of the world is their

most direct route for pick up then you can nearly bank on some dreamer tyrekicker with a penchant for mischief has stumbled

across your listing and dreamt that they really really really needed it.

It is more likely that they are a timewaster rather than a scammer. You can open a NPB dispute and if the bidder does not

respond then you will get your FVF back. The non payer will get a strike upon closure of the dispute by you after the regulatory

wait.

I have minimal faith in the NPB system and strikes in general

(having witnessed bidders reported on these boards with hundreds of Negative positives still bidding on sellers items even though those same sellers have the most stringent automatic NPB blocks already in place)

so I would advise that you also manually add any NPB that you

become aware of to your blocked bidder list manually  http://pages.ebay.com.au/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html

on the link. The link also has information how you can set preferences and automatically block buyers who have been awarded

an amount of NPB strikes. there is also other criteria on the page where you can "sort' the buyers you would prefer to deal with.

It is against ebay policy for sellers to leave a negative  comment with a positive feedback.

However if those other sellers did not breach that same policy then you may have waited for weeks for payment before deciding

that the NPB was bogus with no inkling that there was a problem......

[viewmont1071]

The bike is listed as

Postage and handling

Item location: Tecoma, Victoria, Australia

Posting to: Will arrange for local pickup only (no postage).

payment methods

paypal or Cash on delivery (delivery being at the sellers address as they stipulated NO postage)

cash on delivery is certainly not an exclusive AP service....

[rkwm888]

the buyer only purchased the bike last night so give them a chance to wake up and see what happens

you cannot open a dispute until day 4 and they have another 4 days to pay so sit quiet and see what happens, if no payment comes by day 8 you can close the dispute and relist

[curraone]

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@viewmont1071 wrote:

The bike is listed as

Postage and handling

Item location: Tecoma, Victoria, Australia

Posting to: Will arrange for local pickup only (no postage).

payment methods

paypal or Cash on delivery (delivery being at the sellers address as they stipulated NO postage)

cash on delivery is certainly not an exclusive AP service....

---

sorry, I was only quoting the guides:  http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/Cash-on-Delivery-COD-unsafe-pay-method-for-buyer-seller-/1000000000240839...

probably I was trying to say the PAY ON PICKUP is the better option.

[curraone]

---

@viewmont1071 wrote:.You can request the buyers details to see  where they are located in Australia.

If they are located somewhere beyond the black stump from your address and circumnavigation of the world is their

most direct route for pick up then you can nearly bank on some dreamer tyrekicker with a penchant for mischief has stumbled

across your listing and dreamt that they really really really needed it.

---

surely the OP can see the buyer's address in order details

[viewmont1071]

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@curraone wrote:

---

@viewmont1071 wrote:

The bike is listed as

Postage and handling

Item location: Tecoma, Victoria, Australia

Posting to: Will arrange for local pickup only (no postage).

payment methods

paypal or Cash on delivery (delivery being at the sellers address as they stipulated NO postage)

cash on delivery is certainly not an exclusive AP service....

---

sorry, I was only quoting the guides:  http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/Cash-on-Delivery-COD-unsafe-pay-method-for-buyer-seller-/1000000000240839...

probably I was trying to say the PAY ON PICKUP is the better option.

---

Then you should aslo quote that the guide was written by another member and that the guide is their opinion only and not ebay advice.

In my opinion the guide is incorrect as it  is written as a guide for buyers not buyers and sellers.

If you read the intent  the focus is on advising buyers that the cash on delivery australia post service does not guarantee that the

item will be as described when it arrives at the delivery point.

I would also disagree with the guide in that cash on delivery when the seller controls the delivery point is as safe as any

other delivery method.

I would agree that the Australia post cash on delivery service is not a good option for either buyer or seller