Slightly suspicious first value sale

[melbourne899]

Hello fellow members,

Allow me to begin, my first sale and its a more than $5k AUD watch. Buyer is f more than 10 years old and shows more than 150 activity.

The address for the buyer comes up as US but in their offer message confirmed they would like it send to QLD Aus. 

Their Aus assess has not come up. But the buyer says once they confirm the payment it should. 

Funnily he asked me for photos and videos of the watch but offered his email address.

I said that is odd, as I can send you photos directly on our chat app here. I sent him photos and even wrote him name on a piece of paper next to the watch. 

He said he would proceed but wanted me to confirm my email as blocks out the address. 
“eBay wants me to put in that email , and that's the only thing they confirmed to me”. Kind of claiming he needs my email to proceed.

This all seems a but suss for me. I even got a message from EBay saying 

“Your payouts have been temporarily placed on hold while we review some details. Please allow up to 5 days for this review to take place. 

You'll be notified if we need further information. If there are no further concerns, your payouts will be unblocked.”

Is this dude trying to hustle me? I reckon 

[padi*0409 · Accepted solution]

SCAM. Cancel the sale using the excuse "problem with buyer's address".

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/getting-paid/sellers-can-cancel-order?id=4136

[viewmont1071]

Item number  374068052536

I think you need to practice a little selling some cheap stuff before you launch into a  11k or best offer listing.

New with tags

Ended: 16 May, 2022 22:00:27 AEST

Price: AU $10,899.00 Best Offer accepted

Postage: AU $15.25 Express Postage

Being a new seller ebay will put a hold on your money anyways. With that type of sale price I would expect 3 weeks minimum . If you build up your successful " cheap" sales the hold time will be much shorter when you get a successful "big" sale.

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/payments-hold?id=481...

To help ensure eBay remains a safe place to buy and sell, and to meet our legal and compliance obligations, a temporary hold may sometimes be placed on funds, for example, if there's an open case or dispute on a transaction, if your buyer reports a problem with the order, if your account is restricted or suspended, if you owe eBay money, or if you're a new or infrequent seller. If a hold was placed on your funds, we'll notify you by email and, depending on the reason, may request additional information from you to help resolve the issue.

• New or infrequent sellers will experience transaction holds while we confirm that their items have been successfully delivered. This helps sellers become established and build a strong selling history on eBay. In limited circumstances, new sellers may experience holds for up to 21 days

[papermoon.lady]

Ebay does put funds on hold for new sellers, so that would be normal, but it is definitely a scam, as Padi said, and unfortunately many scammers target new sellers, as we have often seen here, because they think their chances of winning a case and manipulating them are higher, so it is not advisable to start with items of that value.

[missondine67]

I think the buyer is scamming you asking for anything out of the ordinary and saying they need 'x 'etc.. before ... whatever is the warning sign, so cancel any involvement with that buyer.

[jellybirddesigns]

Please never put anything up for sale which you cannot afford to lose. Items above $750 require a Signature on Delivery, so bear that in mind if you do decide to relist it (highly not advisable).

[countessalmirena]

I’d suggest starting with low-value items from around the house which you no longer need, items which will let you dip your toe in the waters of eBay selling. If you can build up your selling experience gradually, this will put you into a better position to deal with more expensive transactions.

I’d also suggest reading every single Help page on eBay.

It might be a good idea to set up your buyer requirements to exclude buyers who live overseas, as well as making sure that your postage options exclude international delivery.

Be aware of the pitfalls and scams that can and do pose risks.

[davewil1964]

There is nothing slightly suspicious about this. eBay deliberately mask members' email addresses so communication can only be through eBay. Or phone, which is definitely visible to sellers. AFTER the buyer has actually completed the transaction by paying.

I'll bet London to a brick that the sale hasn't been completed, so you don't have those details. And never will, as the scammer is attempting (poorly, imo) to get you to conduct the transaction off eBay.

If they have paid, unlikely, do the 'problem with buyer address' cancellation.

If they haven't, which I believe would be the case, block them.

Before relisting your watch, read the Selling FAQs freely available on this site. Or not, and watch $11k walk away.

[justkidzbiz]

Good advice given from other members. Also be very weary of selling big $$$ items overseas, particularly with current Covid situations, that aside, an o/s buyer can claim item is fake etc without having to return the item, as fakes are not allowed to be sent in the post.

one lady sold a $3k ( I think it was a Hermès cutlery set) to an overseas buyer. Buyer claimed item was fake, despite the seller having purchased from the Hermès store in Paris, but because she didn’t have a receipt, she lost her money and the buyer didn’t have to return it.