topic Re: Should I post to Nigeria? in Selling

Should I post to Nigeria?

dell1312 — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 23:29:51 GMT

I have sold an item worth $120 to a buyer from Nigeria and am worried it may be some sort of a scam buyer.

Should I go ahead and post in good faith, considering if the buyer files a complaint , eBay will take the side of the buyer and issue a refund. I always post signature on delivery with tracking.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

lyndal1838 — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 23:33:18 GMT

I would not risk it personally.....it is not just the problems that may be caused with ebay, but I always think there may be more sinister motives such as getting you name and address and email address. Too many scams originate from Nigeria.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

*tippy*toes* — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 23:49:02 GMT

Hell no! And don't believe them if they've said they've paid. I would also consider blocking Nigeria because while you do get the odd genuine person, if they are buying stuff on eBay, it's generally a scam. Don't do it.

If they haven't paid, sit tight for 4 days and open an unpaid item dispute. Then close it 4 days later. Doing that will ensure they can't leave you feedback. Then block them!

Can I assume the buyer has 0 feedback?

Edit: You'd also be taking a huge hit with postage too. $41 with SOD for a parcel to go to Nigeria. Way more than your standard $18.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

djavusydney — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 00:01:32 GMT

Just don't.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

foxette-in-sox — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 00:48:07 GMT

JMO but the items you're selling aren't what a 'legit' Nigerian scammer would buy lol Normally they'd go for expensive devices/phones etc not wedding items etc

Edited as silly me didn't see it was the Swatch watch-reallly not convinced they're a Nigerian scammer though.

Have they sent any weird messages or have they paid normally via Paypal ?

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

kopenhagen5 — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 01:20:46 GMT

If it doesn't worry you to lose that money, then send it.

Otherwise don't and I would exclude posting to Nigeria and other African countries in your listings.

While you are at it, I have had problems with Italy, Turkey, Spain, India and South America.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

jellybirddesigns — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 02:29:53 GMT

If you don't want to post to Nigeria, then why do you offer it in your listings?

Perhaps you should rethink you entire postage scenario - remove Africa, South America, most of Asia, most of the Middle East, most of Southern Europe and Canada. Having a smaller group of more reliable countries with decent postage systems is way better than offering global postage to some very risky places.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

jellybirddesigns — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 02:32:01 GMT

The other thing to add is that even if you post with tracking and signature, there are some countries where the tracking just stops and you cannot get the information. Scammers rely on this too in order to file against non-delivery.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

joztamps — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 02:55:25 GMT

I wouldn't post it until they promise to transfer $20m in secret government funds to your bank account if you give them the details.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

melbourneclearance — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 03:43:57 GMT

The nice Nigerian prince I have been in email correspondence with offered just that. He will transfer the money any day now, right after I send him some money for claim my $20m.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

imastawka — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 04:44:42 GMT

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

purplemon18 — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 10:01:21 GMT

I've had little trouble shipping all over the world, but most of the items I sell are $10-20, so I'm much less likely to get scammed.

The biggest problems I have had are from clueless americans who buy region locked DVDs, and people in countries where the local language is not english.

The languages one is not surprising though, if Australia post gets an item with an address written in Pashtu they are just going to say **bleep** and throw it in the bin. I have resorted to using google translate and putting 2-3 address labels on the envelope more than once.

Here is a map from paypal of all the places I've shipped to in 2018. The struggling exchange rate of the Australian Dollar has boosted my international sales quite a bit, something like 4 a week to 12 a week.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

dell1312 — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 10:26:16 GMT

No weird messages, and it appears the PayPal transaction has proceeded normally, but the buyer doesn’t have any record (0 feedback)

i don’t like to be suspicious, but think I know whose side ebay will take if it all goes pear shaped .

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

dell1312 — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 10:30:06 GMT

Nice to hear from you again kopenhagen, Thankyou for your advice on countries to avoid posting to. I will take it and adjust my listings.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

dell1312 — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 10:34:23 GMT

Thankyou for both posts. I have only had one problem like this with an item sent to Spain, and truly thought that tracking covered everywhere in its travels until delivery. I will make amendments to some of my listings that may be at risk. Thankyou.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

go-tazz — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 10:39:57 GMT

@dell1312 wrote:
No weird messages, and it appears the PayPal transaction has proceeded normally, but the buyer doesn’t have any record (0 feedback)
i don’t like to be suspicious, but think I know whose side ebay will take if it all goes pear shaped .

It's probably been paid with a stolen credit card/PP account.

Nigeria stands for one thing only and that's scams.

They have to start new accounts all the time because they don't have old ones as they keep getting shut down.

They are getting less "picky" and will try to grab items of lesser value,(so anything at $80 plus might now

be a target for them as the world has gotten a bit better at excluding Nigeria from their post to list),

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

springyzone — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 23:09:13 GMT

I hope that you will come back here in the next month or so and let us know how this transaction goes (if you do decide to go ahead and not cancel/refund, that is). It would be interesting to know.

I don't know that I would be game to proceed with the sale, myself.

I'd be worried about selling to any person from overseas with zero feedback and doubly doubtful about Nigeria.

I think the odds are higher that a Nigerian with zero feedback trying to buy internationally on ebay could be a scammer and to some extent, selling on ebay is about playing the odds. It's not about labelling everyone in a country as a scammer but more trying to work out how likely the transaction is to be successful.

Sellers do that every time they decide whether to send with or without tracking and when they decide which countries to post to etc

There's a lot that could go wrong selling to Nigeria. How reliable is their postal service and tracking? What if the buyer claims not received or not as described? You could easily lose item price plus postage price.

It could easily all go pear shaped and we all know who would get the worse end of the deal.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

dell1312 — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 04:55:55 GMT

Thankyou everyone, it seems the issue has resolved itself.

Without any notification from eBay or PayPal the payment from Nigeria was reversed.

Had I not decided to give it some more thought today,I could have easily posted this morning and lost the item plus the postage cost of $40 or so.

i am a little unnerved, as my email address is shown on my PayPal account, so I don’t know if I should be worried about that fact.

i appreciate the input Provided by those who gave advice. It’s a bit of a minefield out there.

Thankyou everyone, I hope I can be helpful to all of you down the track.

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

go-tazz — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 07:52:41 GMT

@dell1312 wrote:
Thankyou everyone, it seems the issue has resolved itself.
Without any notification from eBay or PayPal the payment from Nigeria was reversed.

Hijacked credit card or PP account and rightfull owner stopped payment.

Had I not decided to give it some more thought today,I could have easily posted this morning and lost the item plus the postage cost of $40 or so.
i am a little unnerved, as my email address is shown on my PayPal account, so I don’t know if I should be worried about that fact.

It wont show to them unless they request it and you would've been notified.

Just follow normal procedure and don't click on things that you aren't certain off.

i appreciate the input Provided by those who gave advice. It’s a bit of a minefield out there.
Thankyou everyone, I hope I can be helpful to all of you down the track.

That's why the community is so good because they generally know better then eBay on how things can go

wrong,

Re: Should I post to Nigeria?

tazzieterror — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 09:30:34 GMT

@dell1312 wrote:

...i am a little unnerved, as my email address is shown on my PayPal account, so I don’t know if I should be worried about that fact.
i appreciate the input Provided by those who gave advice. It’s a bit of a minefield out there.
Thankyou everyone, I hope I can be helpful to all of you down the track.

Consider setting up a seperate and dedicated email address for PayPal to insulate it (and your regular email address) in situations like this.

All my major online accounts have their own unique email addresses, so a problem or compromise in one doesn't affect the others. Likewise, if I start gettimg spam email to one of these addresses I know there has been a compromise or my details have been sold on by the associated company, and I can create a new email address or take appropriate action.

I'm glad to hear you haven't been left out of pocket with this transaction - selling overseas has some extra risks associated with it, and I decided years ago it wasn't worth the trouble.