Buyer using multiple User-ids

[connydeylen]

A buyer from the USA has bought and paid for two of my items. But has used two different brand new user-ids with zero feedback. The user-ids look like they are computer generated. Why would they do this?

[lemmayj]

Oh dear. I'm normally not particularly paranoid about buyers, but that does not sound good at all.

I'm guessing your postal method is by large letter or regular airmail - ie no proof of postage.

I would be very worried that the buyer is just going to do an ebay US claim for item not received, which you will lose because you have no proof of delivery.  The autogenerated names means that they can do single claims with multiple IDs and score lots of free items.

I do hope I'm wrong but honestly that is really sounding all sorts of alarm bells to me.

I would block both IDs (this won't stop them buying with another ID but you will be able to get ebay to help you cancel the transaction if they do so.)

Only safe way to post is via two separate packandtrack parcels at $20.10 each.  

Otherwise cancel the transaction and risk bad feedback

I really hope someone else can think of a non-sinister alternative explanation.

[connydeylen]

Thanks lemmayj Well the reason I raised this is to make other sellers aware of this and in the hope that Ebay can actually do something about buyers like this. I think I will change all my listings to pack and track although this adds $6 to the shipping cost. At least it might scare off fraudulent buyers. I wonder if I do send the two items pack and track if  the buyer can still cancel the payment

[lemmayj]

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@connydeylen wrote:

Thanks lemmayj Well the reason I raised this is to make other sellers aware of this and in the hope that Ebay can actually do something about buyers like this. I think I will change all my listings to pack and track although this adds $6 to the shipping cost. At least it might scare off fraudulent buyers. I wonder if I do send the two items pack and track if  the buyer can still cancel the payment

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All they can do is claim significantly not as described, and ebay should then force them to post them back (though they don't have to).

Maybe post on the US and/or UK boards to see if anyone else is experiencing this - my guess is that they will be targeting sellers outside US who don't post by trackable means.

Were both payments from the same paypal account? Paypal do have specialists who deal with fraudulent buyers, but the use of multiple IDs means that they can make single claims via ebay and not paypal and not trigger any alarms. Paypal should be able to tell if they have hundreds of accounts associated with one paypal account and might contact ebay.

It probably won't do any good, but I would also email trust and safety with your concerns.

[connydeylen]

Yes it is the same Paypal account although she is an unregistered sender. The Ebay-Ids were created today

[*crikey*mate*]

I'm thinking it may not necessarily be a scam targetted at you, that you're just an unwilling participant and stand to get caught in the cross fire. I noticed today that eBay.com have a money back guarantee, maybe this is a scamster trying to access this and the 2 separate ID's (maybe more if they have done it to others) might fly under the eBay radar.

I'm thinking this would definitely be something to alert eBay Trust and Safety to AND PayPal.

Maybe we're wrong and it is all legit, in that case, no harm done, investigations will reveal this.

Plus, if it's on your record, it just might help if there are unjust claims made against you in the future. If eBay/PayPal want to refund them, that's their business and let them do it out of their money, not yours.

Just protect yourself, I think the US rules will apply to your here, so you may have to send by a method that proves proof of lodgement, tracking AND delivery to protect yourself.

but keep eBay/PayPal in the loop and follow their advice.

Best of luck with it.

[digital*ghost]

PayPal occasionally investigate suspicious transactions (putting the funds on hold and sometimes reversing them), so I wonder if it's possible to request that they investigate a payment (or payments)? Just on the off-chance a stolen credit card was used or something. Check the payment notification - does the buyer name and addressee name match? (That alone isn't dam-ing evidence, as lots of people send items to other people as gifts, but it could help with deciding how to proceed). 

I personally can't see any benefit to using two IDs whether someone was intending to commit fraud or not. At best, it seems like a "hedge your bets" type of action (i.e. if one ID is deregistered, maybe the other will last long enough to get an item or two). 

The only remotely "legitimate" (and I use that term loosely) reason I can think of is that you have some blocks in place that prevented them from buying with other IDs (for example, blocking buyers from making more than X number of purchases within 7 days). Even if that were the case, there would be no reason not to contact you and request an exemption, plus using other IDs to circumvent blocks is a breach of policy (go to My eBay > Account > Site Preferences > Buyer Requirements and look at the activity log. If you see a member attempted to purchase the sold items not long before the were sold to this buyer, you may have legitimate grounds to get eBay to cancel the transactions).

eBay's Money Back Guarantee is just eBay buyer protection re-marketed (get the item you ordered or get your money back), and for a seller to be protected you need proof of delivery, which pack and track should provide (if delivered).

[connydeylen]

The names match. Even the email-id is similar to the buyers name. And the buyer activity log is fine. I am waiting for a reply from Ebay support. If I do send them I will use pack and track.

[connydeylen]

Just to let you know Tellissa from Ebay did remove the Ebay user-ids I had in my original post. Me bad, the customer is always right!

They were about 16 characters long with a random number of letters and numbers that  would appear to be computer generated.

That fact and the fact the buyer had to use 2 different ones kind of got my attention

[*crikey*mate*]

yes, telissa is helpful like that.