Scammers trying to buy my iPhone

[lil-miss-sassy]

Hi guys

I havent sold anything for a while now but last time I listed, there was an option to block bidders with under 5 feedback and buyers that have had previous non payer violations etc.

I have just listed my iPhone 6 and immediately I've received a few suspicious messages asking me if they can buy it now for ridiculously low prices.  One of these buyers has already put the first bid on and he's only got 1 star so Im not happy with this as Ive just got a feeling he's a scammer.  

I went back in to revise my listing to block bidders with less than 5 stars, but there is no option there to do that anymore.  Have I just missed this?  Can I still block these bidders or has eBay taken removed that option?

Thanks for your help

Nicky

[kopenhagen5]

Could just be a genuine buyer.

You can block buyers with low feedback that haven't been phone verified.

It's in account, site prefs, buyer requirements.

[lyndal1838]

No, you can still set buyer requirements but not just based on their feedback score.  If they are phone verified that will over-rule your block.

Why do you think a buyer is a scammer because they have low feedback?   If they have placed an early bid it tells me they are inexperienced rather than a scammer.

Buyers who offer low prices are not likely to be scammers.  You have more to worry about from buyers who offer far more than your asking price and want you to send it to an African country.

[anotherpancake52]

I'd be more worried about the bidder with the highest feedback - 60 bid retractions in 6 months!

[collect247]

If they offered you a ridiculously low price why did you start the auction at only $50?

[lyndal1838]

The first bidder with just one feeedback is unlikely to be a scammer.....more likely he is a seller of mobile phones trying to get cheap stock.  He has placed bids on over 300 items in the last 30 days with no retractions.  I am guessing he may come back and place another bid closer to the end of the auction if the price is still fairly low.  His bid history shows that he tends to place 2 bids on an item with the first one placed early on at the opening bid so as not to increase the price unnecessarily.

By the way, you cannot edit a listing once you have a bid on it.  You need to have your blocks in place before listing.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

@lyndal

good pickup there lyndal.

Further to lyndal's reply, other reasons for placing an early bid are:

- the item will appear on your bidding list (making it super easy to find those listings that you are genuinely interested in winning rather than just putting it on your watch list),

- eBay will email you when the item auction is close to ending, and,

- if there is a Buy-It-Now price on the auction then placing a bid will get rid of the BIN price.