Is eBay just a cesspool of scam buyers?
I attempted to sell a piece of electronics this weekend. I priced the bid reasonably, and put a Buy Now value that was much higher, “just in case.” The first bite was international and fairly innocuous, to the Phillipines. But:
I’ll take the express mail international for $46. Can you send me a paypal money request for the shipping price plus the buy it now price? I did a lot of shopping last friday and I just wanna make sure that I have enough to pay you. My paypal is UnrelatedToEBayUserName@yahoo.com thanks!
For those not in the know, eBay Seller (and Buyer) Protection only happens if you perform the purchase through the site. As soon as you go directly to PayPal, you’re out of luck. They can use either a hacked account, whose purchases will revert when the hack is finally investigated, or just dispute and cancel the payment. You have no recourse. After requesting the purchase directly through eBay, he went away.
Later, I got mail that the item had sold! But wait:
Hello Seller How are you. I am XXXXX i am contacting you because of your item that i won on ebay and i want it shipped to my son who is in west Africa. He is doing his birthday next week. i will be responsible for the shipping cost and i will be paying you through paypal. if you are ok with it get back to me with the invoice and your PAYPAL ID Here is my SemiRelatedToEBayUserName@yahoo.com so that i can make the payment to your account once, I will provide paypal the shipping address once i pay for the item.
I would like to have the item shipped to the address below:
XXXXX XXXXX
MOBOLAJI BANK ANTHONY WAY
IKEJA, LAGOS 23401 Nigeria
Seriously? Nigeria?
EBay has certainly done one positive thing — my Craigslist experiences now seem like a fraud-free dream.
