Yet another Ebay scam ?

[MXRod]

I listed a piece of Art Deco furniture last weekend , and within 2 hrs the BIN had been accepted and the amount was deposited in my PP account.
The only thing is , it was listed as “cash on collection only , no PP “
Then apart from an initial message asking for collection details which I supplied , nothing even after a prompt , until this morning , a text message on my phone asking to pick up tomorrow , giving only a first name saying they were the courier for the buyer , no company name .
I smell a rat
Am I being paranoid

[Jonno02]

No. These scams are common.

Collection only, not paypal means:

1) They pay by paypal anyway and collect in person. You have no proof of postage, so as soon as they get home, they file a did not receive and you have no proof they have the item.

2) They pay by paypal anyway and a "courier" collects in person. You either receive no paperwork as "you're not the client" or you receive a fake receipt from a non-existent company that holds no water with paypal and they refund the person.

Refund the money and tell them it's cash on collection.

[D_G]

No way would I let that go, I'd refund and withdraw the sale immediately.

[cjs racing.]

No, you are not paranoid.

You will be having an "item not received" claim coming your way, and with no proof of postage, you WILL lose.

Refund and cancel, now.

[SS2.]

MXRod said:

Am I being paranoid

Not at all - I'd be concerned too.

It's a well known ploy - pay by Paypal, want to collect in person, advise a mate / courier / 3rd party will collect.

Item gets collected, buyer denies receipt, Paypal transaction is reversed.

The fact you instructed cash only rings the alarm bells even louder.

[bad company]

I’m about to list my SCUBA kit on eBay. It’s heavy so it’ll be ‘cash on collection’.

Good to know about this scam. I thought accepting PayPal was compulsory for EBay?

I wish there was an alternative to EBay, I’ll try Gumtree but more in hope than expectation.

[triple5]

I didn't think you could list an item as cash only?

[MXRod]

triple5 said:

I didn't think you could list an item as cash only?

You can't , but by writing in caps "CASH ON COLLECTION ONLY NO PP" which I did , I think is clear enough , don't you ?

[bad company]

MXRod said:

triple5 said:

I didn't think you could list an item as cash only?

You can't , but by writing in caps "CASH ON COLLECTION ONLY NO PP" which I did , I think is clear enough , don't you ?

A legitimate buyer should see that as an advantage. They’ll be able to inspect the item before paying.

[triple5]

MXRod said:

You can't , but by writing in caps "CASH ON COLLECTION ONLY NO PP" which I did , I think is clear enough , don't you ?

Of course, but if eBay allows them to use PP, then there is always the chance the buyer will use it anyway.

[anonymous-user]

Never having been in this situation - how do you refund the money? You've received the total price less the PayPal fees, so do you just refund that (and the seller's out of pocket) or do you refund the full amount (and you're out of pocket), or can you just cancel the transaction and PayPal suck it up?

[Jonno02]

Spumfry said:

Never having been in this situation - how do you refund the money? You've received the total price less the PayPal fees, so do you just refund that (and the seller's out of pocket) or do you refund the full amount (and you're out of pocket), or can you just cancel the transaction and PayPal suck it up?

If you refund the full amount is returned, Paypal don't take fees on refunded transactions.

[MXRod]

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

[SouthHamsGaz]

MXRod said:

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

Doing this makes no difference, they will just take it from your bank account when refunding.

[Buzz84]

MXRod said:

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

In the even that it still ends up being a scam, clearing your account wont help you.

As has been established the way this scam works is that the scammer will claim to have not received the item and put in the claim, ebay will approve this and paypal will issue the refund.

If there is no funds in your account it will go negative and paypal will try to claim the money from your linked bank account/card. You can remove the bank account/card to try and stop them (which will obviously make it awkward for you to buy anything in the mean time!) but when they fail to top the account back to zero this way they will just issuing instructions to their debt collection agency to recover the refund cost.

(the above is speaking from experience when I was scammed - luckily only lost £70...)

[Algarve]

MXRod said:

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

So you think its a scam, ask online and get told its a scam, and decide to try anyway?

Keep us updated

[anonymous-user]

SouthHamsGaz said:

MXRod said:

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

Doing this makes no difference, they will just take it from your bank account when refunding.

This, you are going to get scammed.

Don't you find it strange that the buyer didn't want to inspect before paying etc?

You are going to loose the item and the cash imo.

[cjs racing.]

Algarve said:

So you think its a scam, ask online and get told its a scam, and decide to try anyway?

Keep us updated

You can just see the thread coming in a few days.

"Got scammed, and ebay wont help."

Some people can't see what is right in front of them when it comes to making a few quid.

[Saleen836]

MXRod said:

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

And when the buyer opens a case as the item arrived damaged you will say "it must have been the courier, make a claim off their insurance!"
Courier will swear blind the item was damaged before it was collected so it becomes a case of your word against theirs, Ebay will inform the buyer to return the item (at your cost) and when they provide proof of posting 'something' Ebay will refund the buyer from your paypal, you will then be out one item and the amount plus postage.

Edited by Saleen836 on Wednesday 10th April 22:17

[bad company]

CP12 said:

SouthHamsGaz said:

MXRod said:

Having now received a satisfactory reply from the buyer , giving more information regarding the courier, I feel a bit more settled about the sale so am letting it run . but I think I will clear out my PP account , just in case !!

Doing this makes no difference, they will just take it from your bank account when refunding.

This, you are going to get scammed.

Don't you find it strange that the buyer didn't want to inspect before paying etc?

You are going to loose the item and the cash imo.

This. Whatever else you do op please don’t fall for this. It’s dodgy white a capital D.