eBay item sold, is this a scam?

[Paul Drawmer]

I've just come home to find my eBay item has sold rather well.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

The buyer has written already to say how pleased he was to win it, and given me good feedback, before I've had the chance to post it!

You know the old adage: "If it seems too good..."

Am I being paranoid, or should I just be grateful?

I will be sending it registered first thing on Monday, and following all the eBay advices about protection for sellers.

[Morningside]

Dell C600 Laptop Plll - 750Mhz. How much!!! Well done. I had a 20+ of those and could just scrape £20. Each
eBaybuyers eh?

Good feedback? Well yes, but looks like he is having a moan about the battery even before he has received it.

I would cover it well for postage as this could be an 'ehem accidental breakage claim.

Would also keep his money in Paypal for quite a while cos this looks like its going to be a good one.

Edited by Morningside on Saturday 6th March 19:05

[evil len]

Morningside said:

Good feedback? Well yes, but looks like he is having a moan about the battery even before he has received it.

Hmmm ... and it doesnt even make sense ...

"because the dell laptop is old when described by seller about the battery being"

[Morningside]

evil len said:

Morningside said:

Good feedback? Well yes, but looks like he is having a moan about the battery even before he has received it.

Hmmm ... and it doesnt even make sense ...

"because the dell laptop is old when described by seller about the battery being"

I bet that was supposed to be a Negative feedback but he screwed up. Then hopes to moan even more until he got it 'free'

[mugsandonna]

Post recorded and forget about it. I dont think he can leave you neg feedback now anyway.

[bonsai]

Truly bizarre, that laptop is a bit of a dog and for someone to want to pay £100 for it is puzzling.

They've been registered since May 08 and their other feedback is all positive and their messages seem to indicate that English isn't their 1st language.

I'd be concerned as well.

[Landlord]

Also, the only person pushing up the bidding beyond a sensible price is someone with 0 feedback, though I may have got that wrong being a relatively inexperienced eBay'er.

[mugsandonna]

That is fishy actually I would only accept payment through paypal.

[Paul Drawmer]

Landlord said:

Also, the only person pushing up the bidding beyond a sensible price is someone with 0 feedback, though I may have got that wrong being a relatively inexperienced eBay'er.

Yes, but both of them have been bidding on three other items today. I can't tell if they are bidding on the same other items though!

[missdiane]

Keep the product for a few days before sending, I have had money received for a phone I sold once through Paypal, they took the money back off me claiming it was fraudulent about 3 days after, luckily I was wary as the posting address was odd to me and had not sent the phone.

[Paul Drawmer]

missdiane said:

Keep the product for a few days before sending, I have had money received for a phone I sold once through Paypal, they took the money back off me claiming it was fraudulent about 3 days after, luckily I was wary as the posting address was odd to me and had not sent the phone.

Oooh that's interesting, what was the story on that? I wouldn't want to get caught on that one.

[missdiane]

No idea, I can only presume a hacked account- I never got any info on it, they just removed the funds from my account pending investigation and then come back a few days later saying it was a fraudulent transaction, it was a Russian email address with an odd English address, back in 2006.

Also be wary the ebay account has not been hacked, my ebay and email account was hacked a couple of years ago they listed some decals for me whilst they were under control.

[Amused2death]

Only accept paypal, and then only send it to the registered address of the paypal user. Recorded of course.

[TheCarpetCleaner]

bonsai said:

...and their messages seem to indicate that English isn't their 1st language.

This was my biggest problem when I sold a phone with cosmetic damage and two other faults - they were clearly listed as such, photographed in great detail, and the ad clearly stated that it was just the phone and charger being sold.

The winning bidder, not sure what their first language was but it clearly was not English, started asking questions like "Does it come with box and manual? Is it as new condition?"

I still sold it to him in the end and even though mine was not a scam, it was a pain in the arse to sort out afterwards with NSAD disputes and whatnot - paypal even sided with him despite everything wrong being clearly labelled in the ad!!

So even if not a scam, I would not risk it. They may be thinking that the laptop is far better than specified because they don't fully understand it.

I personally will only ever now sell to people in the UK, who at least come across as they have English as their first language.

Edited by TheCarpetCleaner on Sunday 7th March 08:48

[Paul Drawmer]

Update:
Posted royal mail 1st class signed for at 13:50 yesterday.
Viewed signature of recipient on line at 08:50 this morning (exactly what Royal mail says they will do)
Received email from buyer at 12:15 says it's all working fine.

Job done - dunno why I suspected a problem. Nice Guy.

Since buying a snotter of eBay that had been rather under described I just feel jaded I guess.

[soad]

Cheers for the update - glad all is well. Let's hope it continues.

Edited by soad on Tuesday 9th March 13:56

[alteredracer]

Glad it all worked out OK - it sounded like it might have been one of those 419 advance fee scams - I had one who left feedback straight after winning an item, then send me the usual tosh about - I'll pay you $40,000 for this £100 item, and you can send a cheque for the rest back to my 'shipping agent'

Yeah right pal

[FraserLFA]

In all fairness to you OP, i'd have been suspicious, especially as every bid from the winner was followed up a minute later by another bid from himself. Glad it worked out ok for you though.

[Paul Drawmer]

To be fair, it does look as if I owe the other bidder a drink. - damn glad I can prove I was driving back from Wales at the time!

[Paul Drawmer]

Oh and....
The same laptop had sold a couple of weeks previously to a bidder called Londonzoo2010 for £56.01!
However; Daw Road(!) of 29 Powlett Street, Darlington declined to pay, and his contact number didn't exist either.
Strangely enough - he's no longer a registered user. Maybe I should say thanks for not buying it!