Scammed on eBay

[pjrose]

I'm selling an iPhone, and think I've been scammed TWICE .

The first time I (supposedly) sold the phone, the buyer was a scammer. I was suspicious because s/he was a brand-new member with zero feedback (though we're all newbies at some point), whose name and address did not match up with online searches. Nobody with that name lived in that city, the name showed up on Google as an African soccer player in an European league, and the address appears to be be a mail drop - it has multiple foreign organizations with the same "suite" number (which the buyer listed as his "apartment"). (I have nothing against foreign organizations - but I don't want to mail an expensive item to a mail drop not knowing where it's really going or if it will ever get there.)

I emailed eBay's fraud people, and a day or so later got back an email saying they suspected fraud and had removed the buyer from eBay. Of course he never paid or contacted me via email, and I certainly hadn't shipped the phone.

So I relisted it - this time specifying instant PayPal required, buyers couldn't have more than xx negatives in a yyy time period, and buyers couldn't have less than a -1 feedback (that was the only choice - I would have gone for no less than 5 or 10).

I canceled one bid from a buyer with 0 feedback. The eventual buyer has 2 feedbacks - both from sellers in China from whom he bought low-priced items. He registered on eBay about 2 weeks ago, and since then has bid on well over 100 items, and is the high bidder on 12 iPhones in the last two days! His name/address do not match up on search engines. I didn't get my instant payment yet. Even when/if I do, I'm skeptical about whether it will really clear PayPal and I'm worried about the address. Sigh. I've written eBay's fraud department again.

Most of the bidders on the iphones have very low feedback and are fairly new eBayers. What's going on? Why are used iPhones so popular, selling for more than the new models? Why are new eBayers buying multiple phones? What's the scam - or am I being too suspicious?

Not only is this annoying, but the prices are dropping so each time I list it I'll likely get less.

 

[tlsbooks]

What's going on? Why are used iPhones so popular, selling for more than the new models? Why are new eBayers buying multiple phones?

Supposedly, old iPhones are easily unlocked for use with other carriers.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/BLOG01/80805018

On the bright side - you WEREN'T scammed. You were too clever and caught the inconsistencies. Hopefully you will sell your iPhone soon.

 

[wackymother]

Right about why the older iPhones are more desirable than the newer ones. Our friend in Shanghai was just visiting and showing off her "old" iPhone.

There are a lot of cell phone scammers on eBay. Did you ever see the video where Judge Judy totally slams one of them?

 

[Sandy VDH]

For anything now, if people do not want to pay via pay pal, I will NOT do the transactions.

I have stopped check and especially cashier's checks because there are too many scammers. I have had a rash of scammers on the TUG ads as of late. Getting kind of annoying.

 

[pjrose]

Trying to sell it for the THIRD time

I think sale #2 may have also been a scam . The high bidder with the low feedback and strange street address didn't pay and didn't reply to my emails. I offered it to the next bidder as a second chance offer, but s/he didn't take it .

I'm in touch with the eBay fraud department again, and have listed it for the third time, this time with a big statement about not bidding unless the intent is to follow through. If sale #3 doesn't work, I guess I'll try Craigslist locally and (I hope) directly exchange the phone for cash.

Meanwhile, buyer #2 (or should I put that in quotes - "buyer") continues to bid high on iphones. I wonder if he will really buy any of the dozen or so he has recently been high bidder on.

 

[neash]

Do you have to pay ebay listing fees everytime, even if you report to the fraud department?

 

[pjrose]

I hope not. There are also final value fees, since both times the sale supposedly went through. I'll check my account, and I'm (fairly) confident that I'll be able to get any extra fees credited.

 

[tlsbooks]

You need to file unpaid item reports and then ebay will credit back your fees.

 

[glenn1000]

You need to file unpaid item reports and then ebay will credit back your fees.

My experience is that they credit your final value fee but you still have to pay the listing fees again. It's lousy because listing fees, at least in my case, have been much higher than the final value fee.

 

[pjrose]

You need to file unpaid item reports and then ebay will credit back your fees.

My experience is that they credit your final value fee but you still have to pay the listing fees again. It's lousy because listing fees, at least in my case, have been much higher than the final value fee.

Grrr. I will try to get the extra fees all refunded - not my fault they're letting scammers on eBay! If I can check that names/addresses verify, then surely they should be able to do that too and not let people establish accounts when their info is fake.

 

[marsha77]

Grrr. I will try to get the extra fees all refunded - not my fault they're letting scammers on eBay! If I can check that names/addresses verify, then surely they should be able to do that too and not let people establish accounts when their info is fake.

There is a way to block certain bidders from entering a bid on your autions, you can block bidders with 0/negative feedback. Also set it up to block out of country bidders. And make sure it is insured & require a signature if value is high! The Quik Drop store I worked for had a person that claimed they did not receive item (value was over 250.00) Item was shipped UPS, & UPS claimed it was delivered. But Paypal claimed without a signature for delivery on items valued over 250.00 they would not cover. Good Luck!

Marsha

 

[pjrose]

There is a way to block certain bidders from entering a bid on your autions, you can block bidders with 0/negative feedback. Also set it up to block out of country bidders. And make sure it is insured & require a signature if value is high! The Quik Drop store I worked for had a person that claimed they did not receive item (value was over 250.00) Item was shipped UPS, & UPS claimed it was delivered. But Paypal claimed without a signature for delivery on items valued over 250.00 they would not cover. Good Luck!

Marsha

Thanks. I put in all the blocks I could, including out of country, no non-paying bidder claims, no disputes, and so forth. Amazingly, I could only block those with feedback less than -1. I would prefer to block feedback less than 5 or 10! I appreciate the signature advice. I will definitely do that!