View Full Version : Really feel uneasy about this bidder...
VACRMH
06-28-2007, 09:03 AM
Someone send me a message about my Tekken 5 bundle I had up, asking if I could ship to UK and/or China. 0 feedback. Before I could even reply he keeps sending more messages, kind of making me feel odd about selling it.
Finally get a shipping amount for him, and say that he has to have a confirmed address. The item gets BIN'ed, from another 0 feedback user, shipping to the UK with a chinese name (At least I assume so, Mi Zhang is the name).
Nothing is confirmed, so i'm not elegible for any type of security features through eBay. Any suggestions?
jonjandran
06-28-2007, 09:17 AM
Someone send me a message about my Tekken 5 bundle I had up, asking if I could ship to UK and/or China. 0 feedback. Before I could even reply he keeps sending more messages, kind of making me feel odd about selling it.
Finally get a shipping amount for him, and say that he has to have a confirmed address. The item gets BIN'ed, from another 0 feedback user, shipping to the UK with a chinese name (At least I assume so, Mi Zhang is the name).
Nothing is confirmed, so i'm not elegible for any type of security features through eBay. Any suggestions?
Don't sell it. Email Ebay and get your listing fees refunded. Relist it with a clause "No 0 feedback bidders. Will ship to confirmed address only."
carlcarlson
06-28-2007, 10:40 AM
I dunno, I'm not sure ebay will refund your money since you don't have any statements like that in this listing. However, if this guy is a scammer then chances are he'll be buying up a bunch of other electronics as well and get himself banned. I've seen it happen a bunch of times. Then you could collect your fees without even waiting the seven days. But yeah, definitely don't sell to him.
tornadostormxl
06-28-2007, 01:19 PM
wait a couple of days before sending anything. Not everybody that is not comfirm is a scammer.
NEScollector1982
06-30-2007, 05:15 AM
Do not send it.
VACRMH
06-30-2007, 07:45 AM
Looks like this thread is looking like exactly how I felt.
Can addresses be confirmed in the UK, would it be worth me asking to have him try and confirm his address or would I have a problem anyways?
NEScollector1982
06-30-2007, 07:49 AM
confirmed addresses are US and canada only, i think.
crisssybwoy
06-30-2007, 08:24 AM
My address is confirmed in the UK, I only ship to other confirmed addresses in the UK.
Kitsune Sniper
06-30-2007, 09:44 AM
Looks like this thread is looking like exactly how I felt.
Can addresses be confirmed in the UK, would it be worth me asking to have him try and confirm his address or would I have a problem anyways?
Even if it was confirmed, you need to send it via EMS or something that's trackable, and that will cost quite a bit of money.
bangtango
06-30-2007, 10:06 AM
Just block these people, the bidder and the guy who messaged you. I don't think a zero feedback bidder is always a problem because a guy has got to start somewhere. I just have a harder time swallowing them from far away countries especially when there is a possibility the same person is using multiple accounts. If the bidder is from the same locale as the guy who messaged you but happens to be using a totally different screen name, then you'd want to proceed with caution. I wouldn't sell him shit and you can take that literally. One account is probably a buying account and the other may be a sellers. Who knows?
scooby105
06-30-2007, 12:19 PM
Set your auctions to sell to US bidders only and block bidders with any unpaid item strikes. Selling out of the US is only a hassle. I'll do it on message boards, but not on eBay.
With this current auction, get him a shipping price shipped via Express mail. It'll probably be $15-50 depending on the size of what you are selling. Tell him this is the only way you will ship out of the country, and it is the only way you should ship out of the country.
VACRMH
06-30-2007, 12:44 PM
Set your auctions to sell to US bidders only and block bidders with any unpaid item strikes. Selling out of the US is only a hassle. I'll do it on message boards, but not on eBay.
With this current auction, get him a shipping price shipped via Express mail. It'll probably be $15-50 depending on the size of what you are selling. Tell him this is the only way you will ship out of the country, and it is the only way you should ship out of the country.
Most of the time I don't mind selling outside of the US. At first I wanted to avoid it but I get more bidders that way, not too much of a hassle for me.
Why express mail? Can that be tracked? The type of shipping I had quoted the bidder was for Priority mail international, which says some can be tracked (guess i'll asked if this package qualifies for "some" while at the post office).
Kitsune Sniper
06-30-2007, 01:23 PM
Most of the time I don't mind selling outside of the US. At first I wanted to avoid it but I get more bidders that way, not too much of a hassle for me.
Why express mail? Can that be tracked? The type of shipping I had quoted the bidder was for Priority mail international, which says some can be tracked (guess i'll asked if this package qualifies for "some" while at the post office).
Priority Mail International -cannot be tracked-. It's basically the old Parcel Post. All you get is the customs number and that is it, and that only tells you when the package left the country, You won't be able to get information on when it was delivered or whatever.
gum_drops
06-30-2007, 05:05 PM
I dunno, I'm not sure ebay will refund your money since you don't have any statements like that in this listing.
Yes, they will refund the listing fees all you have to do is open an unpaid item dispute and wait 8 days or for a response from the bidder.
Confirmed addresses are in the US, Canada and UK only. I usually prefer to sell only to those places and to Germany.
You could also put in a statement like "Non US Bidders read! You must contact me prior to bidding to discuss terms, do NOT bid before emailing me and waiting for a response". That way you can screen people.
If you set up the auction to include non us shipping options you will still get people bidding that will ignore/dont read the auction, I know from experience. Many bidders look at the pic the title and just glance at the description.
I have sold probably around 120 auctions to international bidders and the only two times people ripped me was a bidder from brazil and a bidder from argentina, guess where i dont ship anymore :)
Vroomfunkel
07-01-2007, 06:55 PM
Seems to me the problem is with the Paypal payment rather than with the eBay sale. As such, just tell them that since they don't have a confirmed address you will not accept Paypal payment - they either have to send you US$ in the post, or make a bank transfer (at their own cost).
Problem solved.
VACRMH
07-01-2007, 07:23 PM
Seems to me the problem is with the Paypal payment rather than with the eBay sale. As such, just tell them that since they don't have a confirmed address you will not accept Paypal payment - they either have to send you US$ in the post, or make a bank transfer (at their own cost).
Problem solved.
Pretty much, the main problem is making sure the buyer is legit.
I went ahead and refunded the money, letting the bidder know why. He was rather understanding and had a reason for using the different accounts and such. Maybe he was a good guy, but for $105 i'm not risking it if I had a bad vibe.
Thanks for all the help everyone :)