Red flags? Or am I just being too cautious?

coinpictures

I posted a relatively expensive coin (>$1,000) on the Bay earlier in the week, with Best Offer. Due to potential customs/insurance issues, I set the listing to be U.S. only. Normally I do ship internationally, but I'm a bit uncomfortable on high-dollar items (insurance limits, customs restrictions, etc.)

So I get a message from a guy in Germany asking me what my lowest price is, and if I tell him, he'll make that offer. That's not how Best Offer works. Make me an offer, and I'll either accept or counteroffer (the only time I ever outright decline an offer is if it's stupidly low, like 20% of the BIN price). Seems to be bargain fishing. Strike one.

He has feedback above 300, with 100% positive, been on eBay since 2005. I go to check out what else he has purchased, to see if he's done any high-dollar transactions... feedback is private. Strike two. (of course, within a few months, feedback percentage of buyers will be a meaningless statistic, and you won't be able to use it to ferret out potential problem buyers...)

So I respond to his inquiry, politely informing him that due to the value of the piece and potential difficulties insuring it, that I am not selling it internationally. He responds, calling me just about every name in the book, how I'm not a real powerseller because I don't have private business insurance to cover this, etc., etc. Strike three.

Now, I've since discovered that if I use "Express Mail Guaranteed" rather than "Express Mail International", the insurance coverage limits are indeed high enough to accommodate the coin. The guy keeps messaging me, wanting me to sell him the coin.

Even though insurance would cover loss en route, I'm just not comfortable with this guy... something just seems "wrong" based on our interaction thus far.

I'm always aware that I might be misinterpreting things, as English is probably not his first language, and subtleties/idioms can sometimes get lost in translation, so I'm concerned that I might be overreacting.

I've had plenty of successful international transactions over the years, but this one is just setting off a warning buzzer to me...

What do you think? I've only had the coin listed for a few days, so I'm not in a rush to sell it. There are several watchers.

Also, are any of you using "private business insurance" to cover high-value parcel shipments internationally? I have a contract with DSI, but the per-parcel limits are considerably lower than USPS.

sTONER

hey Dan, your caution is very goood, after he started calling me names, i would have told him to go blow a dead buffalo in the heat

JimK

I agree with sTONER- Name calling is unacceptable.
Walk away as fast as you can from the dumm kopf...

Jim

(edited for political correctness)

pendragon1998

Tell him you're happy to sell the item internationally since you found out you can properly insure it...but you won't be selling it to him since he acted like a jerk. Then block him and give us his username to block.

newsman

Tell him you have a buyer willing to pay the BIN price, but you'll give him the right of first refusal at that price as a courtesy, plus the cost of insured shipping. If he accepts, great. If not, you can tell him to bugger off and it will be his fault.

zeebob

The guy is pushy and rude. Ban him from your auctions. You posted the rules, he's apparently not asking for an exception, but trying to bully you into one. I'm with sTONER on this one.

SYRACUSIAN

I wouldn't go as far as banning him, but as long as he hasn't made an official offer, he's just another watcher. I've seen several ebayers turning their feedback private lately, mostly out of secrecy, so I wouldn't give him a strike on that one, given the relatively high amount of his transactions. If it gets down to an offer though, it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask him to turn his feedback public for a couple of hours to check him out. After all, he's asking you to bend your shipping rules too.


I would also trust my gut feeling on any subject, not just coin transactions. In this case, time is on your side, but if he continues to be rude, block him, second or third language is a pretty lame excuse for profanity. Finally ,on the subject of insurance, I know that a member here and ex very active seller, was using a private company to insure shipments abroad, with the added advantage for the buyer that the insured value does not show up on green slips, and therefore it won't result in a hefty VAT upon arrival.

SeaEagleCoins

<< <i>hey Dan, your caution is very goood, after he started calling me names, i would have told him to go blow a dead buffalo in the heat >>




Please excuse me if this is a bit rude...but...that would be totally unfair to the buffalo...


again...please excuse me...I just couldn't help it...that was my 1st reaction...

coinpictures

Yes, let's not go about molesting innocent buffalo.

Thanks for the thoughts. I've revised the listing to indicate that interested international buyers should contact me first. I've decided NOT to allow this particular "gentleman" to make an offer on the item.

goossen

I agree with the guys, walk away from this "buyer". Sure you will have success anyway.

JimK

Good Call Mr. Dan~
At the end of the day, this is a hobby and it should be fun... there was absolutely no excuse for his abuse.

Jim

Hyperion

trust your instincts. is this the type of person you want to have a business relationship with?
block 'em, out him/her here, and just ignore them into the future.