Is this a red flag

72skywalker

I was bidding on a card and noticed that the seller was one town over from me. I asked him if instead of shipping the card ($800 Joe Dimaggio Playball) he would consider meeting somewhere and i can pay him cash and then he doesn't have to ship the item. He responds back that he is not from that town even though his ebay status says that is where he is from. I just want to make sure that this is not a red flag I am missing since the card is expensive. I have no problem paying for shipping but I figure if we are only 10 minutes away from each other it would save the worry of it getting to me OK. I figure he could of moved since when he opened the ebay accounts. He has something like 4,000 feedback at 99.7% positive.

ndleo

Personally I do not want to meet buyers in person to deliver a card, especially a high dollar item. I was selling a PSA 10 Jordan RC and a local buyer kept pestering me to meet him and do the deal in cash. I declined and sold it to a guy in Dallas.

vladguerrero

The item location comes up for verification with every listing, unless he just moved it's pretty lazy on his part.

There is also the possibility that his account is hijacked, does he show recent successful sales?

MULLINS5

A couple years ago I bounced back and forth from Charlottesville to Richmond, VA. for school (1.5 hours) and at the time my eBay location was "Charlottesville."

Also, as has been said here already, I personally wouldn't want to meet a buyer to sell a card. For me though it's more a matter of protecting myself with delivery confirmation, and in this case signature confirmation.

mccardguy1

Maybe I am missing something but if the buyer is paying by cash, as the OP stated he wanted to do what protection do you need except for feedback protection. There is no paypal or credit card claims that can be reversed?

If someone was paying me cash for a high dollar card I would have no issues meeting them in a place that was well populated, even the lobby of a police station to complete the transaction. Of course I would make sure the cops knew what we were doing there!! LOL

72skywalker

I was going to suggest meeting in a local mall in front of a lot of people so there is no worries of anything shady happening. If he was worried about feedback I would even of left positive feedback right there on an Iphone or something like that. But, it is his card still and he can do what he chooses. I just wanted to se if this was normal behavior and get opinions on what others think.

ndleo

Even if you meet somewhere safe, eventually you have to leave. The deal that was offered to me was for over $4000 cash. I may be covered ebay wise, but not going home wise.

As soon as I leave the parking lot, someone knows I have $4000 cash. That is why I would rather pay the 2.9% to Paypal.

I once had a seller offer seven PSA 10 1994 Jordan Finest Refractors to me for $500 cash. However I had to meet him near Barstow to do it. I declined since Barstow can be a little shady. It would be like sending a sheep to slaughter.

72skywalker

<< <i>Even if you meet somewhere safe, eventually you have to leave. The deal that was offered to me was for over $4000 cash. I may be covered ebay wise, but not going home wise.

As soon as I leave the parking lot, someone knows I have $4000 cash. That is why I would rather pay the 2.9% to Paypal.

I once had a seller offer seven PSA 10 1994 Jordan Finest Refractors to me for $500 cash. However I had to meet him near Barstow to do it. I declined since Barstow can be a little shady. It would be like sending a sheep to slaughter. >>



That is a good point. I would of brought a couple of friends to be a backup. My friend bought an item and three of us drove up to MA. to make the exchange of money and product. It was nice. The guy selling was nice and gave no problems and we were just there to watcdh out for our friend. The guy even commented that we arrived with backup. We told him it was just there in case. You never know.

KbKards

There is absolutely nothing suspicious about the listing or the seller. Lots of feedback, lots of recent sales, absolutely no reason to question the quality of the seller. Perhaps you value your time as worthless in the pursuit to save $10 shipping for a $800 card but maybe the seller doesn't want to spend 1/2 hour or more driving around to meet somebody looking to save $10.

KbKards

"That is a good point. I would of brought a couple of friends to be a backup. "

All this complication to save $10. If you met at the mall would you be obligated to buy them soda at least for making them get dressed. Will he have to round up a couple of friends for the meet. Think about it. If you are worried about a meet, why shouldn't he, and just having you pay $10 saves both people a whole lot of aggravation.

72skywalker

<< <i>There is absolutely nothing suspicious about the listing or the seller. Lots of feedback, lots of recent sales, absolutely no reason to question the quality of the seller. Perhaps you value your time as worthless in the pursuit to save $10 shipping for a $800 card but maybe the seller doesn't want to spend 1/2 hour or more driving around to meet somebody looking to save $10. >>



I was just getting opinions. My time is not worthless and if you read the original post I said the seller was 1 town over from me. Maybe there are some towns that it takes 1/2 hour or more to drive through but not in CT. I was not looking to just save $10.00 in shipping, I thought it would be nice to be able to see the card first to make sure it is legit (remember it is $800.00 and not just $5.00) and he can save paypal fees. I had no problem with him saying "no" to meeting. I just was wondering if I should be suspicious because the town listed in the ebay files is different than the town that he says he is living in.

No reason to get your internet muscles all pumped up by telling me that my time is worthless.

digicat

<< <i>Perhaps you value your time as worthless in the pursuit to save $10 shipping for a $800 card but maybe the seller doesn't want to spend 1/2 hour or more driving around to meet somebody looking to save $10. >>



The buyer would be avoiding the X factor of the postal service hosing up the delivery or damaging the item.
The seller would be saving a few hundred off paypal fees.

Technically, the seller would be saving far more than the buyer, and the buyer would avoid the possibility of the USPS hosing things up.


Either way, the seller's not being fishy by not wanting to deal in person. That's a lot of cash. Personally, as a buyer, I'd rather spend the extra $10 and let the USPS incur the risk (and not go out and risk getting jumped). Besides, if stuff goes south, you've got paypal protection on your purchase.

MULLINS5

<< <i>Maybe I am missing something but if the buyer is paying by cash, as the OP stated he wanted to do what protection do you need except for feedback protection. There is no paypal or credit card claims that can be reversed?

If someone was paying me cash for a high dollar card I would have no issues meeting them in a place that was well populated, even the lobby of a police station to complete the transaction. Of course I would make sure the cops knew what we were doing there!! LOL >>



Different scenario.

slaphappy

Maybe he is like me I live near Shreveport going to school full time, but spend my weekends in Longview Texas where I work.

72skywalker

<< <i>Maybe he is like me I live near Shreveport going to school full time, but spend my weekends in Longview Texas where I work. >>



That is true, There is a very good chance that since he started ebay (4,000+ transactions) he could of moved or commuted a long ways. Again, I just wanted to get some other opinions.

72skywalker

<< <i>"That is a good point. I would of brought a couple of friends to be a backup. "

All this complication to save $10. If you met at the mall would you be obligated to buy them soda at least for making them get dressed. Will he have to round up a couple of friends for the meet. Think about it. If you are worried about a meet, why shouldn't he, and just having you pay $10 saves both people a whole lot of aggravation. >>



Seriously, god forbid I make him get up to get dressed. and what if I wanted to meet during The Price is Right. What would he do, he might miss the showcase showdown. But I can buy him a soda AND a slice of pizza in the food court to make up the difference. He doesn't have to round up anybody because I am not going to do anything but buy the card from him and give him his money (of course he does not know that) I am not going to baby sit him to tell him that he should being 2 friends of XX amount of pounds to match my friends. I just would bring my friends because that is what friends do...they help each other out.
Again, it is not about the $10.00. It is about me knowing that i got the card and that the Post office did not lose it or that he did not send it delivery confirmation with an empty envelope and me getting screwed or something. it is about hiom not worrying that the post office lost it and he is out a card and the money from paypal. Our towns are only 10 minutes apart and I am guessing he has to get dress to go to the post office anyways.

KbKards

You can put away your lightsaber. I was talking about your friends having to get dressed and buying them soda, not the seller. If suspicion of the card is now your stated reason for local pick up, how sure are you of your ability to spot a bad card/holder. What happens if after examining the card and paying cash for it, you post it here for us to see and we tell you it's no good. In that case you would have far more protection if you paid by credit card through PayPal over paying cash in person. There's nothing suspicious or wrong with people not wanting to meet.

72skywalker

<< <i>You can put away your lightsaber. I was talking about your friends having to get dressed and buying them soda, not the seller. If suspicion of the card is now your stated reason for local pick up, how sure are you of your ability to spot a bad card/holder. What happens if after examining the card and paying cash for it, you post it here for us to see and we tell you it's no good. In that case you would have far more protection if you paid by credit card through PayPal over paying cash in person. There's nothing suspicious or wrong with people not wanting to meet. >>



The lightsaber is put away but hanging on my belt. You jumped on the offensive to me first. I was just defending my views.

mikeschmidt

The current Ebay system literally bends over backwards to protect buyers at the expense of sellers. Between Paypal, sellers not able to leave feedback other than NPB, and a third-party authenticator to boot, it is hard to envision a scenario by which you could seriously get screwed here. There is a lot of safety inherent in having third-party intermediaries in the transaction...it protects both the buyer and the seller. If you want to do business in person, you should go the National Card show or a similar venue -- where cash, relationships and deals are king. Asking someone on Ebay to meet up and pay in cash sends a lot of red flags to the seller, and it is no surprise [to me] that he would say no.

thunderdan

I think it's a bad idea. The eBay rules are squarely in your favor, so just pay with paypal. If it arrives and there's something different about the holder not disclosed, just file a claim. The new rules essentially give you the option of examining the card and returning it if you're not happy.

Even with an $800 card, I would let the system (stacked in the favor of your the buyer) play out. With that kind of feedback, chances are you're fine.

WinPitcher

<< <i>He responds back that he is not from that town even though his ebay status says that is where he is from. I just want to make sure that this is not a red flag I am missing >>




Since your title refers to a red flag and the above statement/question does as well I think that is what you were trying to ask.


My answer would be NO, not in this specific case. But not in general.


Steve

AkbarClone

Ode to Andy7Wind.