New Buyer Scam?

ndleo

I had a guy purchase a card from me on a Thursday. I printed the label on a Friday. I usually ship the next day but my schedule delayed me getting to the Post Office until Monday afternoon. On Monday morning, the buyer sent me a note asking to cancel the transaction because his son bought the card without his permission.

Since I hadn't dropped the card off yet, I was able to cancel the postage and issue a refund. He then sent me an email asking if I had dropped the card off in the mail on Friday. I said No since I wasn't able to make it the Post Office until Monday.

After thinking about it, I think this was a scam. I think he was hoping that I had already mailed it out. If I did ship it out, what would be been the right way to handle it? Have the seller initiate a return?

charrigan

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charrigan

The buyer is almost always lying. It's not really a scam, because they don't *get* anything, but it is a bad excuse (and a common one) for weaseling out a deal because of Buyer's Remorse. At the very least, block them at the conclusion of the transaction.

If the card was already shipped, the best thing to do would be to have the buyer initiate a return once the item is received.

ndleo

<< <i>The buyer is almost always lying. It's not really a scam, because they don't *get* anything, but it is a bad excuse (and a common one) for weaseling out a deal because of Buyer's Remorse. At the very least, block them at the conclusion of the transaction.

If the card was already shipped, the best thing to do would be to have the buyer initiate a return once the item is received. >>



I did block him. I get those - "My kid bought the card" - emails once and a while. Ironically it is almost always from low dollar <$20 cards. For this one I found it strange that he asked if I shipped the card after I refunded the money.

charrigan

<< <i>Ironically it is almost always from low dollar <$20 cards. >>



Me too, actually. Almost all of my "trouble buyers" are for low dollar items.

MULLINS5

Few years ago I sold a book that belonged to an author who passed away in the 1940s. Clearly in the listing I put that there is no provenance included and to ask all questions before bidding. I printed the label, but on a hunch I purposely sat on it and planned to mail it out a couple days later.

The buyer started emailing me the day after it was marked as shipped with a delivery confirmation number. He demanded a clear history and provenance. I politely replied that there is no provenance included and that this was clearly stated in the listing. He told me if it is fake he will press charges. I promptly refunded the buyer, sent a second chance offer to the next in-line, and they immediately paid.

After the refund he became even more irate because he "thought the book had been shipped." Threatened to sue me. Told me he was the grandson of the author (which I already knew when I printed the label).

I have no idea what his angle was (if any) but it was one of the craziest eBay transactions I dealt with.