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So I received an offer on ebay from a potential buyer....
TPRC
Posts: 3,819 ✭✭✭✭✭
with a feedback of 1. What should I do to ensure that this is not a scam? My original inclination was to ignore, but everyone has to start somewhere, right? I originally ignored it, and it expired, but the potential buyer has upped his or her offer.
Tom
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Is it a high value item? Can you ask them if they are an ANA member?
Personally, I would ignore, especially if it's an item of value.
Yes, it's over 1k.
Tom
Here is my take. If he was going to scam you he would not really be paying for the item at any point in the future so what would stop him from paying full asking price? He could BIN and then rip you off. If he is really clever, he may be negotiating to throw you off, but I find offers indicate intent to pay (less). You could also check to see if he has any other bids active as a new ebay member.
I haven't sold on ebay in a while, so things might be different, but it is my recollection that a best offer would still have to be paid through the ebay system and using PayPal. If so, and if you have a verified buyer with verified address and you follow the PayPal and shipping rules then I would assume you would be covered to the same extent as if you were to ship the piece to a user with a rating of 200 or so.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Did he just open up his account or was his eBay account been opened years ago sometime accounts
get hacked?
Send him a counter offer but add on top cost for signature conformation and insurance and
state that in the commit box below the counter offer. That's about the best you can do. Oh make
sure your shipping to a confirmed address.
Also I think after he pays his phone # is there some were you can call it see if the person at the
end paid for the item or if he stole there number.
James
I always get a bit nervous when I get an offer from a very low feedback buyer, but I have had on a few occasions people who have joined ebay, just to buy a scarce coin I listed. (0) feedback with a join date of the offer day. As long as you are shipping to a verified PP address, paypal seller protection should cover you. Just make sure you follow all shipping procedures. I print my labels through ebay, so tracking is auto uploaded. Get signature confirmation etc.
My Ebay Store
Everybody starts at zero. I would have them send the agreed upon amount through PayPal to ensure that it is legit.
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It process just like a blind sale follow the rules and your covered by either PayPal or eBay.
Thanks. Value is over 1k so it is not insignificant. I'll give it a shot, will contact the potential buyer and see where we are. I'll get signature confirmation. And I'll update for the good the bad and the ugly.
Tom
Follow the eBay/PayPal rules to the letter and you should be covered on the off chance something goes wrong.
Like others have said, everyone has only 1 feedback at some point. I have a few buyers sign up and join eBay in order to bid on or buy items I have listed there, so in those cases they were 0 feedback users. Sure, I'd rather they had 1000 positive feedbacks, but as long as you're following the rules, your seller protection is there.
If it makes you feel better, you could reach out to the buyer first to thank them for their purchase and to confirm that their PayPal confirmed address on file is their correct address to ship to. Of course, the only acceptable answer from them is "YES" and to tell you to ship to their PayPal confirmed address, but it would give you the opportunity to communicate with them and see if you get any bad vibes from them other than their low feedback score.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 700
Every eBay lot sold here with a $500+ value gets Restricted Delivery added to the Signature Confirmation. Cheap insurance to prevent an addressee from claiming that an unknown party other than the addressee signed for the article.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
I wouldn't worry. If ya want to worry wait til someone buys from you as a guest!
Rookie buyer no feedback.... you have the time with possible hassle ? 1st time purchase ??on a 1,000 coin??,, LOL
I had a feedback of 1 once. As I recall, it worked our for both parties..... Just be careful and don't take any wooden nickels.
I think you'll be fine. Just a gut feeling. I remember when I did my first transaction on the BST (with roadrunner) and it was over 10k in gold (I was selling). I'm sure he was a bit concerned but I used Ebay feedback as a reference. Perhaps if you talk to him he'd enlighten you as to who he normally does business with (dealer).
bob
Ask for off eBay references perhaps, and add all the signature requirements (along with meeting all PayPal/eBay requirements). I also like the get-his-phone-number-and-check-it out stuff too. $1K is a big number.
After all these years on ebay, I can't even tell you how many times that smoeone joined just so they could buy my item. It has honestly happened often.
I am the King of Sellers to Feedback below 5.
It is the 100 - 200 crowed that seems to be the troublemakers.
If the person gives you a verified address and pays thru PayPal, you're good to ship. Just ship with signature confirmation.
Agree with this 100%
The "potential" buyer is interested in something you have , at a lower price than what you want. It's a simple negotiating thing. Counter-offering a second time is the indicator that you have a potential sale. Why worry about anything ? It could be a very easy going guy on the planet, who just decided to shop on eBay. There are billions of us out there who are "new" to something.
With the more expensive items, especially coins, more care needs to be used than normal. I have read on this forum of buyers filing an "item not as described" upon receipt and saying the coin that was shipped by the seller was not what he purchased. Tough to beat this type of scam. Surely, a new to ebay buyer could offer some additional information to supplement his offer.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Chargebacks are always a possibility regardless if the buyer has a FB of 1 or 1000.
Is the $1,000+ price our of line or a reasonable offer? If it is reasonable, I'd accept it and make sure PayPal shows eligible Seller Protection and ship insured with Signature Confirmation
I wb hesitant - rookie buyer wanting to buy a 1K coin? Too unusual a coincidence to be true......
Part of the due diligence could be:
Google earth the address, see if it is real, check the name on the county tax records to see if it matches.
Check for a local coin shop, and see if they would broker the deal, ie, you ship to the coin shop, they collect the money, they pay you, they take a cut.
Thank you for the comments. I ended up making a counter-offer which buyer did not accept, so I think we are done with it. In the counter-offer, I identified the low feedback (now it is 3, all positive) and advised that sale would need to be done with Paypal. The one thing bidder did that was odd was to make an offer and retract it immediately, and he did it 2x, once before my counter-offer, and once after it. Perhaps inexperience, but either way, the comments were helpful. Thx
Tom