eBay quandry

[asiamiles]

Hmmm...what should I do?

Someone just won this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0429139398

As you can see they have zero feedback. They paid right away but I thought I should double-check what size and colour they wanted. They seemed unaware of the size and colour of the ones they'd won and wanted half a size smaller and in black. I said I could only provide black in the listed size which they agreed to, though the replies were not the most articulate. They asked how long shipping would take, something stated clearly in the listing. I decided to offer to cancel the transaction and refund their money if they thought the shoes might not fit, to which I got the reply: "Hello, I'm just the winer at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0429139398. I paid very quickly and I hope you are too "

They sound almost too flakey to be pulling a stunt, but these days it's just too easy for a buyer to claim back their money through Paypal I'm not sure if I should try to cancel the transaction and refund their money or just send the item and hope for the best? Your thoughts?

 

[Lignemaginot]

Hmmm...what should I do?

Someone just won this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0429139398

As you can see they have zero feedback. They paid right away but I thought I should double-check what size and colour they wanted. They seemed unaware of the size and colour of the ones they'd won and wanted half a size smaller and in black. I said I could only provide black in the listed size which they agreed to, though the replies were not the most articulate. They asked how long shipping would take, something stated clearly in the listing. I decided to offer to cancel the transaction and refund their money if they thought the shoes might not fit, to which I got the reply: "Hello, I'm just the winer at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0429139398. I paid very quickly and I hope you are too "

They sound almost too flakey to be pulling a stunt, but these days it's just too easy for a buyer to claim back their money through Paypal I'm not sure if I should try to cancel the transaction and refund their money or just send the item and hope for the best? Your thoughts?

I would try one more time to contact them through ebay, asking them again what you stated above.

If they still don't reply correctly, cancel the sale, refund their money, and block them as a bidder on your auctions. I'm not sure if it can result in negative feedback, but if they're able to go that route, I'd forward your emails to ebay for appeal. Pain in the arse, but rather that than the potential for a chargeback.

 

[asiamiles]

What also made me a little suspicious was that in the past few days they have won 3 auctions for mobile phones. Why would anyone suddenly want to spend hundreds of dollars on three phones?

Anyway, I got another message saying "OK, OK. Size is fine." This really is one of those situations where the eBay's screwed-up system puts the seller in a sort of no-win situation. Risk losing the money or losing the sale. I'll probably send 'em and hope for the best.

 

[asiamiles]

And of course, the shipping address registered with eBay is in a different state to the one registered with Paypal. Should one still ship to the Paypal address, or with eBay taking over the resolution process from Paypal, is one supposed to send to the eBay address? Since there's no tracking, I suppose it doesn't really matter, but I prefer to do the right thing as far as possible.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi my advice is to contact ebay with your info as posted on VLJ and let them look into it ,if this is suspicious they will know .Also not having a confirmed address to send to puts you out on a limb ! without a parachute .Or the other option is to risk it and get screwed ,you are right to question the sale .I have had people leave feedback positive only to put in a claim did not recieve item 5 weeks later when you have thrown away all the paper work .


Jeff

 

[Lignemaginot]

And of course, the shipping address registered with eBay is in a different state to the one registered with Paypal. Should one still ship to the Paypal address, or with eBay taking over the resolution process from Paypal, is one supposed to send to the eBay address? Since there's no tracking, I suppose it doesn't really matter, but I prefer to do the right thing as far as possible.

If they paid with paypal, I wouldn't ship to anything other than a certified paypal address. If they want it shipped anywhere else, even if it's an uncertified paypal address, I wouldn't do it.

 

[deeb7]

He's bid on 6 other auctions with cellphones ...

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... ewItemLink

All I can suggest is to stall for a couple of days, see what else he bids on, and hope that he gets some feedback.

 

[asiamiles]

Yes, I was thinking of that. Here's the latest communication from the buyer in response to my enquiry about the 2 addresses:

"He is my son, he is learning at a university in TX. Didn't You meet the purchase via PayPal with the shipping address as gift? Perhaps PayPal is new to you !"

Hopefully, the son is being educated to a higher standard than the parent. Is the real world really like this? Or is this just a scam?

 

[asiamiles]

Of course, one problem now is that they could screw any number of sellers, and because the sellers cannot leave negative f/b there's no way of knowing about it. I don't even own a single mobile phone; is there any reason someone might want several?

 

[Lignemaginot]

Contact ebay with all these emails and let them know about your concerns - and as has been said, don't send anything for a week or so... you may see that ebay pulls the plug on him for some other reason.

 

[deeb7]

Yes, I was thinking of that. Here's the latest communication from the buyer in response to my enquiry about the 2 addresses:

"He is my son, he is learning at a university in TX. Didn't You meet the purchase via PayPal with the shipping address as gift? Perhaps PayPal is new to you !"

Looking at that statement .... you have to think that although the user ID is new to eBay, the buyer certainly isn't.

 

[asiamiles]

Looking at that statement .... you have to think that although the user ID is new to eBay, the buyer certainly isn't.

I wonder if this person's son has gone off to college, just gotten his first credit card, and suddenly he can bid on anything he wants? And is a little out of control. But, even so the level of literacy is from the parent is staggeringly low.

 

[asiamiles]

I send an e-mail asking for confirmationtion re. which of the two addresses I should ship them to. No imeediate response. Then I got the following message:

"Hey . Past 24 hours but you do not ship item for me. how should I think now ? After your payment, I bought another pair of shoes. The Seller shiped immediately after 12 hours, but you ... Now! Refund and cancel this transaction or ship item for me. Choose one !"

I did notice the buyer bought another pair, this time from a seller in Korea! I'm not sure how the buyer knows I haven't sent the shoes, and actually I don't know if I'm getting responses from 2 different people and if so which message is from the parent and which from the son - are American Universities really populated by such people these days? But anyway, I wonder which option I should take? Hmmm.... :lol:

 

[Hawkeye]

Cancel the whole thing and tell him to f*** off, pardon my french. He seems like an illiterate dick who has no knowledge of how ebay works and continuing this transaction will only result in trouble for you.

 

[asiamiles]

Cancel the whole thing and tell him to f*** off, pardon my french. He seems like an illiterate dick who has no knowledge of how ebay works and continuing this transaction will only result in trouble for you.

Yes, I already requested a cancel transaction from eBay...not 100% sure how this will work seeing as the buyer already paid for the item, but anyway, no way am I sending these to the buyer now.

 

[deeb7]

Yes, I already requested a cancel transaction from eBay...not 100% sure how this will work seeing as the buyer already paid for the item ...

The perfect result ....

So just refund through PayPal, request FVF credit from eBay, and re-list.

 

[asiamiles]

Cancelled and refund issued. Glad to have that one behind me. I wonder if this buyer's other transactions will go the same way? Unfortunately, as sellers can't leave negative f/b I guess we'll only know the ones that do go through. Perhaps I should contact one of the other sellers to check their experiences, but why should I waste more of my time on this clown. It's just ridiculous that there's no way sellers can be forewarned of idiots like this, who really shouldn't be allowed on eBay.

 

[Andrew]

Cancelled and refund issued. Glad to have that one behind me....

I feel that same sense of relief on your behalf.

Funny I was only thinking today how lucky i've been lately. I've only been buying and almost every time i've received really pleasant positive feedback before i've even received the item, and from experienced sellers too (which I don't do as a seller). With happy Ebay relations like this you know it's only a matter of time before you run into some kook who's going to spoil things (such as yours).

 

[asiamiles]

Funny I was only thinking today how lucky i've been lately. I've only been buying and almost every time i've received really pleasant positive feedback before i've even received the item, and from experienced sellers too (which I don't do as a seller). With happy Ebay relations like this you know it's only a matter of time before you run into some kook who's going to spoil things (such as yours).

It's partly dependent on what you buy and sell. I mainly (try to) sell posters which attracts a certain type of collector, as do something like Buzz Rickson's flight jackets...rarely any trouble. I occasionally sell DVD's, such as Spaghetti Westerns, and it seems like 50% of the buyers of those are non-payers; possibly rare DVD's attract bootleggers who want to copy and sell illegal copies, and such people obviously have few qualms about breaking eBay rules. As to what kind of person is looking out for Converse stuff...

Still we only have to look at one seller of "original" Luftwaffe flight jackets, to see that militaria certainly has its share of less-than-honest sellers.

 

[asiamiles]

Oddly, the person just contacted me again:
"Hey Man. I think the our's transaction did not succeed only by a little mistake. I really want to buy that shoe . OK. I will buy both shoes black and olive with size 9. If you agree , U can resell that shoe with quanlity is 2 and I will buy for you. OK."

I notice they now have 1 feedback, though from a seller with numerous negatives. I can see no reason not to sell them the shoes direct, as there's absolutely no risk involved on my part. I'll even save on eBay's final value fees!