e-Bay safety...

[rxe]

If you have a number, call him. Explain that you aren't simply mailing $3000 on the off chance that he is legit. If he is genuine, then he will understand the problem - I certainly would. There is always the escrow option, but I'd be inclined to look up the local tree service and pay them to take delivery and then send it on to your shippers. They'd see pretty quickly if the item was legit, and you could probably trust them - especially if someone from here has a name. Might cost you a $100 - $200 to set this up, but it would be a lot better than losing $3000. 00Juice might be persuadable to do the business for the fee....

 

[TreeSwede]

Thanks again all for the nice and helpful answers, I´ll try to give him a call asap- which I was going to anyway.

Johan

 

[Pitt]

Thanks again all for the nice and helpful answers, I´ll try to give him a call asap- which I was going to anyway.

Johan

Scams on ebay are running rampant lately. Be very careful what you do.
The escrow service is the best advice you have gotten. I have over 8 thousand ebay sales completed and I have lost lots of money, as well as made lots..
Paypal, is an OK service but its not as safe as people think. You give your seller a payment via paypal in hopes of being safe, but IF that seller A. Removes the funds from his paypal account before you file a complaint, You are Out the money. IF the seller sends you an empty box, even an envelope with tracking proving he sent you something.. You are out the money... He can stick a brick in the box, you loose..

What I tell people that feel like something not right is this.. Offer the seller the amount it cost him to post the auction in exchange for mutual feedback. Explain your situation, and how you feel vulnerable. IF the seller is a scammer, they will not want to have continued contact, they usually just go away.. If the seller is genuine and eager to sell, they may offer you further proof of their intentions and sincerity.. Never send Cash, Money orders or even agree to fill out any payment systems forms sent to you. Always check the URL on the payment system and retype it yourself.
Any honest person will agree to escrow as long as you offer to pay the fee for the service.

Its sad, but don't just assume that someone was polite or kind on the phone, so they must be legit. Many scammers are eager to win you over via smooth talk.
Good luck

 

[Streblerm]

Lakeside brought up a very good point about paypal. Paypal will only give you a refund for a fraudulent or disputed item if the seller has money in their paypal account. If the seller is out to defraud you, it is likely that they will empty their paypal account so you can't get your money back.

There is an easy way to protect yourself here. ALWAYS pay through paypal with a credit card! Most credit card companies offer fraud protection. It is a bit of a hassle, but they will reverse the charges if you can prove that you did not receive the item or it was significantly different than advertised. NEVER pay with a money order, wire transfer, or with your bank account through paypal. Each of these is about as safe as sending cash. Paypal doesn't like it when you reverse the charges, but there's nothing they can do about it. I have had to ask my credit card company for refunds on fraudulent e-bay purchases twice in my e-bay career, both times after e-bay and paypal said "yes you deserve a refund, but we can't give it to you"

Ebay and Paypal make their money from the SELLERS! not the buyers. Their interest is in protecting the sellers. As a secondary, they have to make buyers feel safe, but in my experience, their buyers safety policies are just lip service. When it comes down to it, they will side with a seller.

 

[rreidnauer]

usually fraud sellers dont put their phone number in the ad. also his pictures are really good, even has the reciept. I would call him first

Ahh yes. But I've seen ads for saws on Ebay, where the scammer just took the pics and description from another's legitimate ad, and used it for his own. Even with a phone number, I'd approach with caution. Who knows what forwarding that number goes through. Of course, still call. If he gives a PO Box mailing address, get real suspicious. That's just too much money for a first time seller, to lay easy with me.

I still say you need to get an AS member to at least go out to see it and make sure it exists, if not also ship it to the AZ company you speak of.

 

[ScottWojo]

Kinda a moot point as paypal does not apply to this specific situation. The Seller states that he does not accept paypal.

 

[00juice]

I told TreeSwede that I don't have much time for road trips right now, but I can make a phone call, and tell the guy that I will be coming to inspect and see what kind of response I get. I know the area well enough that he will realize that I am local and If its a scam, I think he should show his bluff by that point. If absolutely necessary, I could make the trip, but i'd rather not because of limited time to get projects done around the home. We'll see how this works out.

 

[litespeedrider]

Check with ebay to make sure that this is not a fraud. I have seen many frauds on ebay , as they change names, have the same product and steal seller ID's as shown in the other products sold by him with other sellers names on them. Ebay will shut these folks down, only to reopen with another name. Contacting ebay may not make the deal binding.

 

[olyman]

There is an easy way to protect yourself here. ALWAYS pay through paypal with a credit card! Most credit card companies offer fraud Ebay and Paypal make their money from the SELLERS! not the buyers. Their interest is in protecting the sellers. As a secondary, they have to make buyers feel safe, but in my experience, their buyers safety policies are just lip service. When it comes down to it, they will side with a seller.[/QUOTE] 80,000% on the money--this is the way i do it---ebay and paypal are lip service--period--roaches--

 

[4sarge]

So I guess the next thing to do is finding a beefy and reliable AS-member who lives in New Castle, PA and has a job on the side as bountyhunter!!!!!!!

Just kidding, but this just started to feel a little tricky, well you always learn something from everything....

What happens if I decide to not complete this auction, do I only get a negative feedback ( bad enough ) ?

Is PayPal a bulletproof system?

Thanks

Johan

EBay scams are rampant and a 3000 dollar item from a seller with zero Feedback would curl my toes. I've been been burnt twice (small 50+) on EBay and both times from out of country sellers I am a very careful and cautious EBay buyer. I did manage to recoup my money but only because I had a local track them down. I'd be very leery of this large a transaction without someone that I could trust inspecting the item and insuring the shipping of it to you. A telephone number and an address are Not proof positive that this deal is legit. I would recommend that you proceed very cautiously and if you do send payment that the monies can be recovered by you if there is fraud. Nothing Bad will happen to you if you forgo the deal on EBay other than a possible negative feedback but even if that happens you will still have your 3000 dollars.

Sometimes, "things are just too good to be true".

Good luck on your purchase :biggrinbounce2:

 

[Pitt]

I personally don't love taking paypal. The fees do add up and if your selling an item at a loss or close to margin, you don't have the room for more loss, however the no paypal thing is a red flag no matter what.

 

[MikeInParadise]

Get the phone number of the local police station and see if one of the officers would like to make $50.00 by driving out and inspecting the item for you.

One of those deals that may be ok but just rings my alarm bells as well.

However I will say that the best deals that I have gotten on ebay have been with items with suspect listings but then I have never ponied up more than a 100 dollars or so on risky items and was prepared to write off the money.

 

[jra1100]

2 cents about ebay

I am not a huge ebay buyer, but I have purchased over 165 items and have never had a bad experience. First off Johan you need to do what in my business is call due diligence. Look at the feedback, in this case as many have said 0 feedback is a warning, however most scammers have a way of making false feedback and 100 percent ratings. No paypal is also a warning as has been stated. 00Juice might be the best way to go, but a fee would be a must in my opinion.

I had an interesting ebay situation recently, and I broke some of my rules for a good deal. A saw was listed as a Jonsered 70E, but the guy said he wasn't sure if it was a 70E. I'm no chainsaw expert, and even I could tell that it was a 621. The saw was supposed to run, but had to "feather" the throttle to get it to high rpm. It had a buy it now price of $60. He had all excellent feedback, so I bought it. Also only cashiers check or money order. I sent a money order on aug. 9th auction ended on the 6th. Waited two weeks and nothing, so I sent an email, no reply, waited another few days and sent another email. I finally got an answer, said he didn't get the check till the 17th, and had found another identical saw and would send it as parts saw for free. Waited some more. On Friday 31st got a box with two chainsaws. I put the chain and bar on the "good" one and fuled and bar oiled it. Started after about 10 pulls, and the carb was VERY sticky, car cleaner and blow off, worked like a champ. It took a while, but despite my fears I got TWO saws for $60 bucks and left the best feedback I could think of. Best of luck, and keep us updated on what happens. JR