Ebay seller, is he trying to scam me - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: CambridgeMart
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 02:31:19 pm
content: I found a Tektronix 576 on ebay which I made an offer on which was accepted; I paid the seller, and 2 days later he asked where the payment was. I checked Paypal and the payment was pending, I looked at the seller's details and found he'd just registered and this was his 1st sale. I messaged him to let him know to log into Paypal to accept the payment, which is the norm for 1st time sellers. Today he messaged me telling me that he had no notification from Paypal and there was no pending payment in his account; he asked me to cancel the transaction and instead pay him using another email address. If I am correct, this means he's doing the transaction outside of ebay and I'll lose my buyer protection; does this sound like a scam to you?

author: OwO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 02:36:55 pm
content: If you are still going through paypal you are still going to have buyer protection, just a different system and one that tends to screw over the seller more.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 02:41:58 pm
content: Yeah. Although the seller may just have had a real problem, it's not unlikely they are just trying to avoid paying the eBay fees.Up to you to decide if you want to get along with this.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 02:44:49 pm
content: If seller wants to cancel transaction, they should do it themselves on ebay. If there was no transaction as they say, there is nothing to cancel. And you cannot do it without their confirmation. Don't pay to another paypal address, it's against ebay rules.EDIT: and BTW paypal fees are non refundable. So they lose money by cancelling and then paying again, unless they run away with that money.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 02:52:19 pm
content: If paying for an eBay purchase through Paypal, just do everything through the eBay system while signed in. That will avoid any problems for you.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 02:57:55 pm
content: They may or may not, be trying to scam you.Best to play/stay safe, and assume, they might be. So, best to stay within the paypal/ebay system, to protect your money.Which is what other(s), seem to be recommending in this thread.Another way of looking at it, is that ebay has been running for an extremely long period of time. So, why has someone just started up a new selling account ?There is a serious risk, that they have scammed people in the past, and/or are trying to hide the big negative feedback, they have accumulated on their previous ebay accounts.The fact you have paid the money to paypal, and they claim to have not received it. Already sounds very fishy/suspicious to me.My guess would be there is at least some element of a scam going on.Paying another way, is a very bad idea.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 03:02:58 pm
content: OP, don't do it! If he has another PayPal account then he already knows how PP operates. If you pay to a different address then you lose all protection from E-bay AND PayPal. Ebay is very clear about only paying to the address that they have listed. What's more he could still turn around and tell E-bay that you never paid him and you'll get a strike against your account.If the seller wanted to be paid via a different account then he should have linked that account to the auction.Keep ALL of your communications with him to E-bay's message system so that they can see what's going on. I think at this point I would also call E-bay and tell them what's going on. I'm not saying that you should file a complaint, YET. But I would let them know so that they can monitor this transaction since it sounds like a SCAM.You've already paid for the item. If you cancel the transaction then most likely there won't be any way for you to recover your money.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 03:11:28 pm
content: Sorry, update to my previous post.DEFINITELY LOOKS VERY LIKELY TO BE A SCAM.Tell ebay.Please DON'T pay another way.I found the listing (I think), that is a very large amount of money (the best part of £1,000/$1250, not sure what your offer was, not revealed exact price, to attempt to hide the listing).There are a number of signs which tells me, it is likely to be a scam.EDIT: I thought you were talking about a cheap £50 old scope.The likely scams are either they run away with the money, or the oscilloscope/curve tracer, is a big pile of junk, and virtually worthless.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 03:19:54 pm
content: Agree with above, whatever you decide, DO NOT cancel the transaction yourself. Let the seller do this. Make sure they canceled the eBay sale FIRST thing before doing anything else.Then if you proceed outside of eBay (which I don't recommend), it's of course against eBay's rules. But as I said, it's up to you. But at least just make sure the eBay sale itself has been canceled by the seller first thing. Otherwise you'll be screwed in every way.

author: Addicted2AnalogTek
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 03:25:43 pm
content: I think you shouldrequest from the seller tocancel the purchase and wait for the item from another seller that has some history.If it's actually the sellers first and only ebay account and it's legitimate, I'd still be concerned about being their first and only sale of an item that's well over 100 dollars. They may get a bit pissed off when they realize that ebay is going to take 10%, and paypal is going to take their share (1.9%?). Maybe that is what is happening and the seller doesn't want to lose that percentage of their sale price.If you intend to proceed with the transaction, I suggest that you explain to the seller how to go into their ebay account settings and change/verify the paypal account in which they intend to use. Tell them that you will only make payment through ebay and to their ebay verified paypal account.Have themcancel the transaction and start over. I'm not sure how they would go about getting their ebay final value fee from the original sale refunded, but that's on them if they want to run you around.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 03:39:14 pm
content: One of the sellers of such scopes/curve tracers (which seems to be the one you are referring to), has gone from their normal, 2000+ feedback selling account, to the account with (0) feedback.My suspicion would be they want to use the (0) feedback one as a donor to receive the possible negative feedback, when you find out you wasted all your money.First, they need you to pay them outside of ebay.It would help if you reveal a link to the listing, or name the seller.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 03:45:47 pm
content: Provide the auction and seller information (links) so we can see. A 'first time' seller doing this is either a newbie (which can be just as dangerous as anything else), or a scammer who is trying to scam you, eBay or both. I wouldn't be willing to participate in any of that--either play by the rules or no deal. Also keep in mind that if he has another PayPal account he probably knows how it works and if it shows pending on your end he is probably lying to you.

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2020, 04:09:11 pm
content: Quote from: CambridgeMart on May 13, 2020, 02:31:19 pmJust walk away as fast as you can. You need to get the previous transaction cancelled or at least raise a case against it. It's just not worth the risk.

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 04:38:50 am
content: That stinks to high heaven. Walk clean - too easy to get burned if you go outside 'proper' channels.-Pat

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 10:37:29 am
content: I'll give you an example of an apparently dodgy listing.Here:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tektronix-576-Curve-Tracer-Oscilloscope/362993421517Look at the sellers (0) feedback, their name and address details, at bottom of listing.Now look here:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tektronix-576-Curve-Tracer-PR-/324108021910So a seller with 2000+ feedback, has decided to start an almost identical account, with (0) feedback.WHY ?My guess is to move the sale off ebay payments system, so the buyer, CAN'T claim their money back, and the (0) feedback, not their real account, can get the negative feedback, without them caring or needing to refund the £850/£800, or whatever the offer price was/is.Suspicious:scotttradeautions (0 )Unknown:scotttrade12 (2323 Feedback score: 2323)Or, alternatively. There is a scammer, who has copied the listing details for a high price item, and created a false (0, zero) feedback account. Which is nothing to do with scotttrade12, and they are simply trying to con (SCAM), people out of money. By diverting the payment to another paypal or similar account, so they can run away with the money.N.B. I don't know, who the OP bought the item from. Above just a real life example. But it could be the same seller(s).

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 10:48:51 am
content: One of the negative feedbacks on the other account seems to suggest the item was incomplete.... perhaps an empty shell.. Buyer Beware!(Bought a radio transceiver once... opened it up and found it empty! Eventually got my money back via PayPal but it wasn't easy even then.)

author: Syntax Error
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 11:02:12 am
content: Zero feedback sellers must always be avoided. Even those selling items at 0.99Do not get railroaded by thisrougerogue seller. Message the seller asking them to send the item immediately. As far as ebay and paypal are concerned, you have paid - promptly. It's now up to the seller to post and provide a tracking number. You can even ask them for a copy of their receipt which shows the weight of the package! If they accept paypal, they have to accept payments by paypal.You can raise an INR case when the expected delivery date expires.btw if you are being asked to pay into a bank account number, you can check the sort code online. We once had arougerogue payment request with a sort code in Panama.

author: Jay_Diddy_B
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 12:28:00 pm
content: Hi,Assuming we are talking about the listings posted by MK14 ...a couple of minutes on Google, by searching the address I found this at the address:I suggest that the original poster does the same thing and give them call ask them to explain.Regards,Jay_Diddy_B

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 12:46:58 pm
content: Quote from: Syntax Error on May 14, 2020, 11:02:12 amWas that the colour of someone's face?

author: Syntax Error
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 01:17:54 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on May 14, 2020, 12:46:58 pmDarn this predicktive txt!

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2020, 01:53:48 pm
content: Quote from: Syntax Error on May 14, 2020, 01:17:54 pmI prefer keyboards and spulling chuckers. I hate mis-predictive text.