All EBAY/PayPal related posts here please

[charlesr]

"Starting on March 30, items auctioned at a starting price of 99 cents or less will be listed for free, with a maximum of 100 items per month. But at the same time, eBay will increase the cut it takes from the final sales price from 8.75 per cent to 9 per cent or $50 - whichever is less."

[toythatkills]

I bought a Figma from eBay and it's arrived, but is a fake. Pish.

I can see attempting to get a refund is going to go well.

[Senna]

Hi guys, was wondering if you guys could provide some advice on whether an item I sold last night has been bought by a fake buyer.

I sold a digital camera yesterday evening, however I have concerns that it is a fake buyer, for the following reasons:

1) I received an email from them saying that they had paid ?300 by Paypal into my account, even though the invoice I sent was for ?282.50 including p&p.

2) The postage address (in Manchester) was different to the one registered by the buyer (next to the Globe Theatre in London - a dead giveway I reckon).

3) When I logged into PayPal, the ?300 total didn't show up, which it should have done even if I couldn't withdraw the funds until I supplied a tracking number (see point 4).

4) Furthermore, two other emails were sent this morning, apparently from Paypal and eBay, saying that until I sent a shipping tracking number the funds would not be released into my account. The email from eBay was sent from [email protected], did not contain my eBay username (michaeldragon) which according to eBay it should, and contained the following text:

"Dear eBayer, We will like to notify you that we are still awaiting the shipping reference number (Tracking Number) of your item sold via eBay for verification so that we can transfer the funds into your PayPal account.This is one of our new policy to avoid fraudulent act via eBay.We hope to hear from you soon. . Respond to this notice or your account will be blocked. Please note: You and the buyer will still be able to leave feedback for each other regarding this transaction. Regards, Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department) eBay International AG."

5) The message from the buyer used the terms 'Cheers mate' etc, even though the buyer would appear to be female, and the picture uploaded of her looked photoshopped (i.e. gorgeous). Lol I know girls say 'Cheers mate' but you know when the image of someone doesn't match up with the text? That's what I felt.

What do you guys think? Am I over-reacting? The buyer had a 25 rating 100% positive feedback, but I know this probably means jack.

[toythatkills]

Send them an empty envelope, recorded, and see what happens.

[Paulos G]

Please note: You and the buyer will still be able to leave feedback for each other regarding this transaction.

I thought that sellers were unable to leave feedback?

[Brad]

@senna - A scam mate.

log into your ebay accoutn and look for those messages. Money shows in PayPal immediately. Always. No exceptions.

@Paulos
Sellers may leave feedback stating how great the buyer is, or can choose to leave no feedback. That's it. My latest sale on eBay I've put a disclaimer saying that if PayPal refuse to release the funds then I'll cancel the whole auction and refund the buyer. It's getting absolutely ridiculous for sellers on there now.

[Senna]

Cheers guys - the messages weren't in my ebay history.

Ah well at least I was suspicious straight away and reported it to ebay. Let's hope they do something about it.

[Senna]

LOL - see below two further emails I have received this afternoon. I;ve already reported it to eBay but I'd better do it to Paypal as well. I've also changed my ebay and Paypal passwords as well just in case.

"Hi Seller,
I have made the payment and paypal sent me mail that your money have been deducted from my paypal account and it will be credited into your account as soon as you send them the shipping information(tracking number) to them.As you can see that my money is under pending in paypal cos they are waiting for you to send the prove of shipment.Kindly get the item shipped now via royal mail first class to my frend as a BITHRHDAY GIFT and get back to paypal with the shipping proof and your account will be credited insantanly...Do get back to me as soon as you get the item shipped..

Here is my Friend shipping address below.....

Name:Mattew Mike
Address:NO 11 Stanway Street
City:Manchester
Post Code:M32 0JL
Country:United Kingdom

NOTE..I WANT THE THE TRACKING NUMBER STARTING BY ZV,ZW.ZC OR ZI AND END WITH GB.."

"Dear PayPal User,

We are still waiting for your response,the your money has been deducted from your buyer's account.This is due to the new policy of PayPal to protect both the buyer and seller from any fraudulent activities.Your account will be credited as soon as you post the item and send back to us the reference/tracking given to you at the post office as proof of postage so that we can verify and credit your account.
So we strongly advise you to ship the item and send the Scanned Receipt and the Tracking Number to prove postage of the item in less than 48 hours so that we can fund the money into your account. The Buyer said,he wants the item posted via Royal Mail which is the secured courier service in which you will be given a reference/tracking number that starts with ZV and ends GB.

You can send the reference/tracking number to our customer care [email protected]

This is the shipping address below:

Name:Mattew Mike
Address:NO 11 Stanway Street
City:Manchester
Post Code:M32 0JL
Country:United Kingdom

We want you to know that as soon as we receive the shipment/reference tracking number that was requested from you, the money will be credited to you account within the next 6 hours of your response to the payment.
Ensure you get back to us because we do not want any delay in crediting your account.


Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
PayPal Email ID PP309"

[Brad]

This scam is playing off PayPal's new policy of not allowing sellers to widhdraw funds until the buyer is happy with the transaction. note though that the funds ALWAYS show in your PayPal account, even if you can;t withdraw them.

Well spotted Senna.

EDIT:

Post him a turd in a shoebox mate and email him the tracking number.

[charlesr]

Good email addressssss that paypal are using these days. @officeemail.net.

[Mayhem]

Yeah, as others have said... the messages would be in eBay's own mail system unless somehow they had your email address direct. And the payment shows in Paypal even if it is being held for that silly "21 day policy until the buyer leaves feedback" bollocks.

As a rule though as a seller, never send to another address than that listed in the Paypal confirmation email anyways. Doing so revokes your seller protection rights...

[Number45]

"21 day policy until the buyer leaves feedback"

Wait. Is that true?

[Senna]

All's well that ends well - I offered the camera as a Second Chance to someone else, and they have take up the offer. Only ?15 less than the amount the scammer bid, and this time the amount is visible both in my eBay and Paypal records.

Although as stated above, Paypal will withold the funds for up to 21 days until the buyer registers positive feedback

Cheers again guys for the help.

[Number45]

Cripes. The reasons not to use eBay just keep piling up.

EDIT: Can you sell NTSC games through Amazon/Play?

[Brad]

They sure do. Someone needs to come up with a viable alternative and pronto.

Current crapness:

1) I *have* to allow PayPal payment method due to my short trading history with eBay (10+ years, 100% positive feedback).

2) I can't leave negative feedback for timewasters

3) PayPal won't let me have my money. Apparently this only applies to "high risk" items. I'm waiting to see if my Apple keyboard and Dawes horizon bike are classed as high risk...