Ebay. Scam or genuine

[adam]

Received the message from buyer after selling my projector.

I have,a problem with my PayPal accaunt,because I was registered in PayPal at the same time when I made the purchase from you.Now I have to wait several days to appear on verification four-digit PayPal code in the my card statement.I asked the bank and they told me it would be ready by the end of this week (Thursday or Friday).Please be excused, but this is my first purchase with Ebay.Sorry for the delay and please be patient a little longer.Best regards.

He has 0 feedback, and registered in December, now I think he is going to a lot of trouble to explain himself and I guess as long as his address is confirmed I'm covered by paypal anyway? Its just the 2nd chance offer guy has 200+ feedback and was only a tenner less?

[Maximus]

The fact you need to ask is worrying

[bvmjain]

If the buyer doesn't have a Paypal account then they will need to set one up- and it can take a week- due to the credit card verification process, that they have explained to you.

The problem is that to use Ebay - you have to register a credit card- but you still have to complete the additional registration for Paypal to actually pay for something. Most buyers do not realise this- and this is why Newbies with Zero feedback tend to make up the bulk of the Non-Payers.

(I believe that the registration process used to differ- depending on the amount of the 1st purchase i.e a low value item could be bought by a Newbie without additional checks, but once they had spent up to around £250- they had to get their card verified.) You haven't mentioned the value of the purchase but I guess with a projector- it is probably over the £250 mark.

If you are concerned about the buyer- pull their contact details & speak to the buyer on the phone.
(The sure sign of a dodgy buyer is someone who has registered with false contact details).

You can also message the underbidder & point out that the sale might fall through & that they should wait a week for a possible 2nd chance offer from yourself.


I wouldn't worry - in fact you should be pleased that the buyer is having to verify their credit card !!!

Confirmed / Non-confirmed addresses are no longer an issue on Paypal- But you must send the item by trackable means to protect yourself. i.e Special Delivery or Courier.

[sideshowbob]

I'd allow him grace until Friday and then offer second chance. It isn't until you make a purchase through ebay / paypal that you find out that you need to do X Y or Z for them, so I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

Up to you though. If you said in your auction that payment should be received in X days, you could legitimately offer it to the next one down the chain.

[neilalford]

Doesn't sound dodgy to me (at the moment), just letting you know that there will be a delay in paying you due to the PayPal verification thing (which I remember having to do when I signed up). Obviously wait until the money appears in your account before sending it though.

Of course, he could be a scammer, but there's nothing about that message to particularly suggest that's the case.

[alsemail]

His grammar seems very similar to the Nigerian scammers broken English. I'd certainly be dubious.

[adam]

Originally Posted by alsemail

His grammar seems very similar to the Nigerian scammers broken English. I'd certainly be dubious.

Yeah this the other thing but is username implys he probably Polish so that easily explains grammar issues.

The projector went for £86 so under the £250, I think I'll see how it pans out for now..

[bvmjain]

The projector went for £86 so under the £250, I think I'll see how it pans out for now..

The buyer may have bought other things as well from other sellers- pushing up the spending amount.

Check to see what else they have bought. Click on 'Advanced Seasrch' at the top of any Ebay page & select 'By Bidder', Enter their USER ID
& look for completed listings

[jester]

If in doubt... scam

[bozman]

He's just describing the standard Paypal verification procedure. If he is new to eBay/Paypal then he would have to go through this to be able to send payments over a certain value. Presumably Paypal won't let him go any further without verifying his details. I wouldn't worry about it for now - give him the benefit of the doubt. If Paypal suspect fraud, they will normally halt the payment very quickly. The last 3 dubious purchases of my items were all temporarily held for 24 hours within a few minutes of the transactions going through. After 24 hours, the hold was removed and cleared for posting. Ensure you send by traceable method and you'll be fine.

[adam]

I've been paid now, address is confirmed by paypal and elligble for seller protection so I'll try it I suppose.