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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » eBay issue help please

Sept. 1, 2009 1:28 p.m. Mazdax605 Reader

Hey guys,

I have my 78 Datsun 510 listed on eBay since last Thursday. I had a buy-it-now option on it,and today my wife called me at work to tell me I had an email from eBay stating that the car sold on the BIN. She said however that the buyer sent an eamil via ebay that was broken english,and had all the classic signs of a scam with the buyer offering more money to me so that I can pay the shipper etc.... I have been on hold with eBay for about 30 miuntes now,and there is no end in sight. Anyway I can just cancel his bid on the BIN without waiting on hold for eBay to figure this out. The buyer(read:scam artist) has a zero feedback,and is in the UK. I think I can trust him ,right?

Chris
Sept. 1, 2009 1:38 p.m. John Brown SuperDork

I am being most assuredly that you trust can me. Please deposit this scamiers checque and forward $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 remaining balance to my cousin Barrack. He is head of important properties in Americas.
Sept. 1, 2009 2:06 p.m. Mazdax605 Reader

I finally got a hold of eBay,and they said I can re-list the item,and I will get my fees refunded once they determine this guy is a scammer. They also told me that I could contact the next highest bidders on it via ebay,and tell them I am re-listing it due to the scammer. I tried this,and it won't allow me to do it because I am not involved with this person at this time. Thing is I really just want this thing sold,and don't want to wait another 7 days to see if this thing is going to sell. What a pain in the ass!!!!

Chris
Sept. 1, 2009 2:15 p.m. 914Driver SuperDork

What's the BIN price and do you have pictures?

Dan
Sept. 1, 2009 2:17 p.m. Mazdax605 Reader

Pics are here on the site in the classified section. You saw the car when you bought that project from me. The BIN is $4500 the reserve was lower.
Sept. 1, 2009 2:24 p.m. 914Driver SuperDork

Mazdax605 wrote:

Pics are here on the site in the classified section. You saw the car when you bought that project from me. The BIN is $4500 the reserve was lower.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Very nice car! If you sell it to me for <$2009 I'll sing your praises all over Gainnesville.

I didn't think so......
Sept. 1, 2009 2:31 p.m. Mazdax605 Reader

Trade plus cash then maybe we can talk. Feel free to sing my praises anyway.
Sept. 1, 2009 6:22 p.m. fromeast2west New Reader

You could always limit bidders to US residents and those with positive feedback. It might cut down on your pool of bidders, but you'll get better quality.

Have you tried listing in on CraigsList? For stuff like this I usually set up a dead end e-mail account and post on CL until I find a buyer that seems reliable before getting into details or discussing a meet up.
Sept. 1, 2009 6:55 p.m. Keith SuperDork

Based on my experience listing a GTX for sale on the GTX specialty classifieds, I expect this must happen with just about every car that's ever listed on eBay. What a pain, sorry to hear it.
Sept. 1, 2009 8:06 p.m. JThw8 SuperDork

You have the option to require an immediate deposit through paypal on BIN. The BIN transaction doesn't go through without a paypal payment. I usually set this to a nominal deposit around $100. Its enough to keep the scammers from shutting down your auctions like this.

I'll usually include text in the auction to let real bidders know I am willing to waive the immediate deposit if they contact me and prove they are legitimate (some people just wont use paypal)
Sept. 2, 2009 12:27 a.m. confuZion3 SuperDork

You don't need to list for 7 days either. I know it's not much consolation since you should have sold the car by now, but a listing of a much shorter duration will be just as effective. People shop. Then they wait until an auction is almost over to bid, so the bidding doesn't happen until the last two days anyway. Chances are that someone, somewhere in this great country of ours, is looking for your car right now. He may have even tried to buy it from you.

And +1 on the post above. You can set a fee to wart off scammers. That fee can be waived easily as well if you trust the buyer. I did the same thing: I required a $500 deposit, but when I spoke with the buyer and got to trust him, I waived it.
Sept. 2, 2009 12:54 a.m. BoxheadTim New Reader

Another restriction I've been using is that I require vehicle buyers to have a Paypal account - not pay by Paypal, just have the account. This is one of the bidder restrictions you can set on UK ebay and I would assume it's available on US ebay as well.

Most scammers use throwaway accounts and don't bother setting up a Paypal account (too much effort etc) and it seems to cut down the number of people trying to scam me.
Sept. 2, 2009 10:02 a.m. Mazdax605 Reader

So I re-list the car yesterday afternoon,and today I get some other scammer using the BIN. I tried removing the BIN,and adding the restrictions that you guys gave me,but it wouldn't let me edit that part of the auction wehn I was re-listing. At this point I just want a simple you want the car heres the price,and lets go type of deal,but that doesn't seem to be possible on eBay anymore.
Sept. 2, 2009 10:14 a.m. BoxheadTim New Reader

Can you list it as a classified ad instead of relisting it? That way it stays on there for longer and you'll get the "here's the price" part but at least you won't have scammers closing the auction early. Mind you, you probably have to start a new listing for that.
Sept. 2, 2009 10:17 a.m. carguy123 Dork

Simple? Ebay? Those 2 words don't go together.

I NEVER buy or even look on Ebay anymore. If it's not a scamming buyer it's a scamming seller. Ebay is not worth the effort.
Sept. 2, 2009 11:01 a.m. Mazdax605 Reader

I am starting to think you are right about that. It used to be a good service,but now it just seems like a playground of E36 M3 heads,and scammer. Maybe I will try the Classified ad way,but I doubt it will work either. I did the craigslist thing,but got a ton of emails with people offering me sex,and such. I only had a few legitimate people interested in the car,but it never went anywhere.
Sept. 2, 2009 11:11 a.m. RossD HalfDork

Dont put any personal info (phone number or email address) in craigslist. Use their built-in email reply feature. That way you can shift through the emails without giving up anything.
Sept. 2, 2009 12:57 p.m. awebb New Reader

Get him to send you a fake check and a picture of him self holding a sign that reads "I'm dumber than a box of Hammers!!!" before you shut it all down.

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