eBay scam?

[Once A Hero]

I’ve got a frame listed on eBay (nothing fancy), and have received an offer for it at an acceptable value.

Trouble is it’s from a buyer who has a feedback score of 1…

But their account says they’ve been a member since early 2019…

Trouble is they are based in Montreal…

If I accept this offer, the sale will be entirely through eBay and their global shipping programme.

The weird thing is I had another offer on this item a few weeks back, at an unacceptable value, but also from a Canadian buyer - that time in Toronto…

Is something going on here, or am I over thinking it. Is it a scam? I haven’t accepted the offer yet, so they haven’t paid - and perhaps they won’t

 

[eshew]

Take the offer and ship to the address given to you by Ebay, shouldn't be an issue. I've sold 15 or so items that way, never had an issue outside of ship time. Maybe take extra pics just in case.

 

[dyna-ti]

I have ebay set to sell in the UK only. TBH thats the safest option, in that you dont have to send anything thousands of miles and hope nothing goes wrong, but which i mean lost or damaged, or even stolen.

If I were you I'd cancel that sale, then go into settings and change 'ships to' to be UK only and sod everyone else. Then relist.

 

[fguki]

How can it be a scam if you simply follow the ebay "rules" and regulations. If you did nothing wrong, eBays insurance will refund you in case something goes wrong.

Yes, eBay has put chokes and shackles to the hands and throat of their members over the last 3 or 4 years and selling/buying at ebay is nothing but pain in the ass lately (I am a member for 25 years with more than 10.000 feedbacks). HOWEVER they do literally anything to keep the marketplace safe off scammers. Besides all the bullshit sellers have to endure there now. That (gaining a reputation for scam like Facebook marketplace or Facebook groups) is the one thing they can not afford at any cost.

 

[greencat]

Is your item rare?

Given the demographic here at retrobike, I'd suggest it perhaps makes it less likely to be a scam. Likely, it is from someone who is older and rarely shops on eBay unless they really have to because they are suspicious of it.

eBay's Global Shipping Programme is very good IME.

 

[synchronicity]

Trust your gut instincts. It seems buyers are more protected on ebay than sellers these days.
You can't even leave negative feedback as a seller anymore!

If you have trouble you have forked out a lot of money for shipping. Then you have to reimburse that.
If it was a smaller item, fair enough. But a frame. I wouldn't do it. No way! Certainly not without an actual message from the seller.

Plus it seems to me that, in my experience, ebay buyers with a rating under 10 (and even under 100) are more likely to be an arsehole and not get how the whole thing works with pictures and descriptions. They seem to think it operates more like amazon, where they can return things and get things for free all the time.

If I were you I would wait for the next offer.

---

I got two negative feedbacks in one week earlier this month. My feedback went from 100% to 98.7%. That was not very nice.

One for a phone transaction that I cancelled because he was being a dick and wanted me to post something with accessories that weren't included and insisted it be posted "today", and that if the accessories weren't included he'd return it. He obviously had some kind of attitude problem. So with the useless foresight of expecting to avoid a possible negative feedback, I cancelled it, and I got neg'd for it anyway. Bastard!

And the other because I sent the correct shimano part in the wrong plastic packet (to save on packaging). Now fair enough if it was a nice box.
I won't ever be doing that again, it just confuses people. Some people are not very bright, and cannot even recognise the correct part that they themselves ordered. He ended up getting a bit aggressive towards me.

In any case, several weeks later, I asked both buyers to revise their feedback and they eventually did.
It just seems to me that some buyers are not being very polite anymore. They don't even try. They're getting ruder!

 

[fguki]

Why not simply picking up the phone and calling the eBay customer service real quick? They are super helpful and can tell you exactly what to do or what not to do.

At some point, it just gets dumb to discuss all that in a long ass thread in an internet forum. Simply call them and ask them for advice! Takes 5 minutes.

 

[Betsy]

I’ve got a frame listed on eBay (nothing fancy), and have received an offer for it at an acceptable value.

Trouble is it’s from a buyer who has a feedback score of 1…

But their account says they’ve been a member since early 2019…

Trouble is they are based in Montreal…

If I accept this offer, the sale will be entirely through eBay and their global shipping programme.

The weird thing is I had another offer on this item a few weeks back, at an unacceptable value, but also from a Canadian buyer - that time in Toronto…

Is something going on here, or am I over thinking it. Is it a scam? I haven’t accepted the offer yet, so they haven’t paid - and perhaps they won’t

I'd have no issues with this^ in fact, i'd be happier for GSP to take the responsibility of shipping a frame interntionally.. they will unbox your package to make sure it fits the item description before forwarding it on and if it gets damaged in transit, it's not your responsibility, it's theirs.. if you ask the buyer what they paid for the frame it will be around 20% more expensive than the price listed in the UK, this will cover the cost of handling, re-packaging (if yours is unsuitable) international shipping insurance ect.. Your only responsibility is getting it to Staffordshire safely.

If it's been described accurately which i assume it has, you've got nothing to worry about, box it up and let GSP deal with it.. it's no more risky than a buyer in the UK with similar feedback score.. don't get me wrong, it can always go wrong but no more so than any other eBay sale.

I've never had an issue with GSP.. it was lifeline after Lizz crashed the economy, we were all broke but our goods instantly got cheaper for those in the US.

If the buyer doesn't pay, you've lost nothing.

 

[Twozaskars]

Using the GSP is no different to sending in U.K. in fact I think it’s better.
I did have someone message me a few weeks ago because the taxes they were asked to pay in their country were a surprise but eBay said that’s their (buyers) problem, not mine. Most GSP items I sell go to Germany, Australia or France and I’ve not had an issue yet.

 

[Once A Hero]

OK, offer accepted - let’s see how it plays out. Hopefully just me making something out of nothing.