I think I've got an eBay scammer on my hands

[ShadowBall]

I've been selling a lot of stuff on eBay lately, and while all my other transactions have gone smoothly, I've been having issues with one order.

According to eBay, the buyer never completed the checkout process and this order is listed as "awaiting payment." However, Buyer marked the sale as "Payment Sent" almost two weeks ago. They claim they paid via PayPal (which is all I accept), but after looking at my PayPal account, there are absolutely no transactions from this person, nothing from the day they say they paid, and no amount paid by any one person in the amount equaling their total.

Folks from the eBay discussion boards have been helping me figure stuff out too. I made sure there wasn't an error on my end, like an incorrect email address. Everything's fine from my perspective. I've been talking to the seller to see if they can provide me with some info (like the transaction ID number of their alleged payment), and I'm waiting on PayPal to contact me to see if they're withholding any funds.

I know some people pay directly with PayPal and they don't go through eBay and choose PayPal as their payment method there. But then it would still show up in my list of transactions regardless. And since sellers can no longer ding buyers with negative feedback, I have no idea if they've done this to anyone else.

Methinks this person just marked the order as "Payment Sent" in hopes that I would ship it without checking if I actually got the payment first. Yeah, nice try, but you don't get your order for free, assbag.

[EricKei]

Well, it's possible that they sent money to a PP account that is NOT yours, maybe if you have one email you use for PP/eBay and one you use to contact them? They could have gone into PayPal itself and hit "Send money" and then either entered the wrong email addy or mistyped it.

IF you can reach the buyer, ask them to contact PayPal about it. I doubt PayPal would be willing to let you talk to them about a payment they made if it went to an incorrect email address, but they should be able to help the buyer directly.

Then again, yeah, could be a scammer. Either way, no money, no sendy.

[notlovinit]

No matter what this customer is super sucky.
For me the first thought wasn't that they were scamming you, but that they are just really stupid and think that is how ebay works. They mark payment sent and then paypal does the rest or something.
But if they have a long transaction history, they should know better and are probably seeing how dumb you are.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I would have suspected a Nigerian buyer, but you're too smart for that.

So I'll just go with garden-variety scammer who's trying to intimidate you into sending them free merchandise.

[ShadowBall]

Okay, I was wrong - turns out they actually did try to pay through eBay, but the money was never withdraw from their balance and added to mine. So they repaid and now everything's all good - checkout is complete and I see the payment in my PayPal.

Still seemed very suspicious to me since I know this is how eBay scammers work - buy a shitload of stuff all at once, mark it all as Payment Sent, never pay, the sellers are often too busy to notice this mistake and send the item, and by the time people realize they've been swindled, it's too late. The buyer has their stuff for free. They might get banned, but they can just create a new account.

I suppose it's possible this buyer might have realized they weren't getting their stuff unless they officially paid, but they were very cooperative and nice throughout the whole thing, so now I'm leaning more toward just a simple error.

[notlovinit]

That's so good to hear. I'm glad it worked out. It really did seem like a scammer though, so I'm glad you caught it.

[XCashier]

Okay, I was wrong - turns out they actually did try to pay through eBay, but the money was never withdraw from their balance and added to mine. So they repaid and now everything's all good - checkout is complete and I see the payment in my PayPal.

That has happened to me before; a buyer marking an item as Paid without it being actually paid for, and the resolution was pretty much the same as yours. I don't think it was deliberate; it could've been a clueless newbie who didn't know how eBay/PayPal worked, or someone who merely had a brain fart.

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

[emax4]

Just because the buyer marked it as "paid" doesn't mean shit. Once you get a valid email from PayPal stating that the person paid, THEN it's legit. You can even go right in to your PayPal account, and the first thing you should see is the activity screen, and it will show the transaction info including what the item was, transaction #, who the buyer was and if they paid.

I was going to suggest sending them an email thru eBay stating that if they legitimately paid, but it didn't show up, to take back the payment and try again. Good thing it finally went through though. Personally, I never hit the "mark item as paid". I go ahead and make the payment, and within a few minutes I get a reply from the seller showing that they recognize it as paid.

[PepperElf]

on the good side at least it sounds like ebay is looking at it too
so if the scammer tries to ding you with a negative you have proof

plus even if you can't give feedback you can still talk to ebay about it.

apparently buyers who have questionable buying practices do get their accounts questioned / closed. one of the PFB letters is from a customer who got his ebay closed supposedly from too many returns

[ShadowBall]

I think I'll be alright. This buyer isn't a newb (they have 100+ purchases in their feedback history) and they actually thanked me for my patience and understanding. I kinda feel bad now for assuming the person was trying to swindle me, but I know I shouldn't since several people had the same hunch. Just gotta get their thing in the mail now.

[Nemesis44UK]

Don't feel bad about it. I don't use ebay anymore, because of a SC who bought an item from me. She paid quickly enough and I sent out the item. Sent a polite note with it asking for feedback. Waited a couple of weeks - nothing. I thought maybe she is waiting for me to leave feedback *sigh* so, I left some positive feedback.

As soon as I did that, she contacted me and said the item was broken. I was shocked because I had wrapped it in enough bubble wrap to sink a battleship. She admitted the box wasn't damaged and couldn't specify where the item was broken. I asked her to send photos, which she declined, but said she would accept a refund and she would try and fix it herself! When I declined, she then contacted ebay saying I was a sucky seller!

Ebay took the money and gave it back to her, so that she got the baby mobile and her money back and I couldn't do squat.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Smart decision. Ebay is only good if you're a buyer. Buyers have all the power and sellers have jack shit--even though they're the ones who pay the freight.

[RealUnimportant]

I've learned something from this - I never knew that if I marked something as Paid, it showed that on the seller's page as well! I thought it was just for my own records...

[ShadowBall]

My concern about lack of bubble wrap is why I try not to sell breakable stuff - I worry I won't use enough (but I also don't want to add an assload more to shipping costs and lose money). I tend to use those Flat Rate Priority envelopes a lot and most of what I sell is clothes or plush toys. I had a major problem with one buyer when I sold my old Voltron figure and I didn't even use bubble wrap - I rolled each robot-cat thing in tissue paper (like the gift-wrap kind) and tossed it in a Flat Rate box. Bitch "needed" overnight shipping - which I did not offer - and it caused me to overdraw my checking account and amass almost $200 in overdraft and late fees. Not worth the $60 for the toy. She didn't leave me feedback and I didn't leave her any. I hope the toy falls apart.

I would love to know why eBay made it so sellers can't leave negative feedback. We are at the absolute mercy of the buyers and the most we can do is just not leave any feedback. I suppose you could leave a positive one and then add a negative comment, but no one reads the comments. They look at the plus signs.

[EricKei]

Well, next time -- If you didn't offer Overnight, then tell her that it's not an option. She should have asked about that before bidding. She can either accept the shipping methods you offered or cancel the sale so you can re-list the item. Did she at least send you the extra postage before you shipped it?