Ebay conundrum

Alex H.

Alex H.

Moderator
Staff member
I have a piece of gear up for sale on ebay. I really need to move it, but I don't generally sell/ship outside the US on ebay due to the amount of overseas fraud.

But... a potential buyer from Malaysia is really, really interested. He has not asked me to sell outside ebay, is offering Paypal payment, and to arrange for the shipping himself after the payment is cleared by Paypal.

Thoughts? I know that there's always risk in selling on ebay, even domestically, but is there a larger risk here?
 
i'm no expert on this, but if he is arranging for shipment after the payment as cleared paypal, and all...

I would say just protect yourself. Ship insured, and with a method that is trackable from departure to final destination. Just in case he decided to dispute the paypal charge once you shipped or something.

That way you have proof of everything. proof that he paid. proof that you shipped the item, gave him a tracking number, it was insured, etc, etc.

what is the value of the item if you don't mind?

Always going to be risk involved, so don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with. If you don't feel comfortable shipping outside the u.s. then don't. Better to take longer selling the item than to be out the item and the money.

Does the person have an ebay account where you can check their buyer/seller feedback as well? Have they purchased other items of similar value without issue from ebay in the past?

later,
Jason
 
Value is $650. The user has an account, 100% rating, but feedback is set to private. Rating is 32, but only a few transactions in the last 12 months. There's no way to see what's been purchased in the past.

The listing offers free shipping in the US, but if I decide to sell to this person, the cost will be on the buyer. I think he understands that.

Thanks for your response.
 
Why is his feedback set to private? That seems like a HUGE red flag to me.

With feedback set to private, you can't see if he's got any negative feedback and you can't see what kind of feedback he has been getting.

I could be paranoid, but I'd err on the side of caution and keep it a US only auction.
 
When I messaged him that I was wary of private feedback, he made it public. All looks good... two negative strikes from a long time ago, but everything else is positive. He's a buyer only and does not sell on ebay.
 
Just don't make the same mistake I made. Make SURE the money is in your account before you ship anything. And keep the shipping receipt with tracking info...just in case he claims foul and attempts a credit card chargeback.
 
Paypal will likely hold your funds until after he leaves positive feedback or time has passed. But if it's entirely through Paypal and Ebay, and he has positive feedback at a certain score (32? I don't know.) then buyer protection applies.
 
As long as Paypal has it that should be fine, I've done it myself. My only concern, now that I'm thinking about it, is how payment clears. But that might not mean anything in this case. Just make sure that Paypal is actually holding the funds, it would show up in your account somewhere when you login at Paypal.com (by typing it in, not following any links). Rick's experience does make me a bit more cautious than I otherwise would be, since his seemed a lot more legit than most scams, so just be careful. And use something that can be tracked, otherwise buyer protection won't help you. Although I guess you have to overseas.
 
I just sent an item to Switzerland and this is how you go about it.

Take the package to any ups store, post office annex, post office and get it weighed using the guy's shipping address and you will get the EXACT estimate of shipping - I know it's inconvenient, but this is how I do it.

Then send the guy an INVOICE through Paypal by REQUESTING FUNDS which includes shipping and any insurance if he asks for it (anything over $300 I insure just to be safe).

He pays you. Wait till the payment clears. Ship the item.

Invoice WITH shipping do not expect buyer to pay you later for shipping.
 
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