Sorry, not sure what area of the site to put this question on. Need some quick responses here. Story:
So I woke up this morning to a paypal notifiction of +$600 in my account from an ebay user. I checked my ebay store and noted that I sold a somewhat pricey and valuable item. It was an item I didn’t necessarily expect to sell, I was kind of putting out feelers hoping to see what kind of offers people would shoot at me. So it seems to good to be true and I would like your opinion on what to do. Here are the facts.
+The buyer never contacted me before concerning details on the cards and even though it had the “or best offer” option, henever tried to negotiate a price. My price is actually slightly higher than a few other auctions of the same item. (<----This is the main issue that I have with this sale. I was open to accepting offers so In my mind I would personally never NOT attempt to make a best offer if I was a buyer unless I felt like the item was super hot)
+The buyer created their account on Nov 24, has 100% feedback (all as a buyer), all different sellers (appear to be people selling pokemon cards)+The buyer made three purchases last night and 27 total in the last month. This would still give the buyer plenty of time to make all these purchases and then return them all if that was the plan( I think you have 30 days post arrival to return/file a complaint). ( If a buyer were to make dozens of orders, and return every single one while pulling some type of scam, would ebay allow them ALL to be returned? When it comes to returns, ebay is the absolute worst for protecting the seller)+ The buyers address seems legit. It is a residential, suburburn house on the east coast.
Maybe I’m a bit paranoid and maybe I just got a buyer who just wanted it now. I’ve never fallen victim to a scam on ebay although once it was attempted…but I’ve had one really bad “return” experience where I felt like I just got shafted. I have asked a similar question before to some pokemon peeps and people say “go with your gut” and “if it doesn’t feel right don’t do it” type of thing. My fear is that the guy is going to return the item and then basically send back an empty package…simply because my item was not the best deal on ebay and infact was far from that. Like I said, My intention wasn’t actually to sell it at that price, I was just seeing what I would get with the best offer.
If I may, I’d like to say please don’t respond with “Go with your gut”. I would like to know What Would you personally do? Send it, hope for the best? Contact them with questions? cancel the order? I’m somewhat of a noob with ebay. I have over 100 sales but only 2 were ever more than $500…and one of those was my problematic return, so I think I have some ptsd right now.
He would have to be some kind of mastermind to return 27 empty boxes without getting caught. There is no way he would be able to get away with that.
As far as him buying your item? It’s entirely possible he just wanted it now. Let’s remember that Christmas is next week, so maybe he just wanted to buy it immediately rather than sitting around waiting for a best offer reply or for auctions?
Also, not everyone uses the Best Offer option. I usually assume that people only put Best Offer available in order to get higher visibility on eBay. Personally, whatever the price they have listed is the price I pay for it. The last 2 high value items I purchased had Best Offer available, but I was also in a rush to get that 15% discount code before it expired and didn’t want to have a back and fourth.
“My price is actually slightly higher than a few other auctions of the same item”
Are they actually auctions or are they BIN? Once again, I have paid more for BIN while there are similar auctions going. Why? Time and convenience.
I had a PSA 8 1st Ed. Base Set Charizard listed within my eBay Store for $3,000.00 BIN (Or Best Offer) earlier this year. Being that I was the lowest BIN Price on eBay, there was A LOT of interest - whether that be from eBay Messages or Best Offers. Within a week of that card being listed within my eBay Store I had someone purchase the card at my BIN Price. This person never contacted me or tried to submit a Best Offer. Their account was BRAND NEW with 0 Feedback. However, they provided payment via PayPal immediately and I shipped-out the next day via Express Mail with Insurance and Signature Confirmation. Upon Receipt, that person left Positive Feedback almost immediately. Now, fast-forward to today, that person has become a “regular” customer of mine! Just goes to show that you really never know who’s who on eBay!
I’d also echo @pokenastic with BIN over Best Offers to save time - I can certainly attest to that myself! During the 12 Days of Deals eBay Promotion, I was constantly smashing that BIN Option rather than play the waiting-game with a Best Offer Option.
Just ensure that you follow the necessary steps when proceeding with this transaction: package everything well, mail to the address that was provided on eBay, ensure that you mail with Tracking (uploaded onto eBay) and Insurance (being that it’s a valuable item / collection). I’d also recommend adding Signature Confirmation.
Everyone starts somewhere. And some people like to pay full price and give back to the community/hobby
As a photographer, I run sales on certain prints, and people will choose to support me and still pay the full price while they’re on sale.
Also, sometimes people will pay more for items when they’re in certain areas.
May not be the best example, but i overpaid on a Ultra shiny GX box just because it was already in the US, and I would receive it in a few days vs weeks
The other sellers with the same item could have bad feedback as well or some sort of deterrent…as well as them not being visible on ebay to certain users/regions. What you see on ebay isnt what everyone sees, some times
At least half of my recent sales had best offer option, but sold at my BIN price without a peep from the buyer and all went well. Some people don’t really consider it.
Sometimes people simply dont care and buy it right away. I sold a box that many people thought was overpriced. It had a best offer option and it was just bought outright.
To make sure the item arrives with no issues, just do signature confirmation with tracking. Guarantees delivery so nothing fishy can be done. Wrap securely and take a picture in the wrapping and after wrapping. Shoot the buyer a message with pics before sending and et them know you want to do esignature. It’s best to tell them because some people this can be a problem for since if they are not home it must be picked up.
I once sold something with esignature confirmation and I got it back because the buyer was never able to get to the post office while it was open. He then repaid to ship a second time without it and there were no problems.
Thanks for the feedback. I think because of my inexperience with items in the hundreds of dollars, I’m on edge. I guess buyers have to start somewhere but so do sellers. I feel better and will get it shipped asap.
This was a good therapy session. How much do I owe you guys?
