eBay advice...

[NikonUser]

Hi there,

Someone just bought my D70 on eBay for my 'buy it now' price and they sent me the following email:

DEAR SELLER,
I WILL LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS YOUR ITEM FOR MY PASTOR IN NIGERIA ANDI WILL
LIKE TO PAY THROUGH BANK TRANSFER OR POSTAL MONEY ORDER SO IF YOU LIKE TO PROCEED WITH THIS
TRANSACTION PLS SEND ME THE TOTAL COST OF SHIPPING IT WITH UPS OR
TNT EXPRESS DELIVERY TO HIS ADDRESS WHICH IS WRITTEN BELOW:
ERNEST IKOLI
NO,2 AJOGBE STREET
OFF WESTERN AVENUE
SURULERE LAGOS
NIGERIA
23401.
PLS GET BACK TO ME ASAP

This person's registered address is in Australia. They joined in Jan this year and have no feedback.

Does that sound at all dodgy? I dunno why but it set off some alarm bells with me (the 'pastor in Nigeria' thing??).

In my listing I mentioned that I'd ship to Australia via AusPost and wouldn't have the faintest idea on how to send via TNT express.

Can anyone help me out with some advice here?

Thanks
Paul

[sirhc55]

Paul - Nigeria and eBay in the same sentence would, IMO, be courting disaster.

[NikonUser]

My thoughts exactly...

However they have offered to pay via bank transfer or postal money order. If I wait for the money to be cleared would there be any problem?

What if I contact the buyer and say something like:

In my listing I specified that I would send only to Australia and can't ship it out of the country. I suggest that I send it to the address you have registered on your eBay account and you can then send it on.

I really don't want to be burned on my first ever eBay sale!

Paul

[huynhie]

Dont worry too much about this every thing sounds legit to me.

First off your dealing with a Pastor who is a religious figure. There is no way he could rip you off.

Secondly you dealing with Nigerians. I have never heard of any Nigerian trying to rip anyone off electronically.

Finally the person has provided you with an address. This address looks legit to me.

so go for it, what are you waiting for.

[gstark]

Paul,

It certainly sounds dodgy. Seeing as how they're registered in Oz, as them for a local contact number, and reiterate that you'll only ship within Oz; how they then get the goods to wherever is their issue, not your's.

Also grab their emails and look at the headers and see where they're being sourced.

[NikonUser]

I just googled a little and found that there are plenty of 'Nigerian' scams going around...

Crap

IF I can contact this buyer AND I get a money order (don't think I'd want to give out my bank details!) AND I wait until the funds clear and are definately in my bank account....

is it then safe to send the item (to the Australian Address)? Or can there still be problems?

If not.... what on earth do I do now? Someone has bought my item... how can I just choose not to accept them as the buyer?

Paul

EDIT: Gary, the email address is a '...@racemail.com' address.'

[kenny12]

ALL CAPS AND NIGERA = SCAM

esp couped with the pastor thing

[NikonUser]

I just found the exact same email posted on another site:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... 25997.html

*SIGH*

So... can anyone tell me what to do next?

Paul

[kenny12]

report to ebay and relist your item, stateing that you will not ship to Nigera

[gstark]

Talk to ebay.

And rots o'ruck!

[phillipb]

Contact Ebay, have the fees cancelled and relist without the buy it now option then you can cancel any bids you don't like before the auction ends.

[NikonUser]

Thanks guys.

Will contact Ebay and try to sort this thing out.

I got pretty excited when I saw someone had bought it.... nice way to wake up...... BASTARDS!!

Paul

[Ivanerrol]

The frustrating thing here is that you are going to waste your own time and effort in establishing the bona fides of your sale. If it turns out to be a scam as it will be a 99% chance of being, you will delay the sale of your D70 by some weeks. Ebay should be able to establish if the details are correct to their proceedures.
Nigerians are famous for phishing expeditions looking for access to Bank accounts.
When I advertise desirable objects on Ebay, I specifically mention that bids are not accepted from Vietnam,Indonesia,China the Eastern Bloc countries and Africa or any such susss area.

[gunn parker]

Hi All
Maybe I am the mug here but I have an account set up just for anything eBay, so if they want to transfer the buy it now price plus what ever price I give them for postage and I wait for it to hit my account before I do anything at all, then as far as I can see I have nothing to loose.
Am I right or am I wrong
Andrew

[sirhc55]

Hi All
Maybe I am the mug here but I have an account set up just for anything eBay, so if they want to transfer the buy it now price plus what ever price I give them for postage and I wait for it to hit my account before I do anything at all, then as far as I can see I have nothing to loose.
Am I right or am I wrong
Andrew

You are spot on Andrew

[ghost]

Yep I agree with Andrew & Chris,
You are the seller, you have the power. If the money turns up, post the item & thats that (although you should maybe send it registered post to cover your ass).
If not, relist and try again. Hassle eBay under the non-paying bidder clause and get your listing fee back. Done.

[shakey]

Hi All
far as I can see I have nothing to loose.

Andrew

Provided your bank guarantees (in writing) that that transaction will not be reversed in any circumstances then you "might" be safe in dealing with a scam artist. For myself there is no way I'd complete this particular auction. The "buyer" has already asked the seller to ignore the sale conditions. Whole thing stinks, and should do, even for those without much sense of smell.

[NikonUser]

UPDATE:

The user is now no longer registered with eBay... It's playing out exactly as the other scams written about on the net.

I told them I couldn't ship out of Australia...

... They got angry and said they are always on business (never home to collect the parcel) and I should just ship it to nigeria quick smart

... I asked if they thought I was stupid

... I've never heard back from them

Now I'm just waiting to hear back from Ebay on what the next step is.

Can I just relist this again now? Or should I wait?

Paul

[Catcha]

Just relist I guess, lots of sellers won't sell to people with 0 feedback or lots of negative feedback. Some ask you to email them before you bid depending on the item. Maybe you should state in your sale to weed out the dogy ones

[NikonUser]

Yup,

I've relisted it and eBay have refunded any fees due to the last transaction.

So hopefully now everything will run better.

Have taken away the 'buy it now' offer and added some other options to hopefully help with a smooth sale this time.

Paul