Canceling order from a scammer -- will this affect me?

[jpaterson84]

I listed a phone for sale a couple of days ago, which I limited to shipping in Canada (no international). Received an email saying it sold, but had a shipping address in Texas. I checked my selling info, and the buyer has feedback from people stating he's a scammer. The text in the "please send me total amount" email was suspicious as well, clearly indicative of your average third-world scammer.

So, I canceled the order and relisted the item.

It has sold again, from another person, also with a U.S. based address, and the email for the total amount was exactly the same. Again, I canceled the order.

Will these cancelations have any affect on me?

I shouldn't have to pay fees for a cancelled transaction, right?

Is there a way I can avoid certain people from seeing my listing, or restrict it to a certain group?

Thank you.

[reallynicestamps]

How did you cancel the order?

EBay has a new service which allows both buyers and sellers to cancel within a few hours of a purchase. Frankly, we busybodies who hang around on these Boards are not too knowledgeable about it because it is so new.

If you used this , fine.

The old system, which still exists, is the Resolution Centre.

Sellers can choose Mutual Cancellation requests or Unpaid Item Disputes.

Mutual Cancellation requires the buyer to agree to the cancellation. The seller gets her fees back. Both parties can leave feedback.

Unpaid Items take longer. They can't be opened for four days. The customer has another four days to react. If the buyer does not pay, she gets a Strike against her account which retricts the amount of bidding she can do. The seller gets her fees back. Neither party can leave feedback.

If you used none of these, your Texas buyer can still pay and you would be required to ship.

and the buyer has feedback from people stating he's a scammer.

From buyers or sellers?

How many? What percentage? What is the feedback of the complainers like?

Since sellers can't leave negative feedback, any who did are themselves unprofessional and suspect.

And many Americans, like many Canadians do not have English as their first language.

Now.

All that seems to say you should accept the bid.

I'm not saying that.

Instead go to the Site Map-> Manage Bidders-> Block Bidder and add both those buyers to your Blocked Bidder List.

They may or may not be scammers, but you have the right to refuse anyone's business.

Has the buyer paid?

If he hasn't, wait four days and if he still hasn;t paid open that Unpaid Item Dispute.

What sort of shipping did you have for US customers?

If you did not specify, you can put in anything you like. I'd suggest discouraging payment by specifying Priority Post USA, which costs an arm, a leg, and his left ear. Then go to the UID when he doesn't pay.

If he has paid, you are about to have a learning experience.

If you don't ship, he can Report you and frankly that's the end of your selling career.

If you do, no matter what he paid for shipping, use a tracked (ExpressPost or Tracked Packet) signature confirmed (it's a buck fifty, no biggie) service. You want it there fast and you must be able to prove it has been delivered. And yes you may lose money on this.

But we are in barn door territory here. We Boardies would never suggest selling something as high fraud as a phone this early in your selling career.

You need to do some buying to get an overview of the eBay experience and to build your feedback. Low feedback is a scammer magnet.

[reallynicestamps]

I spent so much time nattering on that I forgot to mention that you should Report the bidder as an Unwelcome Buyer, because you do not ship to the USA.

Sorry.