eBay

wedgin · ‎10-01-2013

I recently sold a BlackBerry Z10 on behalf of a friend to a buyer not too far away from me in Toronto. I'm not a regular seller, but have sold a few things since 1999 when I signed up. I looked at his profile, it said he had 100% feedback with over 300 transactions, so I figured I had a genuine bidder. The auction closed and I didn't receive payment for over 24 hours. While not major, I did find it odd as most people just get it over right away and you don't need to chase them.

So upon payment my friend packaged and sent the item out via Canada Post with tracking and signature upon receipt. It has now been sitting at the North York Canada Post depot since Friday awaiting pickup. I know if I were buying a brand new phone I'd usually be pretty pumped to pick it up, so I thought this was odd. Getting a bad feeling from this I decided to do a bit of online research on my buyer. I found his Facebook page which said he lived in Canada, but was originally from Nigeria which of course sets off warning bells for me. I then Googled his eBay username and discovered a few people complaining about him selling bum Flash drives. He did issue refunds on them, but either way it does leave me feeling very leery.

Now to this point he hasn't done anything to scam me. My money is still sitting in PayPal, pending for 21 days because I'm not a regular eBay seller which I see as BS given my spotless track record, but that's a whole other thing. Does anyone know what type of scam he's trying to pull? Or maybe I'm just over reacting and the transaction will clear and everything will be fine. I just found that as soon as I saw Nigerian my guard was up on the whole thing. I'm almost wondering that since we required him to sign for the package that we screwed him over in claiming he didn't receive the package, which would then have him try and chargeback my PayPal account. Can I pre-emptively report him based on suspicion, or do I just have to wait for the other shoe to drop?

pierrelebel · ‎10-01-2013

"Can I pre-emptively report him based on suspicion,"

NO.

"It has now been sitting at the North York Canada Post depot since Friday awaiting pickup."

That does not mean a thing. If delivery was attempted at home on Friday - and the parcel delivered to the Post Office while a card is sent advising the recipient to pick up the parcel at the post office - it is quite possible the notice was received yesterday or will be received today.

Patience.

If it is a scam you will find out in due course. In the meantime, hope everything is above board.

wedgin · ‎10-01-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
"Can I pre-emptively report him based on suspicion,"

NO.

"It has now been sitting at the North York Canada Post depot since Friday awaiting pickup."

That does not mean a thing. If delivery was attempted at home on Friday - and the parcel delivered to the Post Office while a card is sent advising the recipient to pick up the parcel at the post office - it is quite possible the notice was received yesterday or will be received today.

Patience.

If it is a scam you will find out in due course. In the meantime, hope everything is above board.

I kinda figured that was the case. I just wasn't sure if there was some preemptive measures I could take at this point. And you do bring up a fair point about delivery notification, I've had the delivered on Friday, notice on Monday happen to me before too.

Also, if this does turn out to be a scam, what exactly would transpire? He'd have the phone and try and get the money back through PayPal, what recourse do I have? The burden would be on him to prove he didn't receive it, or that something was wrong with it correct?

femmefan1946 · ‎10-01-2013

There are some honest Nigerians surely?

In addition to the timing, you have Signature Confirmation and since he will be picking up at a Postal Outlet or possibly even a Post Office, he will be signing. So there is no possibility of claiming non-delivery. And he will be required to show ID when he picks up, which would discourage a scammer.

pierrelebel · ‎10-01-2013

"The burden would be on him to prove he didn't receive it, or that something was wrong with it correct?"

That is correct BUT let's not assume it is a scam at this point.

Have you checked the buyer's feedback as a buyer? Any red flag?

wedgin · ‎10-01-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:
"The burden would be on him to prove he didn't receive it, or that something was wrong with it correct?"

That is correct BUT let's not assume it is a scam at this point.

Have you checked the buyer's feedback as a buyer? Any red flag?

There are a few curious things I saw there. He's bought from the same seller like 25 items in a row a couple years ago which I thought odd. Also he seemed to buy the same things over and over again, like smallish items like flash drives and fitness equipment. I didn't see anything in his purchase history for anything approaching the value of a smartphone.

I find in life I do genuinely like to give people the benefit of the doubt and in this case I'd like to not assume that everyone from Nigeria is a scammer. But I've found there just seem to be so many small things about this whole transaction that have me feeling quite suspicious.

toby_le_pue · ‎10-01-2013

He/She does have bids in on 6 phones or accessaries

recped · ‎10-01-2013

If you work 9 - 5 and have any kind of commute it's not easy to get to your local post office during open hours,

If I just bought a new phone I might be looking to buy some accesories to go with it.

Buying 25 items from the same seller, I love buyers who purchase multiple items.

OP you are being unneccesarily paranoid.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

cumos55 · ‎10-01-2013

Maybe buyer sells what he buys.... and perhaps does well because he buys so much..

It may be a selling ID on eBay...which I doubt... or buyer sells locally.

One never knows

wedgin · ‎10-01-2013

@recped wrote:
If you work 9 - 5 and have any kind of commute it's not easy to get to your local post office during open hours,

If I just bought a new phone I might be looking to buy some accesories to go with it.

Buying 25 items from the same seller, I love buyers who purchase multiple items.

OP you are being unneccesarily paranoid.

I may very well be overly paranoid. I actually grossly underestimated the amount of multiple purchases. It was actually him as a seller to a single buyer. I counted 188 consecutive purchases from this individual buyer, which makes up over 50% of all feedback he's ever received. I know people buy multiples of things, just that just seems over the top, then to leave feedback for all 188 of them.

I can agree with the 9-5 thing, though it's actually at a Shoppers Drugmart which I know their postal stuff is open until 8 or 9 at night. Then again he could be buying so much stuff that he just waits for it to accrue instead of running to the post office every time something comes in.

pierrelebel · ‎10-01-2013

"I know people buy multiples of things, just that just seems over the top, then to leave feedback for all 188 of them."

My personal record is 200 purchases and positive feedback from a single buyer at one time.

However, keep in mind that those 200 positive feedback - one for each item - only counted as 1 (one) in the feedback rating. The same applies to your buyer.

pierrelebel · ‎10-01-2013

"he just waits for it to accrue instead of running to the post office every time'

Why dont you pick up the phone and call the buyer to advise - as a courtesy - the phone he purchased from you is waiting for pick up at the postal station. It will give you a chance to gauge his response.

tobyshitzu · ‎10-01-2013

I wouldnt call him. Don't see anything unusual with a buyer not instantly going to the post office to get their item. And really dont' see that the buyer was originally from Nigeria making any difference then if it was anywhere else. Either they pick i up, or itt will eventuallly get sent back, what difference does it make now?

wedgin · ‎10-09-2013

I wanted to give a quick update on this whole transaction. At this point quite literally nothing has changed. The phone is still sitting at the North York post office waiting to be picked up. On October 5th there was a noticed that the item would be returned to sender in 10 days, so that will be October 15th I believe(not sure on if that's business days or not). I sent the buyer a message asking about picking up the phone and have received no contact back.

So now I'm left wondering what's next? If the phone gets sent back what happens? He will have cost me the price of shipping, as well as a $30 eBay fee to this point. I'm assuming he will want his money back, will I be able to recoup these costs back out of what he paid for the phone if I do have to relist? Or do I basically have to return him his money in total and take a loss on this? Has anyone encountered anything like this before?

femmefan1946 · ‎10-09-2013

So he's not answering the phone either?

Wait until it comes back. Wait until he asks for a refund. If he does not ask for a refund, you ethically do owe him his purchase money back. Postal and re-stocking fees are up to you.

Don't sell for friends. Unless you want to lose that friend and many of the other friends he talks to.

mr.elmwood · ‎10-09-2013

You assume he got the CP pickup notice. Youa ssume he got your email You assume the parcel is coming back on the 15th. You assume because he is from Nigeria, well, I have known some marvelous Nigerians.

Maybe he did not get the notice. Maybe he is out of town. My PO used to hold my parcels for weeks because they knew I would be gone for six weeks. Email is not a valid form of contact.

Pull their contact info and telephone them. How about going on what you do know and now what you don't know.

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wedgin · ‎10-09-2013

@mr.elmwood wrote:
You assume he got the CP pickup notice. Youa ssume he got your email You assume the parcel is coming back on the 15th. You assume because he is from Nigeria, well, I have known some marvelous Nigerians.

Maybe he did not get the notice. Maybe he is out of town. My PO used to hold my parcels for weeks because they knew I would be gone for six weeks. Email is not a valid form of contact.

Pull their contact info and telephone them. How about going on what you do know and now what you don't know.

There are things I'm not assuming here though. I've looked up his eBay username and found evidence of people complaining of being scammed. I feel I'm fully within my rights to be suspicious. While you are right that there could be extenuating circumstances, I'm having a tough time giving the benefit of the doubt. I know if I spend $300 I probably would want to make sure that $300 investment makes it safely into my possession. If he didn't receive the delivery slip, I know he would have gotten the tracking information that I sent out, since it went to the same email he replied to me on 3 different occasions. There is no assumption in whether the package will be returned, the Canada Post tracking site tells right there. I posted a screenshot of it so you can see. I just don't know if that's 10 business days or whether Canadian Thanksgiving will factor into pushing that date back.

Email is the only form of interaction I've had with this person, why would I choose to change the means of interaction? I'm not a phone person. It's actually about the last method of communication I would opt for. If someone who sold me something through eBay decided to phone me at home I'd probably want to slap them upside the head. Everything I've ever done through eBay is email based, so I don't get why I would phone him, especially in a person to person transaction versus a business to person.

mr.elmwood · ‎10-09-2013

Yes, I understand all of that. Email, however, is not a valid form of contact. I had a telephone conversation, last Friday, with someone who had sent me several emails. None of which I received.

A $300 widget? I would order it and tell the PO to hold it, I will get there when I get there. You are assuming this is a private purchase you are assuming they are anxious for. Maybe not?

You don't know if they are getting your emails. You don't know why they are not responding. You are deciding their behaviour based on your expectations. I get that you are a part time seller and stress and risk are not high on yer list of things you want to deal with.

I have a very high tolerance for risk and that has served me very well. When I want to know something, I pick up the phone and talk to someone directly. Not your style, I get that. Perhaps it is the buyer's style?

If this were full on scam, you would know by now.

Maybe the guy bought the phone, hoping it would come in time, didn't and he went back to the old country without it. Maybe he is gone for a couple of weeks and put a hold on his mail. Maybe and ya don't really know.

Nigeria is the cell phone capital of the world. Everyone has one and it is their life. Selling a phone to a Nigerian is like selling insurance to a Cdn, guns to an American, tea to an Englishman.

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asyahijab · ‎10-09-2013

I'm expecting a package from Canada post that supposed to come.

Curiosity I track my package.

It said Item available for pickup at Post Office, Notice card left indicating where item can be picked up.

But I didn't get the notice card (ssh... I have to call them tomorrow).

Is it possible happened to your buyer?

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-10-2013

Email, however, is not a valid form of contact

I have to disagree with that. Of course it is valid...it is not the only way to contact someone but millions of people do use it every day to contact and send information to others.

Selling a phone to a Nigerian is like selling insurance to a Cdn, guns to an American, tea to an Englishman.

lol

If selling phones to a Nigerian is so common, who the heck is selling the phones to them? It seems that very few sellers will send an item to Nigeria. Sorry but I don't understand how selling insurance to a Canadian compares to guns and tea.