Buyer no longer becomes a registered user after I accept his offer

[mioso_55]

I accepted an offer for my Pokemon Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box but the user is no longer a registered user. I'm worried that he is a bot because they made their account the same day that I listed my item. Their username is their name then 4 digits after. Are there bots that are making offers for my items? Please let me know and what I should do. Thanks

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

DO NOT SHIP!

Not a bot, as such, just an everyday scammer.

He was booted off the site by eBay when they noticed him.

Phew. The system worked.

Don't do anything.

Your original listing is still active? If not go to your Orders and relist with Sell Similar.

There are not many automatic Blocks but you should be able to block all international addresses (but not the USA the market is too bid) and dead beat bidders with Strikes.

You're fine. 

Best wishes on your new venture. Drop in here anytime you have a question.

[reallynicestamps]

It's a Good Idea to do some buying to build feedback which is a protection against the worst scammers.

It's a Bad Idea to start by offering products in a high value/high fraud category.

BTW - your pictures are awful.

Black is always hard to photograph.

Use them- they show you actually have the product in hand and ready to ship-- but add a couple of stock images if you can find them. Not as the Gallery photo, just in with your own.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

With high risk categories, scammers target inexperienced sellers. They can tell you're inexperienced by your low feedback rating. Usually this happens with items like phones or graphic cards, but I would assume sealed trading cards are also high risk. 

The buyer's account was flagged by eBay and deleted. You might receive an e-mail that warns you a suspicious buyer purchased your item, and their account has since been deleted. 

In this scenario, if you have already shipped the item, the buyer won't have any eBay buyer protection - but they might be able to open a Paypal or Credit Card case. 

If you haven't shipped the item, and the buyer hasn't paid, you don't need to take any action. Just re-list the item. If you aren't on eBay managed payments, you might have to keep an eye on your monthly eBay invoice to make sure that any fees associated with the transaction aren't charged by eBay.

I'd highly recommend against selling anything high risk as a new low feedback seller. Everybody has to start somewhere, I get that. Maybe try to sell some smaller items to gain experience and feedback. As others have said, you can buy a few items to make your account appear less new, but unless you're going to go out and buy 100+ items, it probably won't make a difference. Your account will still bait scammers because they will assume you don't understand eBay's policies, which they can exploit. 

[byto253]

It is still good to buy some cheapy free ship from china items like elastics.  Those high volume sellers reliably leave feedback, as it is likely automated.  Even if it is 2 or 3, it breaks up the big fat zero.

I assume you have many cards, I would take some of fairly low volume and list them up under market value to get sales going.  It is basically a loss leader to get the sale.  I did this with cross stitch patterns my spouse was done with, and for the first few I sent an email asking that if they are satisified with the purchase feedback would be appreciated as I was a new seller getting established.  That had about a 75% success rate but I didn't do it once I had 5 sellerfeedback.   

This will also help with sales, as all things being equal folks will go for an option from someone with more experience, unless they get a pretty good discount.