Bitcoin Forum

I had an item for sale which was approx 3k usd. Anyway it sold immediately but the buyer has zero feedback and the ebay account was made today. It smells a little fishy to me. Is there anything I can do to verify the legitimacy of the sale as right now I feel like cancelling it. I have started to remember why I dislike ebay so much.

eBay is a safe place to sell if you follow the guidelines.  Only ship to the confirmed address and you will be protected. (With proper tracking )

Zero feedbacke or new account does not necessary mean it's fradualent.  Once you made a sale you can request the buyers information from eBay.  That will give you his/her contact information.   Just give them a call to confirm. 

Contact them. Try and speak on the phone and you'll get a better idea if it's a genuine sale or not. Also if their Paypal account is verified you are covered under Paypals seller protection if it does go tits up. Goodluck!

Both of the guys up to me are perfectly right contact them and regarding paypal if you ship the to an address that match paypal and ebay account from buyer sellers paypal warranty cover your as$ completly just give support a call and be sure of it is a lot of money bra

OK thanks will give them a call. The buyer isn't answering messages anyway.

I would ask them to email you from their paypal email address to verify the sale.

A few tips:

- Let buyer pay by bank (SEPA) or bitcoin ( ;D ), this way he can't pullback payment (like with paypal) saying product hasn't been receieved or is broken.

- Always ship with tracking and signature, make photos how you packed the product.

- Let buyer agree once package is openend no refund can be asked from seller.

SEPA is a good idea as long as it is not a US buyer. US banks don't participate in SEPA  :-\.

The buyer sent me an email from the paypal address. I asked for ID and proof of address. He declined the ID but took a photo of the front of a letter with the name and address on. Therefore I think it is still a risk to send the coin as he could have got that photo anyway. I suggested a discount by birtcoin or bank transfer with Escrow but he declined.

minerjones it was me yes C I will be answering the thread a bit later

In fairness, if I were the buyer I would have declined the photo ID and bank transfer as well. Both are risky from the buyer's side. As long as you can send it registered mail with tracking, insurance, and signature required, I think it will work out fine in the end. Maybe call Paypal to confirm what you need to do to be covered and ask them if they can check to make sure his/her account was not hacked.

I know ebay has buyer protection but doeesn't it have a kind of seller protection as well? Especially for such high valued items.
But you can also not send item until funds are received and specifically explain this to the buyer.

The seller protection is capped for certain countries: Philippines, Mexico, and Russia (I think).

good point Pistachio. You should take many pictures of the coin (with something you can proof it are your pictures, part of ID for example or written note + piece of newpaper with date) and packing it. Then let him pay first thru paypal and send it registered, insured, signed for (buyer pays shipping costs of course). Prior to all this send message to paypal regarding this deal expaining once buyer signed for package, no refund can be asked...

Actually he has now sent me a picture of the utility bill opened from Charles Town Utility Board.

Also he has sent me a screen shot from his phone which is an email from ebay saying thank you for checking out as a guest.

So its starting to sound very slightly more reassuring.

I do have full seller protection apparently as stated in the paypal advice slip

One thing is this. On the front of the envelope and on the letter it says: Address Service Requested
What does this mean in the states?

He already made payment. I am just worried stolen Credit card but I will callpaypal as you say.

Make an unedited vid of you placing the item in a box and entering the post office and saying goodbye to it.

Doesn't PayPal offer a limited amount of insurance to protect sellers?

In my experience eBay and PayPal have been great companies to work with.  And remember that we were all new to eBay, or PayPal, or Bitcointalk at some point. When we have no history we need to rely on the trust of others to earn that history. I hope this doesn't end badly for you and feel good (for  now) that you took a shot on  a "newbie".

I've been through this a few years ago when I first bought something off eBay. My first purchase was a gold bullion collectible, and the seller actually called me to verify if I was a con. The transaction went well though. ;)

I'm going to go against the grain, and say I would be very weary about selling a high ticket item to a new buyer.  In my experience, paypal usually sides with the buyer.  All the buyer has to do is say they didnt receive it, or got a empty box, or make other excuses.  Then do a paypal chargeback, and that's that.

The posters have made solid advice, but I would personally not feel comfortable.  I've personally cancelled zero-feedback purchases, on high ticket items.  Even if taking the hit as a seller, I want to err on the side of caution.

 
Since I just purchased #8 from CryptoImperator, you've peaked my interest, care to explain?  Or did I miss the sarcasm...

It was a typo in his original ebay auction #6 was sold, not #8. I had a quick email with Gravitate about it today.

Which is interesting because I told CryptoImperator that I wanted #6 too but was waiting to see #8 in person.  I hadn't given him a deposit for #6 yet so I guess he's going to get away with this.

I guess CI and Gravitate need to clear that up with you personally then

I agree. I would also be weary with a brand new account, and zero feedback. (You would be weary if it was a newbie on here)

The consequences of selling to this guy and it going tits up are you potentially losing the coin.
The consequences of not selling and waiting for the next buyer are that you may get slightly lower, but it would most likely be the safer option

I dont think its a risk worth taking. If this guy has joined ebay after you posted the auction, then my alarm bells would really ring. This coin is not widely known about, and also possibly still available from CI. So they have either seen this coin linked on here (and why not do it as an escrowed bitcoin payment then), or they already had an ebay ID that had a search alert set (and then have created a different account to buy this with). Either way it doesnt look right.

Alternatives .... perhaps a Paypal friends and Family payment .... not linked to the auction. Unsure if that would work ? Unsure if that cant have a chargeback made against it or not. Or good old escrowed bitcoins

Be sure to ask paypal for advice first, then try to make video or few screens about you sending item. I think u are secured.

Before going to sale or buy any product in ebay you must have to check the feedback of those customer.If he is very new and placing the order means you remove the option cash on delivery.

If your buying any product from new supplier means simply go for cash on delivery this will be the safer side.

Hi Hellot sorry about that it was my mistake about #8 I corrected it as soon as I realised. I am not 100% sure the situation with the #6 but I was told a coin was available pending further notice. If you confirmed you would buy it or agreed for CI to hold it for you then I had no right to put it for sale. Is that the case?

Hey Gravitate, no worries.  I looked through my messages last night and while I expressed to CI that I wanted to buy #6 after seeing #8, he did not commit to selling it to me and I stupidly did not follow-up like I should have.  So you're fine, lesson learned on my part.