eBay scammer - please help

[neofree]

Apologies for Off Topic, because my item is not an Amiga item, but I've been reading these forums for years and I know you guys really know eBay really well.    And I've gotten backed into a corner and I don't know what to do.  Appreciate any help anyone can offer me.

I listed my laptop on eBay and it finished today.  The winning bidder has a score of 0.  I made sure to select that it is shipping to US only.  He now has contacted me asking if I can ship it to Nigeria/Africa.  It doesnt take a genious to smell credit card fraud here.  

I contacted eBay twice via chat and they said I could file an Unpaid Item Dispute.  But when I tried to do that it said I had to wait 7 days.  They also said I could just contact him and say I won't ship to US and see if he will do a Mutual Unpaid Item Dispute.  Well for one I can't find the option. They linked me to the same place "Open a Case"/"Unpaid Item Dispute" and I see no mutual option.   Secondly, if I contact him and say I wont ship to Nigeria, can't he leave me negative feedback right away in spite?   I have 100% and I can't believe I am not protected from a very obvious scammer.   I am pretty sure this is my last time to sell on eBay if this is not resolved properly.

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Neofree

[mdivancic]

I hate selling PC hardware (I won't do it any more) because of this. Just want and file an Unpaid Item Dispute. That's what I had to do (Three times).

Best advice I've got when selling PC hardware like laptops is to make the auction so limiting these nuts can get in on it. I don't allow anyone with low feed back to bid. I require immediate payment via PayPal, stuff like that. You will not get top price this way, but on the flip side, you will not have to take three or four tries to get it sold.

[orb85750]

I've dealt with this before, but it's possible that eBay has changed their policies.  (I don't know.)  Tell him that you will ship to a USA confirmed paypal address only.  If he pays you by paypal with anything other than that, you can refund his money from inside of paypal under that transaction.  You can eventually (after 7 days) enter him as a non-paying bidder.  Non-paying bidders cannot leave negative feedback on the items for which they have not legitimately paid.  Again, the rules possibly could have changed with all the eBay changes as of late, which are mostly bad IMO.  Nothing real comes from Nigeria, unfortunately.  Best, -Dave

[neofree]

So dont reply at all?  Man this is the third time I listed it..  (didn't sell other times) Yeah if I do this again I'll put minimum feedback requirement.

[neofree]

But if I reply and say I will ship to US only can he report negative feedback before the 7 days are up?  Will the Unpaid Item Dispute remove the negative feedback if he does?

Thanks,

Neofree

[orb85750]

That's a damn good question, to which I do not know the answer (sorry).  Could you call eBay support with that very question? I think that's your best bet.  

[neofree]

Do they have a phone number? I tried live chat twice and I didnt think to ask that but still were not very helpful.

[orb85750]

Paypal definitely has a phone number.  I'm not sure about eBay.  Another option.  Let this Nigerian joker pay (or not pay) and either ignore him or string him along.  He doesn't expect to receive the laptop with 6 days, does he?  On the 7th day, report him as a non-paying bidder and he won't be able to leave you negative feedback.  Would he have any reason for leaving you negative feedback earlier if he thinks he's going to get a free laptop shortly?  (I see there could be a problem if you want to relist this exact item right away.)

[Plaz]

I hope things turn out ok for you on this.

My short answer for future sales would be to stop selling on ebay. I did. I've been using craigslist with better results. My item, my listing, my rules. You may not get the premiums gained in bidding, but you don't get the head aches either.

Plaz

[kd7ota]

Off topic:

Plaz wrote:
I've been using craigslist with better results. My item, my listing, my rules.

Plaz

Very good way of saying it.  I recently checked out craigslist myself and I managed to get a 4200+ x2 Socket AM2 cpu from a local guy in my state, and he was very prompt and shipped my item great.

A year ago I myself had someone email me on craigslist and told me if they could send payment using some weird banking system they had blah blah, but i clearly said sorry, US Money Order.  Your rules, your auction.  :-D

On Topic:

I am sorry to hear in the situation  your put in. Hope you get the whole Fleabay situation figured out.

[Amithony]

If i were ebay i would block all traffic from nigeria. It is unlikely that any transaction from there is legitimate.

[redrumloa]

Go the open item dispute route, one of the options is "Mutual transaction cancellation" or something like that. Then further reason select "Both parties decided not to complete this transaction.

In the future make sure to set up your filters. Select what countries you will ship to and block anyone not in those countries.

[Ideal]

I only ship to Europe, UK and USA.
Then I click "Only accept bidders from your accepted bidding blablabla", that way anyone from africa won't be accepted.
I also add in the text: "Absolutely no shipping to Africa."

Hope this helps.
Btw. Try offering the next bidder a 2nd chance offer. Or just relist and type up "relisted due to deadbeat bidder"

[Darrin]

Amithony wrote:
If i were ebay i would block all traffic from nigeria. It is unlikely that any transaction from there is legitimate.

Having worked in Nigeria myself (and other African countries), I would say that "most" transactions from there are probably cons, but there are an awful lot of honest, hard working Nigerians too.

Personally, I would be happy to ship to Nigeria but only if the transaction was covered by PayPal and the person agreed to pay for the recorded delivery and insurance.

The main question to ask your self is "why would somebody from Country X want my product?"  For example, Nigeria is an English speaking country that uses PAL TVs and 240v power, so why would someone want a used NTSC 110v A500?

[neofree]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  But I'm still not able to proceed.  

Should I reply to him or not?

Will he be able to leave feedback before the 7 days?  If so, will the unpaid dispute remote the negative feedback?

Thanks,

Neofree