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Is it possible to sell something on eBay?

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C

ClayKavalier

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I listed my iPad with some accessories with a Buy It Now price that I think is reasonable. I put it up for the first time a couple days ago and got an email that someone bought it for the Buy It Now price within a few hours. The person texts me and says that they've already sent me payment through PayPal and would like me to ship it out as soon as possible. I check my PP and there's no payment, and they say I should check my spam. I do and there's a clearly fake email from "PayPal" saying I need to click a link to verify payment.

I resisted the item and got an email the next day that all fees associated with the transaction would be reimbursed because the purchase was made without the consent of the account owner. I got another email the next day informing me someone else had bought it for the BIN price, and again we go through the exact same story as above.

Is it worth a third attempt? I haven't used eBay in years, is it too full of scammers to be worthwhile now?
 
When you sell the product set it so only people in the US and people with feedback can buy/bid.

Cuts out 98% of nonsense.

Also make sure to write down your serial numbers and pay for delivery confirmation.
 
I would also take pics/video of it operating along with serials so you don't get the swap out for a broke one deal. Been selling on there since 13 and there's always going to be some issues. I get the emails mainly from esteemed friends wanting me to knock the price down. There have been some emails going around to people saying accounts are compromised went they aren't but sounds like a phishing scam to get people to click links.
 
BannedEpisode said:
When you sell the product set it so only people in the US and people with feedback can buy/bid.

Cuts out 98% of nonsense.

Also make sure to write down your serial numbers and pay for delivery confirmation.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks, I'll try that. Didn't even know that was an option.

The site is garbage. I'd like to change the phone number I have on file and I've been trying to figure out how to do that for like ten minutes.
 
This crap tends to happen a lot less when you hold auctions without a buy-it-now price. You can add a reserve price instead if you want to guarantee a specific amount, but this tends to turn some buyers off. I've started listing everything I sell at 00.1 and just letting the chips fall wherever. I've always gotten close to (or above) the amount I was hoping for.
 
If you have a low rating it's a big sign saying sucker. I'm a power seller, and yet to get scammed. i would go through Craigslist or amazon.
 
maruchan said:
If you have a low rating it's a big sign saying sucker. I'm a power seller, and yet to get scammed. i would go through Craigslist or amazon.
Click to expand...

I usually use Amazon for stuff like this but apparently you need to pay a monthly fee for some kind of professional seller account in order to list Apple products.
 
Selling on eBay is difficult these days. I haven't come across this specific type of scam before, but the site is riddled with scammers that will use the buyer protection rules to essentially steal your item.

Before, if you didn't have a tracking #, you were taking a huge risk. Now in addition to a tracking number that states the item has been successfully delivered, you need to document serial numbers, take a bunch of pictures of your item, possibly mark your item so you can prove it has been switched, etc. It's ridiculous.
 
On the flip side, I've just bought a PS1 game from ebay and paid £3.50 for postage and packaging (this is on the expense side) and they've literally sent the game in an envelope with no protection.

Front case has been cracked across the middle and side. Whey lad.
 
You can sell stuff on eBay, but iPads are magnets for these kinds of scams. Popular high price items like that I'd just sell locally. If you were selling some $20 video game or something you'd have had no problems.
 
Yeah, I sold all of my hot toys this year without a hitch. But those are kind of niche items and don't tend to attract scammers. Selling hot electronics is risky business on ebay.
 
maruchan said:
If you have a low rating it's a big sign saying sucker. I'm a power seller, and yet to get scammed. i would go through Craigslist or amazon.
Click to expand...

but how does one get a higher rating without wading through some initial troubles? Surely it isn't that far gone already?
 
bjork said:
but how does one get a higher rating without wading through some initial troubles? Surely it isn't that far gone already?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately that's the way it is if you really want to sell in eBay. One thing people do is buy tons of .99 bin items to raise their ratings.
 
bjork said:
but how does one get a higher rating without wading through some initial troubles? Surely it isn't that far gone already?
Click to expand...

Yeah it's not that bad really. I have a 186 100% since 2013. I've probably sold 250-300 things on there and probably had 5 issues and none where I got screwed I would say. I just mainly sell retro games/pc parts so maybe I'm in a different market. Sold a pc,some 3ds and a Nikon camera with no issue.
 
I was pleasantly suprised 2 weeks ago or so when I listed something for the first time in like a year or two, I could force a buy it now to actually pay for it at that moment or not be able to buy it now.

That used to be limited to store accounts I believe.

I would recommend turning that on so that you don't have the same thing happen again
 
Electronics I'd try on Craigslist first. If you consider the hassle of sending stuff in, ~10% fee on top of Paypal fees and the risk of people just pulling bullshit as you described it's easier to meet somewhere brightly lit and hope you don't get shot.

Only thing I'm really having trouble selling off w/o ebay is DLC, technically it's against their policy but you can sell them w/o a hitch on occasion. I've also had a $25 sale for Thief get nullified right after I messaged customer the code. B/S/T threads don't get nearly the exposure...
 
maruchan said:
Unfortunately that's the way it is if you really want to sell in eBay. One thing people do is buy tons of .99 bin items to raise their ratings.
Click to expand...

Ha, I always wondered if that would work. I have a handful of things I'd like to move, but I think my rating is only 26 or 27 on an account I made in 2002, heh.
 
I'm guessing you're mostly just getting unlucky. I've successful sold an iPad for good money on eBay before. I did do auction, which worked fine for a known, highly-sought-after item like an iPad. Also make sure your restrictions on bidders are as aggressive as eBay allows.
 
I've never had a problem selling anything on eBay. I've sold like 50 things. Someone I know runs a store off of it. They don't really have issues either.
 
Go directly to your ebay seller page. If your item is paid, you can print out the shipping label.

IME, 95% of ebay PM are from people who wont win the auctions, you can pretty much ignore their dumb ass questions.

Also, take prof photos and list your description like a professional, thats the only way to attract quality buyers.
 
SwiftDeath said:
I was pleasantly suprised 2 weeks ago or so when I listed something for the first time in like a year or two, I could force a buy it now to actually pay for it at that moment or not be able to buy it now.

That used to be limited to store accounts I believe.

I would recommend turning that on so that you don't have the same thing happen again
Click to expand...

I was looking to do this, but you need either a paypal Premiere or Business account for that option to appear. Ive put an item up for the third time now, because people would either win the auction or do the buy it now, and then try and scam me. They try to trick you by getting your paypal email, so that they will send payment directly to you, and not through ebay, and then hope that you send the item, and then theyd likely cancel the payment. And if the payment wasn't done through ebay then you are SOL.

Anyways, I think Buy it Now, or Winning an Auction should just be instant payment. None of this waiting for payment, people trying to scam you, or people just trying to get your listing taking down and then not paying. And then waiting a week or so until you can put it up again. Why is there this extra step in paying for an item that you said youd pay for?
 
majik13 said:
I was looking to do this, but you need either a paypal Premiere or Business account for that option to appear. Ive put an item up for the third time now, because people would either win the auction or do the buy it now, and then try and scam me. They try to trick you by getting your paypal email, so that they will send payment directly to you, and not through ebay, and then hope that you send the item, and then theyd likely cancel the payment. And if the payment wasn't done through ebay then you are SOL.

Anyways, I think Buy it Now, or Winning an Auction should just be instant payment. None of this waiting for payment, people trying to scam you, or people just trying to get your listing taking down and then not paying. And then waiting a week or so until you can put it up again. Why is there this extra step in paying for an item that you said youd pay for?
Click to expand...

It really doesn't happen that much, out of 50 things I sold, I had 2-3 deadbeat buyers. A couple buyers actually paid the auction after I sent the "pay in x days" message through ebay. I was surprised.

Again, its not a high ratio for used goods transaction.
 
Chinner said:
On the flip side, I've just bought a PS1 game from ebay and paid £3.50 for postage and packaging (this is on the expense side) and they've literally sent the game in an envelope with no protection.

Front case has been cracked across the middle and side. Whey lad.
Click to expand...

If you raise a dispute about this, eBay will just refund you without much hassle.
 
andythinkpad said:
It really doesn't happen that much, out of 50 things I sold, I had 2-3 deadbeat buyers. A couple buyers actually paid the auction after I sent the "pay in x days" message through ebay. I was surprised.

Again, its not a high ratio for used goods transaction.
Click to expand...

Ive sold 5-6 items in the last couple months, Ive had 3 buyers end up not paying once they win. These however have been for brand new unopened electronics and games.

1st was a zero feedback buyer who I just never got any payment or communication from.

2nd was a buyer who won, and then kept saying that they were trying to pay but that it wasnt working, they said they went to their bank, they talked to paypal, ebay and couldnt figure out what was going on. Not sure if they were hoping to get something out of me, so I just asked if they wanted me to cancel the transaction, I think they said sure, and so I did. So I relisted

3rd was another 0 feedback buyer who won the relisted item as before who did a buy it now within a couple hours of listing it. Asked me to send him an invoice with my 'paypal mail' in the invoice comments. I called ebay and they said that sounds like a scam, never give them your email. So I sent the invoice but with no email. Never heard anything back, and had to open an unpaid item thing, and wait 5 days to relist. That item is currently in auction again now.

With this same item relisted I got a message from a 0 feedback buyer saying they were trying to do buy it now on the item but it kept redirecting them and wasnt working, and again they asked me to send an invoice to their paypal email like this 'BLANK AT OUTLOOK.COM'. Never replied to them. I have gotten several ebay messages like this.

Pretty sure some of these people are just trying to take down my listing, so that there listing of a similar item gets bought.

anyways, so far I am around 50% of buyers not paying. But within a small pool of items so far.
 
I just sell to Amazon for Amazon credit.

They low-ball you, but you get Amazon currency for it and you don't get scammed by assholes on eBay.
 
Takes pictures of the items you're trying to sell, the packaging you put them in, make sure you save any serial numbers as well. Always check paypal directly to see if you received the payment. If its anything over $100 it would be smart to buy insurance for the item(s) as well. Some people might be new to scamming and you can catch them off guard if you've taken all the safe steps to insuring they can't just say they didn't receive the item, or it "broke" during transition.

Another thing, i'd avoid international shipping altogether, you have a better chance of fighting against a scammer that isn't across the globe.
 
Only buy from eBay, not worth selling on.

Maxinas said:
Takes pictures of the items you're trying to sell, the packaging you put them in, make sure you save any serial numbers as well. Always check paypal directly to see if you received the payment. If its anything over $100 it would be smart to buy insurance for the item(s) as well. Some people might be new to scamming and you can catch them off guard if you've taken all the safe steps to insuring they can't just say they didn't receive the item, or it "broke" during transition.

Another thing, i'd avoid international shipping altogether, you have a better chance of fighting against a scammer that isn't across the globe.
Click to expand...

eBay will take the buyers word for it 99% of the time.
 
I've got an eBay account with pushing a thousand feedback, 100%. Mostly selling.

I sold and occasionally flipped things for years - mostly video games, DVDs and books - a lot of times we just needed the money when the kids were little.

I almost never bother with eBay or Amazon any more.

For popular stuff like an iPad, just do CL.
 
The exact same thing happened to me, OP, three times in a row. After the third time, I said fuck it and just put it on Craigslist. Buying or selling, the amount of scams on Ebay seems to have increased a thousand fold since the last time I used it.
 
I successfully sell a lot on eBay BUT I would never sell Apple products or other popular electronics on there. Your chances of getting scammed skyrocket once you start selling popular electronics on there.
 
I've only ever sold one thing on EBay (I've bought plenty though) and the transaction was fine, but I got hit with far more fees than I was expecting, despite thinking I'd read and understood what they were going to be.

I sell everything locally now using Gumtree. Easier to detect the scammers if you have to meet them in person to exchange goods.
 
I'm trying to sell an expensive electronic on Ebay right now, sounds like I'm in for a pain in the ass time.
 
I'm sitting on three pricey Gamecube cables (component, VGA, and NTSC RGB), which are worth $150-300 each that I have no use for and I couldn't sell them locally... I need to put them on ebay but I'm intimidated by the learning process since I never sold anything there, and never sold anything that required me to ship items period.

I'm thinking of putting them up as a lot instead of selling them individually, partly because I'd prefer to get it over with in one go, and also because I think that way the auction might get more exposure (3 rare items together)... any advice?
 
majik13 said:
I was looking to do this, but you need either a paypal Premiere or Business account for that option to appear. Ive put an item up for the third time now, because people would either win the auction or do the buy it now, and then try and scam me. They try to trick you by getting your paypal email, so that they will send payment directly to you, and not through ebay, and then hope that you send the item, and then theyd likely cancel the payment. And if the payment wasn't done through ebay then you are SOL.

Anyways, I think Buy it Now, or Winning an Auction should just be instant payment. None of this waiting for payment, people trying to scam you, or people just trying to get your listing taking down and then not paying. And then waiting a week or so until you can put it up again. Why is there this extra step in paying for an item that you said youd pay for?
Click to expand...

I'll have to look again but I don't have a store and don't have premium paypal so dunno why it let me do that. Maybe it was high enough value?

Naked Snake said:
I'm sitting on three pricey Gamecube cables (component, VGA, and NTSC RGB), which are worth $150-300 each that I have no use for and I couldn't sell them locally... I need to put them on ebay but I'm intimidated by the learning process since I never sold anything there, and never sold anything that required me to ship items period.

I'm thinking of putting them up as a lot instead of selling them individually, partly because I'd prefer to get it over with in one go, and also because I think that way the auction might get more exposure (3 rare items together)... any advice?
Click to expand...

I would look into articles and such on how to sell on ebay if you're really worried.

Only advice I'd feel comfortable giving:

  1. Sell them individually, it's painful, it's annoying, it's more work, sell them INDIVIDUALLY
    • Selling them as a lot will likely mean they only sell to someone who wants to piece them out and sell them on themselves to make money thus highest price will be notably below what the 3 will sell for individually as chances are people willing to buy cables like that at a premium will only want 1 specific cable plus selling as a lot makes it a far more lucrative target for fraudulent buyers
  2. Double Tripe Quadruple check that the payment is received via ebay saying its received, trust nothing else but ebays own site. Accept no workarounds etc
 
Joe said:
I successfully sell a lot on eBay BUT I would never sell Apple products or other popular electronics on there. Your chances of getting scammed skyrocket once you start selling popular electronics on there.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't sell new iPhone (basically any model worth more than 400) or PS4 on ebay but I have sold plenty of older Apple products and its been fine.

Again, professionally taken photos and descriptions. Use a light box.
 
I sell over a hundred items a month on eBay, rarely have any problems or scams against me. I just list everything as buy it now with it set for immediate payment required.
 
SwiftDeath said:
I would look into articles and such on how to sell on ebay if you're really worried.

Only advice I'd feel comfortable giving:

  1. Sell them individually, it's painful, it's annoying, it's more work, sell them INDIVIDUALLY
    • Selling them as a lot will likely mean they only sell to someone who wants to piece them out and sell them on themselves to make money thus highest price will be notably below what the 3 will sell for individually as chances are people willing to buy cables like that at a premium will only want 1 specific cable plus selling as a lot makes it a far more lucrative target for fraudulent buyers
  2. Double Tripe Quadruple check that the payment is received via ebay saying its received, trust nothing else but ebays own site. Accept no workarounds etc
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help!
 
Naked Snake said:
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

And send them registered. You don't want people saying they've never received your expensive items. With a tracking number you have proof that it was received and they can't blame the postal service for losing your parcel.
 
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