Can I avoid being scammed?

[Gatekeeper]

Selling a high cost item on Ebay and want to cover myself on every angle so I don't get shafted! I was well and truly around ten years ago when I sold dh's synthesizer . The buyer claimed it wasn't working (we had tested it fully before sending) and sent it back. I had to refund him fully including all postage costs and when it did come back we found that he had opened up the back and removed some of the parts rendering it useless . £400+ down the drain and Ebay wouldn't do anything

All advice gratefully received

[Idrinkandiknowstuff]

Insist on cash on collection only.

[Gatekeeper]

they live the other end of the country alas

Have taken loads of photos from every angle possilbe

[HeCantBeSerious]

You're too late then. When you listed it you should have made it collection only.

[19lottie82]

OP ideally you should have listed cash on collection only, but your chance of being scammed is v small TBH, you just had bad luck last time.

What are you selling and how much did it go for?

[Olympiathequeen]

Make sure they pay with PayPal only, no deals on any other form of payment. They may be able to help if there is a dispute. Set your ad not to accept bids from overseas. Say in your ad you don't want anyone with 0 feedback. Enter into an email conversation before sending the goods. It may set off some alarm bells and you can withdraw the item and refund. Advertise locally on schpock as that is cash on collection, free to advertise and you demonstrate the item on collection and don't accept returns.

[HeCantBeSerious]

It's already been sold on eBay so advice on listing is a bit redundant!

[Gatekeeper]

No it hasn't been sold yet...till has a few days to run..this is the only bidder though.

[HeCantBeSerious]

If there's a bid on it then you can't amend the listing anyway. Sonny advice stands!

[HeCantBeSerious]

*So my

[TheHobbitMum]

Whatever delivery service you use make sure there is a guaranteed signature that can be viewed online as PayPal will only take that as proof of delivery not proof of posting etc

[FATEdestiny]

Is it a phone? Photograph the serial number or IMEI.

Post using special delivery.

Ideally don't accept PayPal. As a seller bank transfer is one of the most secure ways to receive money. Buyers usually aren't keen on bank transfer though because a buyer has no protection this way. But if you can persuade the buyer to pay this way, your payment is more securely received.

[JustHereIGuess]

Perhaps you should put it on Gumtree for sale? That way you'll get cash.

Me personally I won't sell anything on eBay that is classed as valuable, when paying with PayPal they more or less 99% of the time side with the buyer, buyers are getting some what more smarter when it comes to "trying to get items for free/scamming the seller"

[viques]

Even if you have a bidder I think you can withdraw the item . Then find a safer way to sell it or realist again with the provisos and suggestions people have made about regulating the buyer, the payment and collection.

[GrumpyOldBag]

What's the feedback rating of the buyer? if it's over 100 or so I think you'll probably be fine.

[Idrinkandiknowstuff]

I'd be tempted to take it down, and put it on gumtree or something instead. No way would I send something high value to a stranger and trust them. I once had someone buy something from me. Luckily not an expensive item, but they claimed it "was not as described" and sent it back for refund. Or actually, what they sent back was a box with a bit of wood in it to add weight. Good old Paypal sided with them as they had a signature to prove i had received the return parcel

[chunkymum1]

Does the bidder have good feedback? If not I'd be tempted to cancel the auction- I recently had an issue with a buyer with no feedback/history who won the bid (listed as collection only etc) then wanted me to deliver and wanted to pay in installments.

It's quite common to get more bidders in the last day of the auction so could you add a note to the auction saying that actually this is for collection only?Then when they come to collect you can demonstrate that it works etc before they take it away. You'd probably need to send a message to the existing bidder to say that you'll honour the original delivery method for them since they bid before the amendment, otherwise you risk bad feedback. Not sure if this is OK on e-bay but might prevent you falling foul of a last minute bidder with no history who wants you to deliver to Timbuktoo.

[HeCantBeSerious]

That wouldn't work chunky.

[ijustwannadance]

If you do go through with the sale make sure the delivery method you choose has sufficient insurance.

[GrumpyOldBag]

I sold an expensive camera lens once on eBay, and it was fine - followed the usual precautions, and even thought first sale had to be refunded it was all OK in the end.

As others have said, Paypal or cash on collection, signed-for delivery, proper insurance and only allow bidders with good feedback ratings.

[Gatekeeper]

Thank you all, buyer has very low feedback (3) as they only signed up to ebay recently. I'm going end the auction and look for some other means of selling it. I know we all have to start off somewhere but not to the tune of £600

[NoSuchThingAsThePerfectParent]

Can you add a video clip of the phone working perfectly?

[NoSuchThingAsThePerfectParent]

If you can't add one on eBay you could set it up on YouTube and add the URL to the description.

[Bloopbleep]

It was recommended when someone tried to scam me that when you ask them to return it you tell them you'll have to check the secret mark you left on it is still there first before you'll consider a refund.When I told my buyer of a games console he could return it and if it had my mark on it I'd refund, funnily enough it just started working after that. It's also a good idea to leave a mark (like with a uv pen) somewhere secret so if they do return it you'll know if it's yours or their original broken version they wanted replaced for free.

[19lottie82]

No point in a video clip......

If there is over 24 hours left on the auction you can pull it and re list.

Personally I'd try gumtree as there are no fees. Just make sure buyer pays cash when they collect and check for dodgy banknotes

[HeavenlyEyes]

just cancel and relist cash on collection only or sell elsewhere and only take cash.