Have sold an iPhone on eBay to non-paying buyers 4 times! How to sell the thing?

[salema]

I’ve got an iPhone X in really decent condition, as it was kept in a case for the 12 months I used it. I have another phone now and could do with the extra cash, so stuck the phone on eBay before Christmas. Nice clear photos, honest and thorough description, etc. I have 100% positive feedback gained over the last 15 years I’ve been on eBay.

Person who won the auction didn’t pay. I chased up and got an apology message: she’d changed her mind. Did ‘second chance offer’ to the next 2 bidders but no response.

Relisted the phone and the same thing happened again. The buyer had bid but accident’ and didn’t want the phone.

Take 3 and I did buy it now/immediate payment. Sold to a guy in the Ukraine, despite me only offering UK postage. PayPal put an immediate hold on the payment and the buyer deleted their user account. Spoke to eBay who advised relisting due to a suspicious buyer.

4th buyer was in Saudia Arabia (again, I specified UK postage only) with 0 feedback and never responded to messages.

I just want to sell the thing! I’ve been trying to get rid of it for over 2 months. Have tried both auction and buy it now. Starting price from £200-£250 (final price has always been £370-£400). In getting daily messages from people asking me to post around the world, when I don’t want the complication.

I’ve never had problems like this on eBay before. Any tips greatly appreciated.

I think I’ll try CEX and others mentioned where you can go in person. Have had good experiences as a buyer in CEX. I bought a laptop that turned out to have water damage inside and they replaced it no problem.

Also true about the amount of time I’ve spend on blooming eBay. I could have earned a couple of hundred pounds doing my freelance work instead of messing about. Thanks for all the ideas. It’s a shame second hand electronics are so scammy.

@AdobeWanKenobi I thought I was onto a winner when I specified but it now / immediate payment but that was the time it was purchased by a suspicious buyer in the Ukraine who had joined eBay that day

@salema have you checked down in your setting that they are set to decline anyone with an address outside of the UK?
If you have those set up and they have still bid there is a glitch in the system as it should automatically decline their bid.

Go into your account, site preferences and then look for the one entitled 'Buyer Requirements'. In there check there is a tick in the block bidders from overseas:

@AdobeWanKenobi thank you for that. Yes, I have got those buyer requirements set up and I’ve just logged in and double checked the box is ticked. It still allowed someone in Saudi Arabia to win the auction.

Message just received:
Boa noite, funciona em Brasil, linguagem português BR?

Ooh and another. Just why??

Halo,

I’m interested in your product. Can you ship it to Uganda??

Kind regards,

N.b. As soon as the current auction ends, I will be taking the advice from this thread

Ok, if that’s all checked then it is a glitch. You need to speak to live chat and tell them this so you aren’t given any strikes for not selling etc

I’m in a similar situation at present, considering upgrading my 8 plus for an 11 pro max and I’m seriously thinking of just using the £170 credit apple will give me rather than running the gauntlet of idiots and time wasters for an extra £130 or so.

Good luck.

Just a thought. Have you possibly ticked those settings after starting this sale? Sometimes they only come into force on items listed after and don’t apply to current ones.
I think all things considered you might be best ending it.

I've bought from Music Magpie and sold games consoles and CDs. V straight forward company to deal with.

As soon as the current auction ends, I will be taking the advice from this thread

Not sure if this is still possible, but you used to be able to end the auction and cancel any bids which had been made ... worth checking out maybe?

Even if you ended up with a snotty message from ebay, it's got to be better than losing the lot (and IMO it's not as if they're much help if you did)

Facebook marketplace or Gumtree. Cash only. I wouldn't sell anything very valuable on ebay as they always side with buyer.

Oh, and just to add it's not only "places I won't post to" which you need to think of blocking; a fuller list to consider is here, some of which may or may not still be possible:

Anyone given (chosen number) of negative feedbacks
Unpaid item strikes listed against them
Have bid on a number of items but then retracted bids
No PayPal account
Don't have a credit or debit card linked to their account
Gone against eBay policies

Safest of all, though, is just not to list anything worth more than you'd be prepered to lose ...