Advice for a newbie that is now paranoid I'm getting Scammed (again)

[bellswhiskey]

HI there all. 

OK yes i need some advice and any advice would be appreciated. On and off all day  I have been trawling through various posts to see if someone has had the same issue (or advice)  but haven't found anything so here goes:  Have been scammed once already (NEWBIE MISTAKE - lesson learnt) , have had Someone overbid and not pay (thanks to this forum - that is now being disputed) and now I ahve 1 item which is being bid on by a relatively unknown individual - account has been open since last year, but has not been used at all  - until 1 month ago.  Has made 10 transactions in the past month, from 6 differnt sellers, very little reciprocol feedback, no profile picure at all, and the bidding seems off, on my item. (bidding above their own bid).  I had suspicions so messaged them to introduce myself and say thank you for bidding etc, to see if I got a response, and eventually I did, but it was a little odd -  the response was once in capitals, once in lower case, and one response made no sense at all.  Now im a kind hearted person, I know everyone needs to start somewhere, after all we all start at 0, and it could be there are various reasons why the spelling and english was not exactly understandable, but something is screaming at me, - I was going to retract their bids, but as they responded I don't want to appear unfair, or break any ebay rules - . Ive done lots of research into the buyer,  and their 10 item purchase history, and some items are similar to mine and some not - so not sure that tells me anything - Anyway apologies for the long communcation  and the paranoia that Ebay has brought out in me- Any advice, any thoughts, any experience you can share ??? Help? 

[plum993 · Accepted solution]

Not sure which uitem you feel may have attracted a scammer,but you can ceancel any bid your not happy with right up until a listing ends,see here,http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CancelBidShow
Once cancelled ad them to your blocked bidder list here,https://www.ebay.co.uk/bmgt/BuyerBlock? More options here:Click on the "Account tab" >"Site preferences" > "Seller preferences" > "Buyer requirements" and then click on "Show" from the right handside and save.

For the tool chest its best to only take cash on collection as its the safest way to be paid,but you can't refuse alternate payments if a buyer wishes to pay that way.

[bellswhiskey · Accepted solution]

HI there its the Scope - and sorry that would have been helpful

[bellswhiskey · Accepted solution]

and ty for replying by the way - Again, not sure what the rules are etc (apart from names obviously not allowed), I just feel awful cancelling their bids but at the same time the" scope is a lot of money to me and I don't want to appear rude. I did try and speak with Ebay support - but to be honest they weren't the most helpful. - And ty for responding by the way. IS it ok to cancel a bid even if you "think it may be fraudulent? but not sure?" - I'm sure these are completely dumb questions .

[plum993 · Accepted solution]

As said you can cancel any bid your not happy with in accordance with ebay policies,but its best to add any such bidders to your blocked bidder list so they can't bid buy from you again.As also said,report none payment when bidders dont pay.

[plum993 · Accepted solution]

.....and every question matters to the person asking and the person replying 😉

[bellswhiskey · Accepted solution]

Thank you to everyone, In the end I had to go with my gut instinct based also on the reply I received from the buyer- so I have cancelled the bids - and just let the previous highest bidder know just in case they get a shock so that they can retract themselves if they are no longer interested. - I may have shot myself in the foot but so be it - many thanks for all the replies.

[redwick1]

I can understand why you are being cautious but not all buyers are alike

Selling on ebay is a risk and things do go wrong

You have not been scammed if the buyer did not pay and you have opened a non payment dispute

Many members dont have profile photos and many do not leave feedback

In fact I find few leave it now.

If you are going to sell on ebay then all you can do is follow the rules.

They may be a bit worried about you as you dont usually contact buyers and introduce yourself before they buy the item. In fact you dont do anything until they have bought it.

No one can say what will happen but you may be over reacting due to your previous experience.

They may have a bid on your item but they may not end up the winner

[bellswhiskey]

Many thanks for the response : The Scam was a separate incident, the over payment was another one. (lets just say, its been a journey).!

[redwick1]

Ebay is a journey and you do have to be careful and we all have problems sometimes. I would always advise people to start with cheapish items first until they get used to the site/system. If you have already had more than one incident then no wonder you are wary