Seller refunded me after item shipped, is this a scam?

[sievo73]

Hi,

I purchased an item via an auction (a piece of HiFi equipment).

The seller notified me that he had shipped it, then I received the follwing message:

''Hi there. Unfortunately you have sent the money to an email address which doesn't have an PayPal account. It's my fault.I have set up an temporary one and will refund you the funds. The correct email address for PayPal is************* ''

I simply completed the Paypal checkout in the usual manner.

He's refunded me the full amount and now wants me to pay him into a different Paypal account, outside of Ebay.

If I do this, surely I have no protection from the 30-day Money Back Guarantee, as Ebay will simply see that I've been refunded in full.  As I've been refunded, will Ebay be expecting me to return the item?

Could this be some sort of scam, or does it sound like a genuine mistake?

The seller has 100% feedback (since 2007!) as a buyer, but absolutely nothing as a seller.

The item is due to arrive with me tomorrow, I'd greatly appreciate any help or advice that the community can offer.

Simon

[redwick1 · Accepted solution]

You did not send to an email address that was not on paypal that was the sellers fault

They sound as if they had an incorrect email address on their listing.

It does happen.

Wait until you receive your item and check it over to make sure everything is OK

Check your account to make sure the refund is there safe

Then tell the seller to send you a REquest payment through paypal from their correct email address. They should put on the item number and id on the request so you are covered by paypal

[sievo73 · Accepted solution]

Thank you very much for this advice. I've been buying & selling on Ebay for years and never had this situation before, so my spider-sense was tingling!