Attempted theft soon after sale completed. Be wary of messages

[swaters29]

OK so I listed a valuable item and after a few days accepted an offer. Buyer paid and I was packing the item for Royal Mail Special Delivery when i got a message through eBay messaging.        Hello, texting you about the wedding band which i have bought from you on auction, I won’t be in town for two weeks and could you please send it to mom’s address?

Guess what? joined ebay less than 2 weeks ago, is based in another continent and has zero feedback. Googling the address threw up all sorts of muck with Amazon and dissolved companies.  The true buyer confirmed he had NOT sent the message but a newbie seller could have been caught out.

[tobiasd4]

Sellers must only post to address supplied by eBay when buyer pays.

If they post to a different address, especially through messages, they are not protected by eBay.

[papso22]

Newbie sellers can and are caught out by scammers all the time.  This is quite a common one, it even extends to collection items when they message from another account for collection information, claiming there is something wrong with the account they used to buy the goods.