Be Excellent To Each Other

So I finally got round to putting my Apple PowerMac G5 on eBay, and it's been an... interesting experience. Aside from the deluge of emails from teh foreignz, asking me for prices for shipping the item to Italy and France, I've also started to get really really bad phishing attempts. The first came today as the item's price crossed the £400 barrier, whereupon I was told that someone had listed an identical item—even with the same picture... Just click this not-at-all-fake-eBay-site link to see! (eBay, unsurprisingly, didn't answer when I forwarded on the message.) Since then, there's been a small flurry of people asking me 'Are you interested in wholesale the digital products in a low price and high quality?' Usefully—and this is a real plus, I think—they also state that 'Also we offer dropshipping for our resellers'. Wow! SIGN ME UP!

It's rather depressing to think that I'm planning on about 100 more eBay auctions during April, to shift the 800 or so 2000 ADs and various trade paperbacks I've got cluttering up the place. Bleh.

Trade paperbacks listed here for super special bezzie mates first plz.

Hell, I'll happily list the whole lot here if it won't piss people off. There's a bunch of trades (mostly 2000 AD—Judge Dredd, Simping Detective, etc.—some others, and I'm mulling over whether to flog my complete Preacher collection, too), a load of specials, and four huge boxes of 2000 ADs.

I have to hang on to my Preacher collection as Hell's Bells likes to read em

It's only with prestigious items that this sort of thing happens. I'd go into detail about when I "sold" my PS2 on ebay, but it'd just make me fucking angry. I wouldn't expect any of this nonsense selling comic books.

Mm. However, my G5 just got won by:

- Someone who's registered with eBay in 2006, but only won her first item in January;
- Has +34 feedback, solely made up from eBooks and get-rich crap, costing about 15p per win;
- Has a totally different contact name and address in her 'invoice address' to her 'dispatch address'.

So, a scammer, or am I just being ultra-paranoid?

I've not invoiced this person yet, but have asked how they want to pay, and I've written to eBay for 'advice', although I suspect that I'll get the usual bullshit form email as a reply.

No, that looks very dodgy - either that or her hobbies are very eclectic - mind reading, how to make perfect cheesecakes, betting on horses and motorbiking. I'd be very wary, Craig G.

Get paid via Paypal first Craig, and let it sit in the account for a good few days. Also email them asking for explanation with the mismatching names.

I had someone buy something silly like £200 of comics from my shop once, and they too had different invoice addresses and names on the account. I insisted they change their paypal address to match, and to verify their account, which they did, before I shipped them out. Seemed quite dodgy at the time but never had a problem.

Bidders with feedback purely on low-price vouchers and whatnot are definitely very sus. The fact the account is from 2006 means nothing. These people will register thousands of accounts in advance and only get around to using them all after a couple of years, purely because it looks more credible.

Yeah, I'd be worrying a little bit.

Mm, especially seeing as this is for 500 quid.

Interesting Google Maps snooping, though—both addresses appear to be quite well-to-do. Still, the buyer has no real need for me to send an invoice, and so they can pay right off, if they're genuine. I'll see whether eBay deigns to reply to my message tomorrow before doing anything further (such as sending a second-chance offer to someone who was a clearly genuine bidder).


In case they demand a refund for some reason? I've never had that happen with PayPal so far, but the stories...

In case they've paid with someone else's account, a fake CC, an expired direct debit, who knows. It usually takes a few days for these things to be uncovered, and its usually the day after you send the damn thing. I worry in those scenarios that Paypal will try to screw you as the seller by pulling the money out of your account whether you've sent it or not. I'd also ask that Paypal payments be made from a verified account (and you are thusly protected by, er, the Sellers Protection whatnot), but do check T&Cs.

Any legitimate buyer will understand the need to wait, and the moment they fail to reply to such reasonable requests, you know you've got a dud.

Yup. Had that happen to me recently. Paypal suspended the funds pending their investigation and then returned the money to the paypal account of the 'buyer' while my games went elsewhere.

You could insist on a cheque (to the EXACT value), then wait six working days after cashing it in before sending anything. According to The Man this should mean that provided you were not knowingly party to a fraud, the money's yours to keep.

Crap situation to be in - the buyer is clearly fraudulent, but by the letter of the law, they're perfectly legal.

It gets better.

As noted on that thread, my auction was so good, they bought it twice. Now I'm almost 100% certain (OK, I'm 100% certain) this is a con. Who in their right mind buys two G5s on one evening, after literally buying nothing of worth on eBay? The only possibility of this person not being a fraud is if they're 1) really dumb, or; 2) really eccentric.

Still, under eBay rules, I think I'm still liable to sell to this person. I've written another message, but I bet a get a generic-o-reply. Great that there's no live help or people to talk to on that site... That said, I'll bet I could get a stinking article into at least a couple of mags if eBay's replies and rules lead to me in any way getting ripped off. Mind you, I really don't want to play the journo card.

No-one. Glad you spotted that, Craig G. I wouldn't be sending it out whatever eBay says...

Can't you just say you are having problems booting it up after testing it and so are withdrawing it from sale and then re-list it at a later date?

Sod what eBay says, you *know* if you send the machine without the cashmoneys in your pocket already you will never see it again. I don't believe eBay can really have a problem with you waiting until the payment is verified as genuine before you shipped it out.

Three times now, it seems. Someone really likes their G5s.

Have you told the other people 'she' bought from about your suspicions, which seem more and more valid with every post?

I emailed the second seller earlier, noting my suspicions. I've just done the same with the third. Two could have been a fuck-up in bidding (i.e. bidding on two and forgetting about one—I've done that in the past). However, there's no way with three.

How much is your second-chance bid?

£500. I'm happy to take that much for the unit, but I don't want eBay being pricks about it. Hey, anyone want a G5 for £500?

Save out images of all the pages, just in case you do want to go public with a story. There's certainly a story brewing here...

Good idea. Web Snapper to the rescue!

Now I'm even getting paranoid about the runner-up, although it appears the bloke bid on the other auction the lovely Sally May won earlier, and then bid on mine, losing that to her, too.

God, I hate eBay.

Well it's not surprising that he'd bid on one having been outbid on the other.

My thoughts exactly.

He seemed to do it the other way round, oddly. Still, it's immaterial anyway, seeing as he doesn't accept second-chance offers. That leaves my next offer at a miserly £440, and so I'm inclined to relist.

Ys plz lst. thnks.

Why on earth would someone decline second chance offers?

Maybe they are using the account to bump prices up to a higher one, allowing their 'friend' to put in what seems to be a legitimate high bid, thus drawing attention away from the fraud!

Or I'm just paranoid. I dunno.

Thing is, this person has +247 feedback (99.6%) and bought a computer for over £500 in January (a PC), and so I'm inclined to trust them somewhat. I emailed them, and they got back with "Not to my knowledge, I will check profile and adjust if necessary". They've been sent an offer, so I guess I'll see how the pieces fall.

As for the 2000 AD stuff, I'll go through it at the weekend and list it here before venturing towards evilBay.

Because they accepted the second chance offer of the other auction they were bidding on? (Which in this case was also SCAMMORD)

Well, second-chance man just got back to me.



Even this quite reasonable suggestion has now made me paranoid about someone suddenly wrenching money back. ARGH! I HATE EBAY!

Take a mate, then.

I don't think he means physically wrenching the money back, as he said he'd paypal tonight - but obviously if he hands the item over he won't have the proof of delivery that he'd have if the item were posted via a recorded method.

Then the mate that goes with him should be carrying a camera.

Quite. Person pays. Person takes cash back via PayPal dispute.

Still, this bloke has good feedback and so it seems unlikely. And, yeah, I won't be going on my own anyway. I'm not mental—just paranoid.

I like the camera idea, it's a shame you can't post pictures as feedback, you both doing thumbs up at the camera would be ace.

Regarding the "I never received the item" get-out, that would be interesting anyway, because 'collection' was one of the shipping options I offered. Had I not done that, it could be more problematic, perhaps. Still, the bloke's feedback, which I've now trawled, includes two other PCs and a bunch of drumming stuff. Maybe he wants a G5 because most music stuff works badly on Intel Macs.

I will bear in mind the thumbs-up for future eBaying.

Say all of this to him. He might understand be completely reasonable and comply with you.

Comply in what way?

Have a photo taken with thumbs aloft.

Oh, right.

And get him to sign for receipt.

a) Not pay you by paypal
or b) Wait until it's "cleared" etc. Basically, if he understand that you're worried he might be willing to jump through a hoop or two.

Good thinking.


I was thinking of suggesting cash, but that then potentially makes me look dodgy and removes his protection. Still, he's not replied to my message yet anyway.


I'm not even sure there is such a thing with PayPal. The only thing I can think of is spiriting the money away to a bank account, but then PayPal being PayPal would probably grab money from there for a refund anyway.

So what's the score? Did you sell in the end?

He's picking it up tomorrow, in broad daylight, at Fleet train station. His PayPal address is verified, and so I'm just going to ask to see some ID before handing the box over, and explain my paranoia away by what happened. I think this guy's on the level. However, if I don't post here after tomorrow evening, it's because I'm floating face-down in Fleet Pond.

Anyone up for a spot of mugging tomorrow?

Not for a Mac, no.

That said, I'd love to see someone trying to run away carrying a 26kg box.

I somehow doubt you would.