Potential Ebay customer -Scam or just plain Dumb?

[Guin]

So here is the BIG BOLD title of my thing: (not linking, don't want to break the rules

LAMICELL HELMET BLACK SZ 7

And here is this morning's question, complete with no punctuation, from a zero-feedback person:

what color is it if it is black i will give you 75 dollars for it.


Should I block this person from bidding? Or should I just give them the benefit of illiteracy?

[eventchic33]

I just spit coffee on my screen.!!!!!

I would block due to sheer ignorance.If they don't know what color black is than they probably don't know what color money is.

[caffeinated]

Hard to say. But the depths of idiocy no longer surprise me.

As long as you keep the item in the auction and force them to use the ebay bidding system, and ONLY accept paypal/credit card, then you shouldn't lose anything even if it is a scammer (they wouldn't "pay" that way anyway).

[Guin]

I just spit coffee on my screen.!!!!!

I would block due to sheer ignorance.If they don't know what color black is than they probably don't know what color money is.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Liberty]

If it's the listing I saw where the photo is a stock (mfg) photo showing the helmet in all 3 colors, I can understand the potential bidder's question. Even though the title and description says "black", the photo could lead to confusion (I know, I know; it shouldn't, but having been a seller on eBay for many years, I've found that many bidders either don't read closely and just look at the pics or want to be sure if the pic(s) and description don't match 100%).

FWIW, I've always gone by the saying "describe the item as if there are no pics; use pic(s) that would accurately show the item as if there is no description".

Lastly, as a general rule, I don't use stock photos even when the item is new. I always take my own pic(s). If that is your listing, you could easily change the pic to one that has the other colors cropped out. BTW, you have great feedback! :)

Good luck!

[Liberty]

...As long as you keep the item in the auction and force them to use the ebay bidding system, and ONLY accept paypal/credit card, then you shouldn't lose anything even if it is a scammer (they wouldn't "pay" that way anyway).

Oh how I wish that were the case. PayPal is one of the easiest ways to scam eBay sellers. Fortunately, in nearly 11 years and thousands of sales there, I've only been scammed by one "buyer" even though I had jumped through all of PayPal's hoops for their so-called "seller protection" plan. I was lucky it was only for $20.

But take a trip over to eBay's discussion forums, particularly their PayPal and Seller Central boards, and you'll find many instances of sellers getting ripped off via PayPal transactions.

All that said, PayPal has been great for my business. 97% of my customers use it, and I use it 100% when I'm buying on eBay.

But it's pretty easy to get ripped off by an unscrupulous buyer through PayPal, and it's going to get worse. That's why I'm moving off eBay to another selling site where I can, once again, openly offer a choice of payment methods. I don't like eBay dictating that I can offer *only* PayPal to my customers, plus their new item page design coming out in June really sucks.

[caffeinated]

huh, I admit it's been a while since I sold anything on ebay, but I never had any problems with paypal, just moved the money into my bank account before sending anything.

Guess I'm out of the loop, just figured that since it requires use of a credit card or money to be present before it can be sent through the system it was less likely to be used for fraud than, say, fake money orders and such.

[rodandmicha]

I bought a treeless saddle once through paypal and was scammed...saddle never came, well, paypal reembursed me, so I was extremely happy with them!

[vxf111]

That's payback for people who put up ads that say "Ariat Boots, black, good condition" and then act all peeved and put out when you message to ask "what size are the boots," as though there's some universal size and/or the potential buyer is an idiot for not reading the seller's mind!

[RedTahoe]

Unless it's a "Buy It Now" item or a "Make an Offer" item, they are breaking Ebay rules by contacting you directly and making you an offer:

"i will give you 75 dollars for it."

[Guin]

No one can contact you directly anymore, the message was sent through Ebay. But why in the world they are offering $75 when it starts at $50 is beyond me. That's why I think it's a scam, more than just asking what color it is.

In any case, I doubt they're going to bid. I just find it mildly amusing. :rolleyes:

[HuntJumpSC]

I had a 4 horse trailer advertised for $7800 on equine.com once, with "serious inquries only" in big bold letters. Some tween emailed me begging me to sell it to her, but her parents could only spend $2500, and she promised to give it a good home. I politely emailed her back and assured her that my trailer was not concerned about having a good home and that its feelings would be very hurt if I sold it for such an insulting price. :lol:

[HuntJumpSC]

Sold a Louis Vuitton Petit Noe on Ebay this week, and had someone email wanting to buy it for the starting bid. I simply told them I couldn't revise the auction (which I honestly couldn't, being it was a luxury item & Ebay has wierd rules on selling) and just to bid on it. They wound up winning it anyway. :rolleyes:

[tazz001]

My hubby does a trainload of selling on "Feebay" and some of the questions people send are unbelievable...He always answers them politely (ok most of the time). He is precise in his listing giving as much info as possible but there are always illiterates who can't be bothered to try and read the listing. It's just part of Ebay and always will be.

Does you listing have a "buy now" or "reserve" on it...if so tell the person if your item does not sell thru the auction you will contact them and make arrangements.

[RedTahoe]

No one can contact you directly anymore, the message was sent through Ebay.

Yes, but that's still "direct contact" according to Ebay's Terms of Use. When someone "Asks Seller a Question" and says, "I will give you $X for it," it's against the rules.

Since it's only $50 to begin with, I'd chalk it up as a scam, check the person's feedback/history, and if it's empty, report to Ebay for suspicious activity.

[Ambrey]

That's almost as good as the people who put up an item with an opening bid of $50 and no reserve, and then put "WILL SACRFICE FOR $500" in the description. Not clear on the concept of an auction.

Using stock photos of something that's not new and in the box is another of my peeves.

[ReSomething]

I say it is some younger person unclear on the concept. Or just anybody unclear on how Ebay works. I rarely use it and can't remember my PayPal ID anyway so it is just as well.

[pines4equines]

I do some selling on ebay (arh, arh to the person who called it feebay!) And I would worry a smidge about your feedback rating. I'm still at 100% and worry that when someone gets hosed at something that'll drop down. Good luck and maybe you should revise the picture if it's confusing. Again, be as clear as possible with pictures and text then no one will complain.

[Guin]

I have 100% positive feedback on 1157 transactions, so I'm not exactly shaking in my shoes about one wacko who isn't going to bid anyway. I just put this up as a humorous example of either a probable scammer, or someone who can't understand "BLACK" in 16-point bold type.

[greysandbays]

If there is any contradiction whatsoever between the picture and the discription, I'd sure want that cleared up before I bid. For all that buyers can be dumber than rocks, some sellers aren't much smarter.

[chaltagor]

No one can contact you directly anymore, the message was sent through Ebay. But why in the world they are offering $75 when it starts at $50 is beyond me. That's why I think it's a scam, more than just asking what color it is.

In any case, I doubt they're going to bid. I just find it mildly amusing. :rolleyes:

Because sometimes people want the item right away and don't want to wait for the auction to end. Thus they will ask to end it early and usually offer a bit over the starting price. If you want to be protected by ebay and paypal you can put a buy it now with immediate payment required. But this buyer doesn't sound 100% so I'd just tell them to bid if they want to. You can delete bids from neg buyers if they seem hinky.

[Liberty]

Hey Guin,

Just an unsolicited suggestion, but you might want to consider revising your auction title. You have a few characters left over; no sense in wasting them. ;)

I doubt many folks search for the word "brand"; also "NIB" is the abbreviation for "New In Box" that lots of people use when searching for new stuff. So you could change it to something like:

LAMICELL Horse Riding HELMET Black SZ 7 NEW In Box, NIB

That might make it show up in more potential buyers' searches.