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Suspicious ebay buyer. Need some advice.

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platinumike

Platinum Member
Ok, I was selling 2 brand new sealed in retail packaging items. Im not gonna say what it was or how much it went for, but it is a large sum of money. 4 figures. He buys both, and he is in south america. I figure that they just dont have the product down there yet and he needs it asap. The next day he mails me saying he cant do that payment cause hes having credit card trouble, and He'll try to get his friend to do it. So his friend goes ahead and pays me the money via paypal. However the original buyer is asking me to mark on the box that the value of the contents is $15 so they wont charge him tax at customs. But now this is starting to seem wierd, since He paid me way more then it was worth, bought 2, and now wants me to mark the wrong value on the outside of the box. I think I'll just take the hit and pay w/e the tax is to get it through customs.He also has zero feedback, Im starting to think this is some kind of scam, where it will fail to go through customs, and I will somehow have to send the money back or something. I need some advice on some knowledgable people. Thanks!
 
you dont have to pay the tax, he pays it upon recipt. The only drawback to marking it so cheaply is that you are abeiting him in tax evasion. Your call.... if it was something that customs would have no way of assessing the value of.... I'd consider helping the guy out- it only puts you out if you get caught. Make sure you've got all of your bases covered with paypal though, if they do a chargeback, you loose your money.
 
Help a guy out, it is very unlikly that customs will catch you. This is a common thing for people who buy products outside of their country on ebay. Just write $15, there is no harm in this.
 
paypal can still take money out of your account !!!!!!! they're sneaky like that.. even if you withdrawl your money out.. dont know how you can save yourself just in case..
 
I doubt customs randomly opens boxes to check the value of the item to see people are lying. No one will know you lied.
 
If you have to ask if it's a scam it proboably is. I think he is paying with a stolen credit card or hacked paypal account. "His friend" is the name on the hijacked account. Since the guy has zero feedback you should definitly steer clear.
 
Originally posted by: acemcmac
I usually stall my paypal buyers on shipping stuff out until I have the money in my checking account
Click to expand...

Exactly. You probably should have worked this out with him before he sent the money though. However, there is a real possibility he is using stolen funds to pay you. Since it is out of the country, Paypal will not offer you any protection. Explain that you will mark the boxes as he requested but you must wait for the payment to clear in order for you to ship. Then, once you have the Paypal payment, transfer it to your Bank account and wait a few more days. At this point transfer the money to your savings account and keep the balance in your checking very low (assuming your checking is the linked account). Keep it like this until you can be reasonably sure that the funds will not bounce. This protects you from Paypal, who has been known to withdraw funds from a linked account w/o permission.



 
Attempt to contact the person that the paypal funds came through.

Verify that the transaction is legit.

Also, have paypal determine if the funding is valid. - I think that they have some type of validation or insurance setup for that.

With regards to shipping check the customs rules for the country.

You may be able to mark the package as a Xmas gift. It is right at the holiday time.
 
Dude...I'll bet you $100 that within a month you're gonna get screwed in this. He's using a stolen Paypal account. Paypal is gonna come after you for the $$$ after they realize the fraud.
 
Wow, thanks for the replies, I just cooked a tv dinner and came back. His friend did send me an email at different email adress. The only problem though, is that in the auction page I put I will ship within 24 hrs of payment. Is it ok if I exempt myself from that for a day or two. So I can gurantee the payment is real?
 
Originally posted by: platinumike
Wow, thanks for the replies, I just cooked a tv dinner and came back. His friend did send me an email at different email adress. The only problem though, is that in the auction page I put I will ship within 24 hrs of payment. Is it ok if I exempt myself from that for a day or two. So I can gurantee the payment is real?
Click to expand...

I would risk a negative to be sure.
 
do not go through on this transaction...your gonna get shafted in a few weeks if he does a chargeback on the paypal.


this seems very fishy.
 
are you sending it to the address on the paypal account?



if this ends up being a scam, here's what you do


put a index card that says 'fvck you scammer' in a box big enough to house the items taht you're selling

then put the 4 digit price on the shipping label box

if he wants it he'll have to pay the taxes on it, and then get an index card 😉


the fishiest part on this is him using his friend's paypal account. him emailing you with the other email address means nothing
 
I went ahead and put in a request to have most of the money sent to my bank account. Im going to go ahead and stall him. Then I will email the paypal people, I just hope they answer back quickly
 
Originally posted by: platinumike
I went ahead and put in a request to have most of the money sent to my bank account. Im going to go ahead and stall him. Then I will email the paypal people, I just hope they answer back quickly
Click to expand...

paypal CS is a joke, good luck
 
Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
are you sending it to the address on the paypal account?



if this ends up being a scam, here's what you do


put a index card that says 'fvck you scammer' in a box big enough to house the items taht you're selling

then put the 4 digit price on the shipping label box

if he wants it he'll have to pay the taxes on it, and then get an index card 😉


the fishiest part on this is him using his friend's paypal account. him emailing you with the other email address means nothing
Click to expand...

yea, he coulda just had his friend put the money into his account so he himself coulda given it to you.
 
Originally posted by: platinumike
I went ahead and put in a request to have most of the money sent to my bank account. Im going to go ahead and stall him. Then I will email the paypal people, I just hope they answer back quickly
Click to expand...

You know it's a busy time of year and it's very common to encounter delays 😉 . Just remember that Paypal has been known to withdraw the money from you bank account w/o your permission. You need to place the money somewhere else after it clears into your linked account.


 
In some countries customs charges 100% on the price of the item. I can see why he would ask you to do that. It's your call though. I would steer clear.
 
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