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Am I being scammed on eBay?

skafia

skafia

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 4, 2010
277
1
SOCAL
I just sold an iPhone 3G and 3GS on eBay and i have received payment and i have shipped to the address listed on pay pal. The 3G i shipped to NY has been received 4 days ago but the buyer has not responded to my requests to leave positive feedback so my funds are released.

The 3GS has been shipped to Indonesia and it hasn't been received. Im getting nervous Paypal says im protected but only if i had a delivery signature which i did not get, only delivery confirmation.

Now after 13 days when my payment clears, how can the buyers scam me? Will they request to reverse the transactions or dispute it somehow like they didn't receive the item?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Y

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
Yeah, probably. I would never ship a high dollar item like that overseas. They probably used a stolen PayPal account and once the real owner sees the fraudulent transaction, he'll file a chargeback.
 
3

3kids

macrumors regular
Apr 27, 2006
176
0
Most likely with the US one. Almost assuredly with the international one. Sorry. No signatures means out of luck. Paypal truly virtually always sides with the buyer. Even the ones that are scamming.
 
Roessnakhan

Roessnakhan

macrumors 68040
Sep 16, 2007
3,518
510
ABQ
Some people don't even care about the feedback system - its a dick move but your funds will be released soon if there is no dispute on the transaction.

Did you add a tracking number to the eBay auction? Sometimes that speeds up the process.
 
I

i.phone4

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2010
73
0
Call paypal customer service give them the tracking info, if it says delivered they will release the funds. That happened to me when I sold a phone on eBay, they call it a "high risk item" and hold the funds for a while.
 
optophobia

optophobia

macrumors 6502a
Oct 26, 2007
877
24
Hudson MA
The one to NY you MAY be ok.
The one sent to Indonesia, you should just accept the fact that you have been conned, and use it as a lesson learned.
 
skafia

skafia

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 4, 2010
277
1
SOCAL
I have so old all my old iphones on ebay before, and many international buyers too... I guess this is my first :(
 
Z

zrated83

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2010
20
0
The guy could be legit, but you never know. Has the package been delivered yet? Since you didn't get signature confirmation, he could just say he never received the package and then you would be screwed :(
 
W

wkennedy74

macrumors member
Apr 28, 2010
60
13
If you are asking, then probably.

However, I know a very wealthy Prince in Indonesia that is looking for someone in the US with a Bank Account to transfer millions of dollars to.....
 
M

montecarloss919

macrumors member
Jan 17, 2008
94
0
Have experience shipping iphone internationally

So I sold my iphone3gs for $700 to a dude in Norway. Seemed really fishy.. But you have some protection as the seller. Whatever way you ship it (international i'd suggest UPS/FedEx), 100% 100% 100% get a signed delivery confirmation. B/c the way the scam usually works is they want you to use USPS b/c there isnt really a good delivery confirmation method ( even though there is a decent one :) ) and they will say they never got the phone and get the money from paypal back. But if he/she says that and you have your ups confirmation, then your set. Also make sure you send to a confirmed address!
 
M

mysticbluebmw

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2009
249
32
I really don't understand why selling to non-US countries that Paypal considers safe is such an issue. I sell all over the place and I've only had problems with people IN the U.S. That said, I would NEVER, NEVER ship to Indonesia, or countries in Eastern Europe. WAY TOO many scammers coming out of those places, especially for electronics.

The NY buyer, may be fine. He's probably just ignoring your emails because he got what he wanted and moved on. I hope you have insurance on the packages, though. Without a signature, the shipping company may still be responsible for leaving it on door step, if the guy claims he never got it. There are other scams, however.
 
M

mysticbluebmw

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2009
249
32
montecarloss919 said:
So I sold my iphone3gs for $700 to a dude in Norway. Seemed really fishy.. But you have some protection as the seller. Whatever way you ship it (international i'd suggest UPS/FedEx), 100% 100% 100% get a signed delivery confirmation. B/c the way the scam usually works is they want you to use USPS b/c there isnt really a good delivery confirmation method ( even though there is a decent one :) ) and they will say they never got the phone and get the money from paypal back. But if he/she says that and you have your ups confirmation, then your set. Also make sure you send to a confirmed address!
Click to expand...

I know for a fact you did NOT send to a confirmed address, lol. :) Paypal only confirms addresses in USA, Canada, and UK.

But your points are all valid.:D
 
skafia

skafia

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 4, 2010
277
1
SOCAL
I talked to PayPal this morning and the lady released the funds from the guy in NY. The guy in NY still has 45 days for an instant payment, and up to 180 days for a credit card payment to file a dispute, and with almost all cases no signature means I'm **** out of luck, especially if its a credit card transaction.

As far as the guy in Indonesia, I went to the post office and filled out a form that returns the package to me if it is still in the country. If I get the package back then great, I'll re-send it using UPS because USPS really can't guarantee their stuff, the lady told me that the $2.50 signature confirmation receipt will PROBABLY get back to me, WTF?

If it has left the country, then oh well, I'm just going to cross my fingers.

So to recap--for anyone that was stupid like me, SELLER PROTECTION requires signature confirmation! Delivery confirmation alone is NOT sufficient!

Thanks for the help guys.
 
J

jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
52
Indonesia?!? Sorry bud your money and iPhone 3GS is LONG GONE.

I NEVER ship outside of the USA. Pretty much all scams that I've seen are from Africa and Indonesia.
 
D

dwella1

macrumors member
Apr 4, 2009
71
0
Sorry you just gave away some iphones. The only place I have ever been screwed is is indonesia and you have no recourse. For the future make sure you get sigs and tracking and anything else you can get to protect yourself and never never sell overseas. Sorry again

d1
 
skafia

skafia

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 4, 2010
277
1
SOCAL
lorenwade said:
Total scam. Never ship without payment. Ever. Your iPhone is gone.
Click to expand...

Apart from having US greenbacks sent to my door, I assumed PayPal was a good form of payment. It is my fault that I did not get a signature confirmation but I'm hoping as soon as the payment clears I can remove my bank account information so that it cannot be reversed, is that possible?
 
Givmeabrek

Givmeabrek

macrumors 68040
Apr 20, 2009
3,464
1,161
NY
skafia said:
Apart from having US greenbacks sent to my door, I assumed PayPal was a good form of payment. It is my fault that I did not get a signature confirmation but I'm hoping as soon as the payment clears I can remove my bank account information so that it cannot be reversed, is that possible?
Click to expand...

That won't help. PayPal will still get their money. They will pass it to a collections agency if they have to.

There are two countries that you never send anything to, Nigeria and Indonesia. Nothing but scams and stolen credit cards. No way in hell that an iPhone would work in Indonesia anyway. :(
 
C

coelacanth

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2004
434
1
You've realized this already, but never ever send item anywhere without completely complying with Paypal Seller Protection guidelines. You are asking for it if you don't get signature confirmation. (typically Paypal requires sig-conf for items over $250.)
 
foulmouthedleon

foulmouthedleon

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2008
250
14
Annapolis, MD
I've been selling on ebay for over a decade now and have managed to retain my 100% feedback rating, but I'd be very, very cautious selling a high dollar item (like this) overseas. I stick to selling in the US only and any time there's been a problem, ebay and paypal aren't exactly my allies.

In demand items like this are prime targets for any sort of fraud. I'd be careful and proceed with caution.
 
skafia

skafia

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 4, 2010
277
1
SOCAL
Lesson learned.

I guess my only hope is that the iPhone hasn't left the country and they are able to stop it in transit.

I shipped it late day on June 17th.
 
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