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Sold my 2G iPhone, have a few questions

M

murdoc158

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2007
217
1
West Bend, WI
I sold my 16GB 2G iphone on ebay. The auction was won via buy-it-now. The winning bidder has no history, and just joined ebay today. I was paid instantly via paypal, but the buyer wants the phone shipped to Russia via US Postal Service. According to Paypal, he gave me an unconfirmed address (obviously).

Let's say the buyer chooses to say he never received my phone, and tries to get his money back via paypal buyer protection. How can I cover myself incase he is trying to scam me?

According to Paypal, UPS will not deliver to his address, but if I go to UPS.com, I can enter his address just fine. I cannot, however have any kind of signature confirmation. To add to that, shipping to Russia is over $200, and Paypal only charged him $12 thinking I would use USPS. I guess UPS is out at this point. USPS will ship to Russia for $30, but obviously, no real tracking or signature confirmation either. I called USPS and they said I can add insurance for a few dollars more. Is this really enough? I'm very leery about this whole situation. I tried to cancel his bid, but since the auction was closed I was unable to. Should I just refund his money through Paypal and tell ebay what's up?

Finally, if I do end up shipping this, I planned to restore it in iTunes. Is this enough to erase everything, or should I use something more powerful. As always thank you for your positive comments.
 
One word immediately springs to mind: Scam

If it was me personally I would back out of this sale. Just my opinion.
 
Avoid!

Seriously, don't touch it. The payment will bounce, you'll be left phoneless and cashless. The only minor surprise is that they didn't send you 'a little extra' to cover the cost of shipping, if it costs more then just send it over by Western Union etc.

Next time you put it on, get people to email you beforehand.
 
I hate when that happens. It really bad on CL. Best bet is to sell to a friend or someone you meet face to face.
 
fox2319 said:
Seriously, don't touch it. The payment will bounce, you'll be left phoneless and cashless. The only minor surprise is that they didn't send you 'a little extra' to cover the cost of shipping, if it costs more then just send it over by Western Union etc.

Next time you put it on, get people to email you beforehand.
Click to expand...

Can a payment "bounce" if I already have the funds in my Paypal account??
 
I assume its like a check bouncing. If i write you a check and you go cash it then it bounces they will stick you with the charges. So if paypal gives you the money and his/he funds arent here then you will be out an iphone and money.
 
Whenever a person is unconfirmed and has no history, its a good sign of a scam.

I sold my iPhone 2G on ebay and I made sure the person had some history and had a confirmed address.
 
No such thing as bouncing in PayPal. Once you have the money in your account, then you can do whatever you want with it.

If you require more for shipping to Russia, ask him to send it to you the rest.

If you have funds in your account already, then you are fine. If there is no transaction from him, then don't ship the phone. (Sometimes these scammers send fake emails saying "Funds will be cleared when tracking number is received")

If you don't feel safe shipping it because you can't get a Signature upon delivery, then you are not obligated to ship it.
 
Opie said:
I assume its like a check bouncing. If i write you a check and you go cash it then it bounces they will stick you with the charges. So if paypal gives you the money and his/he funds arent here then you will be out an iphone and money.
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure of that. I've used Paypal quite a bit, but honestly, have never had a payment bounce back. For example, I was sent money but had not claimed it yet. It said "unclaimed" until I accepted the payment. Once I accepted it, it was "completed". If I transfer money into my bank account, it says "pending", and "completed" once it's in my bank account. Right now, his payment says completed. :confused:
 
acfusion29 said:
No such thing as bouncing in PayPal. Once you have the money in your account, then you can do whatever you want with it.

If you require more for shipping to Russia, ask him to send it to you the rest.

If you have funds in your account already, then you are fine. If there is no transaction from him, then don't ship the phone. (Sometimes these scammers send fake emails saying "Funds will be cleared when tracking number is received")

If you don't feel safe shipping it because you can't get a Signature upon delivery, then you are not obligated to ship it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing up paypal. That's what I though.

You have any idea if I can cancel a closed auction on ebay or how I can go about not getting this guy my phone?
 
man, sounds kind of like a nightmare. i want to sell my 2G phone as well but really don't want to deal with this kind of thing. I put it up on CL and within minutes I had all kind of Nigerian scams 'release funds when we have the tracking number' etc.
 
Well I did a live chat with eBay. They said there were a few options for me. I think I'm going to try and back out of the deal for my own sanity.

Back to the other topic, how should I erase my phone when I do sell it? Is a restore fine, or should I securely erase it somehow?
 
acfusion29 said:
No such thing as bouncing in PayPal. Once you have the money in your account, then you can do whatever you want with it.

If you require more for shipping to Russia, ask him to send it to you the rest.

If you have funds in your account already, then you are fine. If there is no transaction from him, then don't ship the phone. (Sometimes these scammers send fake emails saying "Funds will be cleared when tracking number is received")

If you don't feel safe shipping it because you can't get a Signature upon delivery, then you are not obligated to ship it.
Click to expand...


WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG


If they open a dispute with Paypal, the money gets taken out of your account right away until a decision is made. Since you cannot have signature confirmation to confirm that THEY recieved it, Paypal will side with him, and you'll lose the money AND the phone.


ALWAYS CYA with Paypal.
 
murdoc158 said:
I sold my 16GB 2G iphone on ebay. The auction was won via buy-it-now. The winning bidder has no history, and just joined ebay today. I was paid instantly via paypal, but the buyer wants the phone shipped to Russia via US Postal Service. According to Paypal, he gave me an unconfirmed address (obviously).
Click to expand...
Holy crap, I'm going through just about the same thing!

I had someone from Russia buy my 8GB iPhone via "Buy It Now" earlier this week.

My auction was only open to eBay accounts in the US, so he created one, clicked "Buy It Now", paid with a PayPal account from a person that had an entirely different "real name" than his, and then wanted the phone shipped to an "unconfirmed" address that's in the middle-of-nowhere Iowa. I'm guessing he's Russian because of his email address and name.

I've had his $$ sitting in my PayPal account for the last three days while I tried to get him to email me back explaining the situation.

After three days of silence, I refunded his money this morning and just now relisted my iPhone on eBay. I filed an "unpaid item dispute" (with the suboption of both he and I wanting to withdrawl from the transaction). I'm betting on that he won't answer that email, so 7 days from now I can have eBay refund me the $22 "final value fee". Ugh.

Ugh.

Ugh.

LOL
 
aristobrat said:
Holy crap, I'm going through just about the same thing!

I had someone from Russia buy my 8GB iPhone via "Buy It Now" earlier this week.

My auction was only open to eBay accounts in the US, so he created one, clicked "Buy It Now", paid with a PayPal account from a person that had an entirely different "real name" than his, and then wanted the phone shipped to an "unconfirmed" address that's in the middle-of-nowhere Iowa. I'm guessing he's Russian because of his email address and name.

I've had his $$ sitting in my PayPal account for the last three days while I tried to get him to email me back explaining the situation.

After three days of silence, I refunded his money this morning and just now relisted my iPhone on eBay. I filed an "unpaid item dispute" (with the suboption of both he and I wanting to withdrawl from the transaction). I'm betting on that he won't answer that email, so 7 days from now I can have eBay refund me the $22 "final value fee". Ugh.

Ugh.

Ugh.

LOL
Click to expand...

At least you could refuse his money. Mine was accepted automatically. I'll have to issue a refund me thinks.
 
Are you crazy or on drugs?

acfusion29 said:
No such thing as bouncing in PayPal. Once you have the money in your account, then you can do whatever you want with it.
Click to expand...

You obviously haven't sold anything on ebay or ever had a problem with a sale.

They can take your $$$ back and leave you with a (-) negative amount if there is a dispute or problem.

Cancel the sale and re-list. Don't send it whatever you do!
 
murdoc158 said:
Well I did a live chat with eBay. They said there were a few options for me. I think I'm going to try and back out of the deal for my own sanity.

Back to the other topic, how should I erase my phone when I do sell it? Is a restore fine, or should I securely erase it somehow?
Click to expand...

First turn off your phone, then remove your sim card, then restore the phone. That's a pretty secure erase for most.
 
murdoc158 said:
At least you could refuse his money. Mine was accepted automatically. I'll have to issue a refund me thinks.
Click to expand...
Nope, couldn't refuse it. It showed up in my PayPal account minutes after the auction was over. I had to use the PayPal "refund" option, which was a piece of cake.
 
aristobrat said:
Nope, couldn't refuse it. It showed up in my PayPal account minutes after the auction was over. I had to use the PayPal "refund" option, which was a piece of cake.
Click to expand...

What a headache. I sent him an email through ebay earlier today. I'm sure he won't respond. Now I just have to figure out how to screen my prospective buyers before they bid.
 
murdoc158 said:
Now I just have to figure out how to screen my prospective buyers before they bid.
Click to expand...
There's an option to not accept bids from people in countries where you're not selling, but in my case, that doesn't appear to stop people from those countries from signing up for a US eBay account. :eek:
 
if you have already received the payment in paypal, then what do you have to worry about.

Usps offers "signture on delivery" and other verified shipping options. I would ship using an option with tracking, signature upon request, and return receipt. Just go down to you usps ask for your options. You may have to pay more, but I hope you factored this in shipping charge.
 
Linuss said:
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG


If they open a dispute with Paypal, the money gets taken out of your account right away until a decision is made. Since you cannot have signature confirmation to confirm that THEY recieved it, Paypal will side with him, and you'll lose the money AND the phone.


ALWAYS CYA with Paypal.
Click to expand...

As in bouncing I meant the funds appearing, then disappearing after, won't happen.

Of course he can open a dispute, but that's why you don't ship without a signature for such an expensive item.
 
acfusion29 said:
As in bouncing I meant the funds appearing, then disappearing after, won't happen.

Of course he can open a dispute, but that's why you don't ship without a signature for such an expensive item.
Click to expand...

Have had it done to me, so it CAN happen. Do a simple Google search on the matter.
 
Don't think that if it gets into your account you are safe....don't ship to an uncomfirmed address or you will be SCREWED.....these scams are so common now...very frustrating, but run away from this situation!!!!!
 
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