Here's a situation, and I would appreciate some feedback from you all
Day 1: Saw a "buy it now" item at an excellent price. Bought it immediately. Sent a confirmation email to the Seller within 30 minutes of buying. Since the seller and I are from the same city, I request if I can pick up the stuff and pay cash/MO. (Seller has a "new" rating).
Day 2: - No response from seller -
Day 3: - No response from seller -
Day 4: Seller Cancels my bid and relists auction. No reason for cancelling my bid is stated. Relist of auction is done exactly as before, with the same "Buy it Now" price. I bid again and win the auction (...since my earlier bid was cancelled). I email him/her again...requesting the reason for cancellation AND *again* requesting to buy the product.
Day 5: - No response from seller -
Day 6: 2 emails from Seller (See below)
"Yes sir your bid was cancelled due the fact that you are not willing to use the payment options which I have selected for this auction. I understand exactly what you mean when you say there are a lot of scammers out there. I have been a victim more than once on Bidbay. Excpecially with the COD option I have received fraudulent checks, Pieces of blank paper etc... I know this is my first deal on Yahoo however i will not be duped out of my machine. Being able to check for authenticity of payment physically is the only way I will go. Sorry if you can agree to send verifiable payment. Which I must add you can put a stop to it at any time such as a Money Order I will agree to take a 100 dollar reduction to gain the positive feedback. Other than that I cannot take a chance I'm sorry. Thanks for the bid and interest but you must understand this is the only way I will do business!! I hope we can resolve this. Sincerely, "
Here's the 2nd email:
"Then you are asking to come to my address no Sir this is getting kind of scary. I don't want to have any threats or anyone to know where I keep inventory. That's OK"
Now here's my problem:
1) what can I infer about the legitimacy of this this seller?
2) Should I send a MO to him/her and risk over $1000? I smell something fishy over here.... but the deal is too good to pass on.
3) I understand that the seller is justified in saying that he intends to keep his privacy. What is a better way of overcoming this issue? (I've already emailed him requesting that we meet somewhere where he feels safe and I pay him cash)
4) Is it even worth reporting it to Yahoo auctions?
thanks
[ edited by ajaju on Jul 23, 2001 11:47 AM ]
posted on July 23, 2001 11:47:26 AM new
Sounds like a flaky seller that may have a questionable piece of merchandise. I'd forget the whole thing and consider myself lucky for not having made the transaction.
posted on July 23, 2001 01:38:36 PM new
If the seller did not state that he/she was willing to meet in person, then the seller has the right to refuse to do so without a buyer trying to FORCE such a meeting.
If a potential bidder wishes to change the payment terms of an auction, they should contact the seller before bidding and obtain e-mail confirmation that the seller is willing to do so.
Move on. Find a seller that doesn't mind meeting in person.
posted on July 23, 2001 03:20:05 PM new
Irene,
I totally agree with you with the "meeting in person" issue.
However, incidentally what has happened is that in the item description the seller states that he/she will accept ONLY MO or Cashier's check.... and in the email he/she states that he will not take any form of such payment ( " ..Which I must add you can put a stop to it at any time such as a Money Order.." ). So what does this mean???
And then.....Yesterday, I even offered to send the MO via snail mail and requested his/her address... and as usual there was no response. If the seller wants ONLY MO/Cashiers check...what on earth would be a way to send it IF I DO NOT KNOW HIS/HER ADDRESS??
posted on July 23, 2001 04:00:57 PM new
The advice above to move on is excellent and sounds like you should follow it.
At best this seller is a flake, at worst this is a scam. I suspect the latter. To me, there are several tips that would cause me to smell a scam. The first is the payment terms. It appears that the seller wants only a payment that cannot be stopped. If they were just worried about a stopped payment, they could just say they were going to put a hold on shipping until the payment cleared. The second sign is cancelling your bid and relisting the auction without notification. If the person did not want to meet in person, they could have just sent an e-mail stating that fact and ask that you send the payment. It smells like they don't want anybody seeing the product before they have the money. Most sellers would probably agree to a face to face meeting on a deal of this $$ amount. I have done it several times on much smaller amounts. All they would have to do is request you to bring cash.
The third sign is to adhere to the old saying, "If it is too good to be true, it probably isn't".
I would also report the seller to Yahoo for cancelling your bid without notification.
posted on July 23, 2001 05:39:20 PM new
I have the "fishy" odor too... have you tried entering the seller's email into *eBay* search on "Seller" and "Buyer"? That would be one way to test their comment implying they have online auction experience, and their history if they show an eBay ID.
I find the comments about blank paper coming as COD payment to be utterly incredible... you'd have to be a near-shooting star on eBay to have had much stuff like that happen to you, IMO. If this is any sort of a scam, you likely have the seller in a panic over your ability to investigate and pursue redress. You could even choose to monitor any further listings by this guy, watch his FB, and use your proximity to help anyone who complains of getting ripped.
Then again, maybe the seller is just a flake who one time in another universe was given a rubber check and can't let go of the anger and suspicion. Do you know anyone who's an attorney or Notary or accountant or similar professional with an office where you could meet this guy for a nominal charge? You might suggest that, at your cost, and see if he agrees, or makes up some other excuses.
Edit to add: Oh, IMO Yahoo'll be zero help. Forget wasting your time complaining to them unless events have taken a much more dramatic turn.
[ edited by pyth00n on Jul 23, 2001 05:43 PM ]
posted on July 23, 2001 05:49:11 PM new
Thank you people for your comments.
I am now considering this as the "If it is too good to be true, it probably isn't" - stevecards. category auction.
Well quite amusingly one of yahoo critics suggests that it is nobody but yahoo auction management who is doing these tricks... have low "buy it now" values, get people to buy it, to increase their sell-through rate.... funny !
I suspect a scam. The seller may not want to sell it to you because you are in the same city, and if you do not get the item, it will be too easy for you to contact the local authorities to press charges.
posted on July 25, 2001 07:43:30 AM new
This deal smells very bad! I would move on and forget it. Why do sellers bother with auctions if they are so paranoid about payments? Geez! I have been doing this for several years and have had only 2 bounced checks. That is 2 out of several thousand transactions!
posted on July 27, 2001 11:37:41 AM new
Did I miss it, or did no one suggest using an online escrow service?
Yes, I know it's a general PITA, but it would certainly test his sincerity--after all, what could be safer for the seller than having an escrow service as the contact/middleman?
