I found this on another numismatic forum. Here's the scenario: A seller on eBay has up for sale, on BIN, a 100 oz. bar of silver from the RCM(Royal Canadian Mint) and clearly states in their listing they are only accepting bids from within the U.S including Alaska and Hawaii and will ship to U.S. address only. A buyer, from Canada, is interested in buying the bar, listed for $4500. (RED FLAG # 1) Buyer asks seller if they would accept a check for payment instead of PayPal(RED FLAG #2) Seller agrees(STUPID) and receives the check and deposits it. The funds were credited to the sellers account the next day, which is usual if the deposit was made after 3 P.M.; however most all banks and credit unions hold the funds for 5 business days before they are available, for the check to clear the issuer's bank, and some hold out of country checks for longer. Seller ships the bar the very next day from depositing the check, and of course several days later receives notice from their bank the funds are on hold(GEE YOU COULDN'T SEE THAT COMING). They check the tracking number and low and behold the bar was delivered to the buyer that very same day. The check turned out to be stolen, the seller is out the $4500, and the 100 oz. bar and now wants advice on what to do about the entire mess. Unbelievable!
Maybe the seller was color blind and couldn't see those red flags. Very expensive lesson learned... and a good reason not to bypass PayPal, despite all the negativity heaped upon it here at CT.
There are all kinds of people looking to scam someone, and on eBay buyer and sellers need to be aware of this. This time the buyer got the seller. Expensive lesson. My lesson on eBay in that way only cost me about 19.00 and some lost sales because I immediately went into protective mode and stopped taking Credit Card payments over PayPal (my buyer that stiffed me paid via paypal w/ a card, but after I shipped paypal came back and reversed the charge because the buyer said his/her account was hacked or something and the card was used fraudulently), so for a month or more I had less sales than I expected until I could figure out what my response to buyers would be in certain situations (a plan). I had no recourse. Maybe it's changed since 2005 when that happened but I would still be wary. I've told buyers if they want to send a check that is fine, but I may not send them the item for months to make sure the check is good. That usually gets them to pay the "right" way. Seller got greedy and/or wanted to keep his reputation by speedy delivery and got burned. I do feel for him, it's not a pleasant experience.
Un fortunately there probably isn't a whole lot he can do about it other than chalk it up to an expensive lesson in experience.
A lesson learned I suppose. There are tons of idiots on Ebay though. I can't you how many 1/2 oz (standard, not troy) lots of silver coins sell for $50+, more than twice what they're worth! And these are not coins that have any real numismatic value really, just junk dimes, quarters, stuff like that. Or the idiots that pay quite a bit of money for clad bars, and then complain in the feedback that it's clad and not solid silver/gold, when the auction clearly stated the bar wasn't solid. Or the sellers who are selling "silver" coins that aren't actually silver. And I'm not talking about scam artists who sell fake Morgans and Peace dollars. These sellers just don't know what they're talking about. It's really absolutely ridiculous. You'd think that if you're going to mess around with money on Ebay, you'd at least do your research and know what you're getting yourself into.
Yeah that's really unfortunate. I feel bad for that seller and I hope he finds a round about way to get his money. Like send Tony Soprano and his goons over to Canada to take care of that ripoff dude.
This is what I was thinking to Condor. First thing he did wrong was to sell this outside of the eBay listing, which btw he did have a winner bidder on this. Second thing he did wrong was to take a payment from a check, instead of the usual eBay payment methods. Bottom line here is eBay can't and shouldn't do anything.
Personally, for $4500 I'd contact the local police office to report a case of fraud. I'd check local online listings (craigslist) to see if the item was listed for sale at the same time it would have arrived. And I'd find someone named Tony or Mario who owns a pond or lake that has FISHES.
When you open your eBay account, you agree to a contract which stipulates what payments can be taken. Sorry, but when you cheat, cut corners and don't stand on your word. (Your word was given in the agreement.) I cannot feel sorry for you. That's it in a nutshell. If your word is no good, you are no good. If you don;t want to abide by the agreement, don't make the contract. IMHO gary
