I listed a $20 Double Eagle on ebay. The coin had issues like many dings and scratches. Without those issues it would have probably graded AU58 at the very least and possible even MS. I listed it under auctions as raw and ungraded and put a price on it at 6% over gold spot with free shipping. I didn't list any restrictions on who could bid. On the last day of the auction I got a bid at the listed amount. There were no other bidders so the sole bidder won the coin. I didn't get immediate payment so, after one day I sent an invoice. One day later I got an email from paypal that the winner had transferred money to my account for payment. Now the problem. The payment went directly to my email at paypal, not through ebay (red flag #1). The payment was $50 greater than the winning bid (red flag #2). The winning bidder lives in Japan (red flag #3). The winning bidder has a feedback rating of 2 (two) (red flag $#4). At this point (taking into account legalities, morals, ebay rules, paypal rules, etc.), what would the proper action be?
call eBay customer service and ask them what to do. They have visibility into the details that you can't see. The feedback on the buyer is irrelevant, he's a registered member and winning bidder. If the payment is legit, ship it... your mistake in not limiting who can bid is also irrelevant. And make sure you use shipping with a tracking # and signature confirmation. (fixed typos - some day I'll larn speeling)
Contact ebay, cancel auction. I had the same thing happen to me. They gave me a negative feedback for nixing the auction and ebay was clueless to the scam, and wouldnt remove the negative. Was the ebay buyer from the northwest?
The exact same thing had an US E Bay account whip to Japan canceled the transaction and got a negative ! And of course e bay did nada. Even though they knew it was a scam. Nice just another reason why I left fleabay.
You cannot insure overseas shipments. You can register them with a stated value, but the maximum indemnity is about $45.
I've sold to Japan before with no problem and with people with 0-2 feedbacks. But if you're uncomfortable with finishing the transaction the best way is to just cancel it. I think you have to refund his money first and then cancel transaction to get back your fees. As for payment not showing up on Ebay, it happens once in a while. Why? I don't know.
Dont refund him. Call paypal and let them handle it. It could be a stolen card or hacked account. Keep the money but dont ship the coins.
Agree . . . do not ship . . . you're almost certain to receive a back-charge notification from PayPal after shipment.
I would just cancel the transaction and say the item isn't available anymore. Give the refund. Why would you want to have a headache on your hands? The money is going back to the same place from where it was sent. I don't see the purpose of calling PayPal at this point. If you call PayPal and they tell you the account is fine, what do you do then?
I dont, maybe help put a end to the other transaction this fraudster is involved in. Maybe help someone else who just sold a gold coin and runs the risk of shipping the coin and getting a chargeback. I dont see the downside of taking a little extra time and reporting this to maybe help a innocent person who may fall victim. Holding the money for a few days may prevent him from going right to the next target.
