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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,324 |
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Valued Member
United States
122 Posts |
Here is a scam, new to me, that almost took place. I recently sold a gold double eagle on ebay. It closed out on a Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. for just over $1800. There were 19 bids on it, with 56 watchers. I went to ebay with about ten minutes to go to see where the bidding stood.
There was a message from bidder999 (not his real ebay ID). He had made a bid near the top but already had been outbid. The message was "If I am the winning bidder and I pay by PayPal right away, can I come to your house this afternoon and pick up the coin?" By that time, the bidding had ended. I was gratified that it went up $150 in the last five minutes. Bidder999 did not win. I sent him back a message saying that it would have been okay, but he did not win. The actual winning bidder paid right away and I shipped the coin the next day.
Then a couple of days later, I received a message from ebay. It said that bidder999 had reported that someone had stolen his user ID and password and, if I had had any dealings with bidder999, I should contact ebay. I received a repeat of this message about two days later. They were ebay user messages, not emails. I deleted the ebay messages so I cannot quote the exact language now.
I more or less forgot about this until yesterday. Then I realized that this scammer must have also had this person's PayPal password too. If he was really a fraudulent bidder, he would have wanted to pick up the coin so I would not ship it to the real bidder999. If he had been the winning bidder, he would have come over here and picked up the coin and poor bidder999 would have lost over $1800. Then I thought that bidder999 might have been able to claim that I should have shipped the coin to him and I was not authorized to give the coin to this other person. I was relieved that this had not happened.
Now, I am thinking that, if this ever should happens again, I would allow the person to pick up the item, but he must present valid ID showing his address to be that of bidder999. Actually, it's probably a better policy to not allow a pickup except in unusual circumstances. I am only an occasional ebay seller. Those of you that sell regularly should be careful if a winning bidder wants to come over and pick up the item. Of course, this would only apply for high value items, not small items. 
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Quote:
Now, I am thinking that, if this ever should happens again, I would allow the person to pick up the item, but he must present valid ID showing his address to be that of bidder999 quoted for truth Also, arrange for the pickup at a public place like a coffee shop or something so your home is not involved in any way. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
I made such arrangements one time. I was buying a lot on Yahoo suctions and one seller in particular. He always had very good coins and was great to deal with. In fact I got most of my unreached Lincolns from him. I believe that they were at least unreached by him due to the frequent IHC's I found in the bulk lots at least 2 out of every 100. But I was on my way to NC just after winning several of his auction and had told him of my trip. He invited me to stop by his home and pick up my stuff since I would be passing within 5 miles of his home. Glad I did. Not only was I treated to a nice hot home cooked meal but I also meet his father whom I had bought several items from also. Great people. Although that stop did end up costing over $100 more that what I owed him for the auctions. I bought several more coin lots that he was going to list straight up. With that said I see your point. I would only do it from a sellers point for a regular customer, and probably never for a high end gold piece. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
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arrange for the pickup at a public place like a coffee shop or something so your home is not involved in any way. Absolutely 110% correct. There have been some recent muggings here in Madison where people werent taking these precautions. They were meeting at the individuals house...strike one. They were meeting in the evening when it's dark...strike two. Luckily in each instance, the victim was not alone or something worse may have happened. So never ever involve your residence, especially when dealing with PM's or coins. You might as well paint a sign on your house saying "I have coins and silver and gold...please rob me when I am not home". Sorry to sound extreme, but muggings, robberies, and home invasions are up in this area as a result of the economy. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
581 Posts |
I'm sorry, but if I'm not someone with a Brick and Mortar store, I'm not going to arrange for a "local pickup" - even in a public place.
Of course, this applies to $$$ items. I would send insured and certified, so I have proof the item was delivered.
If I do a "local pickup" and the guy crawls back under his rock and says he never received the item.
What then?
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Valued Member
 United States
122 Posts |
For Tim Stroud: "Although that stop did end up costing over $100 more that what I owed him for the auctions. I bought several more coin lots that he was going to list straight up." It didn't actually cost you. Your received a good value for your $100!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
I have only sold Ikes from my residence, but I don't think I will even do that anymore.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
it would have threw up a red flag to me because if he was going to come over and pick it up why not bring the cash with him instead of paying with paypal, that is what I would have asked for and told him that way it will save you the paypal fees and you would even cut some off the winning price if he did this, if they refused then I would refuse the terms and tell them I would ship it only and maybe tell them you didn't want anyone knowing exactly where you live or that if something like a robbery would happen with someone you invited to your house your insurance wouldn't cover it so it would be best to just keep it with the proper methods or something like that. I have bought items off of ebay from people that lived close by and have went and picked the items up but I always brought the cash with me when I came and paid for the items while I was there |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19944 Posts |
Good point Bryan!
Thanks for the post, very informative!
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
This sort of thing is so much depending on where you live and how you were brought up. In some areas people leave their doors open and if you had to sell them something, you could just walk into their home and leave it there if no one was home.
In other areas, there are bars on all the doors and windows and even then, there are robberies. Sort of where I live. Someone I know had his office robbed. Front and rear doors are all metal, no windows, nothing of value anyway. Still broken into and ransacked. We have had 2 robberies on my block in the last few years and for coins only.
For me if someone said to give them my address I think I'd give them the address of the local police station. I'll meet them in front of the place.
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Valued Member
United States
327 Posts |
I've done transactions over the i-net and arranged for local pick-up before, and I make sure that we meet in a public place. I've done a couple of higher dollar items where I not only have met in a public place, but made sure that there was a trusted friend overwatching discreetly-armed. (yes, that kind of money involved).
That said, never had problem one.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
107 Posts |
I sell on ebay UK and I'm sure that these ''Paypal Rules'' that apply here also apply Worldwide. If you sell on ebay and accept a paypal payment and then allow collection then the buyer can collect and then put a claim into Paypal for non-receipt. Paypal will ask you for your online tracking number. You obviously will not have one. They are not interested in seeing a receipt or of a photograph of the buyer collecting the goods. Paypal will refund the buyer from your account. You lose everything. The ebay forums in the UK often have tales from sellers who have been 'stung' this way! The scammer has free goods and cannot even receive negative feedback to warn others. It is also worth remembering that a buyer can do a chargeback [by saying that his payment was unauthorised] months after the deal took place. Once again you lose. Luckily enough the vast majority of buyers are genuine collectors and have no devious intentions but there are plenty of scammers out there. |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,324 |
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Posted 03/27/2009 3:38 pm
