This smells like scam, but how??

[HughN]

I'm normally very guarded about eBay listings, making sure bidders have feedback greater than +10, etc., but on a whim I listed a child's bike yesterday as a Buy-it-Now listing.

Within an hour I got two e-mails from eBay in quick succession. The first to say it had been sold, the second informing me of a PayPal payment.

The 'buyer' joined eBay yesterday and (obviously) has a zero feedback rating. His 'confirmed' (and very detailed) address for the PayPal payment is a hall of residence at York Uni.

In reply to his payment I asked when he wanted to collect the bike: his reply (via e-mail, not eBay messaging): "any time, sir, as long as I can collect it from my campus" - which, of course, won't be possible as I live in Littlehampton - as stated on the listing - and 200 miles away.

My gut feeling is that he is going to say he has made a mistake, ask for a refund and then pull the original payment, leaving me £25 down.

I have politely advised him that it is unlikely that he would be able to collect it and...

• I see his IP address is via Chinanet in Beijing...
• I will give him a £5 refund as a gesture of goodwill; if he collects the bike he can re-pay it...
• Because I am ill my lawyers have power of attorney, so a full refund could take up to 130 days...
• I would be happy to arrange a refund via my credit card and PayPal, but I wouldn't want him to have to worry about a possible charge-back...
• If he wants to speed things up, he could send my lawyers £60 cash or bankers draft, which they would refund with the refund...
• I sometimes visit York to visit a Cybercrime consultant in Elvington, but may not be going there for a while...
• A friend of my children is in the same hall and says the food is very good. Could I send him round to say 'hi'?

(not all of this is 100% true )

Hopefully this will set some bells ringing for a scammer, but wouldn't deter a genuine buyer.

Two other eBay members who live locally contacted me after the auction to ask for first dibs if I relist it. They each have good feedback and could come round and buy it. I don't want to if the bike is tangled up in some "contract".

I assume that a purchase + a refund don't fully cancel out and he could still charge-back? £25 is £25...

[Wibs]

What sort of bike was it...?

[doggypaddle]

perhaps you should just ignore it and it will go away along with the payment.
If they're genuine then surely pay-pal and E-bay would sort out their refund if they're genuine?
I cant see how it can be a scam at the moment but it seems fishy!!
besides why would anyone from Beijing want a bicycle? everyone knows there are already "9 million bicycles in Beijing"

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

"9 million bicycles in Beijing"

[HughN]

"Sorry sir but the system told me my last reply had blocked by your mail box.My sincerely apology for didn't see it is in the region of Sussex ,since I'm a new one to be in the UK and user of ebay,I wonder if I could get your pardon and refund, please relist it on ebay .Again apologize for my bad behavior in this contract"

As expected then!

[beamishken]

tell him to request that the sale be cancelled via ebays resolution centre once you agree then the refund should be done automatically by ebay & the case closed he can only scam you if you refund his money via a different payment method

[Phil M]

Could well be a foreign student recently moved to the country/uni with iffy language skills and no idea of the local culture, so a genuine mistake.

[MustRib]

Could well be a foreign student recently moved to the country/uni with iffy language skills and no idea of the local culture, so a genuine mistake.

ermmm....