Ebay question

Believe it or not I have Never used eBay.

But I have something to sell and I signed up for an account and listed my item.

Now I've received a message from a prospective buyer offering much more than my asking price and asking me to end the auction and send him an invoice.

The user rating is high but only with two reviews, the oldest being from 10 Sep and both items were low cost items, much lower than my item (a smartphone).

And the user did not place a bid he (or she) just sent a message with the offer.

This sounds like a scam to me.

Have any of you others out there that have used ebay have thoughts on this or advice?

does he want the items shipped out of country?

I saw one recently where someone offered to buy something I was selling if I could ship it to Russia. But he also wanted to include a Western Union money order for $200, for which he would pay me $500. Sounded like a scam, so I didnt bother replying.

They're not asking for any additional money from me though.

He sends you a check, and asks you to send him the difference via Western Union.

Then his check turns out to be counterfeit.

Either ignore him, or report him to ebay (but he'll probably just set up a new account).

Designate your item as PayPal only, no money orders or checks. Costs you 3%, but better than losing 100% to a bad check or counterfeit money order.

I'd follow p_e_r's advice below then.

Why would he pay more money than he has to pay? That's just silly. I suppose he could just want the item and is willing to pay not to have watch the auction. However, it seems unwise.

You can adjust the aucton to have a "BUY NOW" option, where you can list the price that he quotes. If he's willing to pay it, then he'll win through an official way. Y'all win.

doesn't get paid.

tell him to bid if he's interested and forward the email to spoof@ebay.com

I don't know what you're selling, and this does sound like good reason to be suspicious.

However, if he is offering a fair, but not high, amount for your item, and it is not something he can readily get in France, he may be legit.

See, he may know that your item is likely to be bid on vigorously towards the end, and therefore sell for more (possibly substantially more) than his offer.

In any case, don't let go of anything till you have cash in hand or the equivalent thereof.

...he's trying to get the item for much less than it would go for if the auction runs its course.

I have many years of extensive ebay experience as a seller & buyer and I've never seen a case were an offer to buy early was a good deal for the seller.

My experience comes with vintage items like comics, mopeds/scooters, advertising, military items, rare books, etc. The situation might be different if you're dealing with electronics & computer stuff.

Check the completed listings on ebay for similar items to see what they are selling for.

Revise your item on the front page and put a Buy It Now for what he offers, and let the auction run its course.

Bruce

only sellers with a certain rating can do that and I have no reviews.