Ebay buyer advice

[teebsgt]

Nearly two weeks ago I sold a pair of suspension forks on ebay, not talking big money, under £50. Anyway noticed that the buyer has only a few feedbacks from over a year ago and many of them are negative, as in timewaster. He hasn't paid up yet and keeps giving excuses about banks and money transfers, although he has supplied a mobile number. After a couple of messages I got fed up and opened an unpaid item dispute, today I got a message promising midweek payment if I supplied my direct bank transfer details.

Is it safe to provide account and sortcode info as a means of payment to a dubious buyer? Or should I just let the ebay dispute run its course now and hopefully just be able to relist?

 

[Easy_Rider]

difficult one. all i can say is, there is the same information written on a cheque with the added disadvantage of you signiture too.

ask him to post a cheque.

 

[drcarlos]

Nearly two weeks ago I sold a pair of suspension forks on ebay, not talking big money, under £50. Anyway noticed that the buyer has only a few feedbacks from over a year ago and many of them are negative, as in timewaster. He hasn't paid up yet and keeps giving excuses about banks and money transfers, although he has supplied a mobile number. After a couple of messages I got fed up and opened an unpaid item dispute, today I got a message promising midweek payment if I supplied my direct bank transfer details.

Is it safe to provide account and sortcode info as a means of payment to a dubious buyer? Or should I just let the ebay dispute run its course now and hopefully just be able to relist?

What were your terms of payment? By bidding he agrees to abide by these so if you state paypal and cheque only he has to pay with these methods otherwise he is in breach of contract, simple as. If you stated bank transfer you have to at least give him chance to make the payment before continuing with the dispute.

Carl.

 

[Neil]

I'd follow the non-paying bidder thing (after all, he / she hasn't paid in two (?) weeks), you should get your fees back, shouldn't you?

Relist, and make sure this ebayer can't bid on them.

Ask yourself this - do you need the hassle of this - it doesn't sound like it's going to progress any better than it has up to now.

 

[teebsgt]

Yeah my first experience of a dubious buyer in quite a few years of ebaying to be fair. See what happens...

 

[Jason802]

Under no circumstances should you give your bank account number and sort code to a dodgy dealer!

His "late payment on a smallish purchase" method is a scam to get you to reveal this information in the hope of finally completing a transaction he had no intention of going through with.

The great thing about PayPal is that you don't need to do that, carry on with the dispute.

Isn't there a thread for dodgy ebayers on here somewhere?

 

[barry2017]

Under no circumstances should you give your bank account number and sort code to a dodgy dealer!

You know, there's a lot of misunderstanding around this, which Paypants hasn't really helped with.

You can't do anything with a person's bank account details apart from set up a direct debit. But that's what the direct debit guarantee is for; phone your bank, and they will snatch all the money back, potentially gong back years.

Bank transfer is a more secure way of moving money around than anything else. Our high street banks are at least answerable to British law, which Paypal/Ebay aren't. People buy houses with bank transfers; have you ever seen anyone buy a house with Paypal?

Stick with your dispute, though, unless you have allowed bank transfer as a means of payment. You are unlikely to see your money otherwise.

Better to sell your forks here. You'll make less money, but you'll have a better time!

 

[Jason802]

Under no circumstances should you give your bank account number and sort code to a dodgy dealer!

You know, there's a lot of misunderstanding around this, which Paypants hasn't really helped with.

You can't do anything with a person's bank account details apart from set up a direct debit. But that's what the direct debit guarantee is for; phone your bank, and they will snatch all the money back, potentially gong back years.

Bank transfer is a more secure way of moving money around than anything else. Our high street banks are at least answerable to British law, which Paypal/Ebay aren't. People buy houses with bank transfers; have you ever seen anyone buy a house with Paypal?

Stick with your dispute, though, unless you have allowed bank transfer as a means of payment. You are unlikely to see your money otherwise.

Better to sell your forks here. You'll make less money, but you'll have a better time!

While those details alone may give him limited possibilities, after an eBay transaction with this guy he could end up with your full name, complete address, your email address and your bank account number with sort code. That's got to be a great start for anyone embarking on identity fraud.

Having the ability to get your money back is nice but not losing it in the first place is better. If you're like me and shred personal mail before recycling, it makes no sense to give all of this information to a random eBayer. It's just a good precaution

 

[barry2017]

While those details alone may give him limited possibilities, after an eBay transaction with this guy he could end up with your full name, complete address, your email address and your bank account number with sort code. That's got to be a great start for anyone embarking on identity fraud.

But it's like I say. Your postcode, address, phone number, email address and bank account with sort code are only enough to take out a direct debit which you are covered against (providing you notice it). In fact, your bank account details are on the bottom of each of your cheques.

You shred your mail because it in itself can be used for identity theft, for example a recent utility bill can be used as a form of ID. Or, there is the possibility that confirming the amounts of money that went into and out of your account would be used as means of proving you have access to a bank account, for example in telephone banking or to set up some types of account with certain organisations.

Really, don't worry about sending your details electronically. But do still shred your mail.