How to tell if an eBay enquiry is genuine (1 Viewer)

[Gorse Hill]

Just put my van up for sale, and had what looks like a genuine enquiry from eBay but not 100% about it
Any tips or ways to establish if genuine before I waste any time having never used to either buy/sell
Thks in advance

 

[chippy63]

Sold quite a few vans via ebay over the years, normally buyers ask lots of questions, want lots of pictures
then they view. If somebody does all of the above its probably safe to assume they are genuine.

Thats my opinion anyway.

Good luck with the sale!

Karl

 

[magicsurfbus]

Click on their name and check any feedback they've been given as a buyer? It's a starting point.

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[Autowbars]

I don't trust any buyer until they are there with £s very near want I want for anything

 

[Kool Kroozer]

Good luck mate, hope you get what you want for it, but most of all dont forget to remove that spare wheel cage before selling it

 

[tonka]

My previous van got sold to a guy in Spain.. Was very suspicious at first but all turned out genuine and a happy buyer and seller at the end.. If they dont want to come and look at it you know they wont be genuine..

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[chaser]

My previous van got sold to a guy in Spain.. Was very suspicious at first but all turned out genuine and a happy buyer and seller at the end.. If they dont want to come and look at it you know they wont be genuine..

I have bought and sold vans unseen, no probs

 

[tonka]

I have bought and sold vans unseen, no probs

EDIT..... Except any bloke from Uttoxeter !!!!!!

 

[chaser]

Bought this one from Weston super mare,unseen did about 10 000 miles in it France Italy Spain uk put it back on three years later got same money I bought it for to some guy in Manchester , and according to the mot checker thing it's still going strong.

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[chaser]

And I might add, we loved it

 

[34127]

I wouldn't trust feedback as in the past scammers have bought accounts with good feedback. If the buyer offers to buy without viewing and offers to pay by paypal and arrange collection then this will be a scam.
Only accept payment by credit transfer to own bank, don't accept payments such as paypal or western union

 

[chaser]

I wouldn't trust feedback as in the past scammers have bought accounts with good feedback. If the buyer offers to buy without viewing and offers to pay by paypal and arrange collection then this will be a scam.
Only accept payment by credit transfer to own bank, don't accept payments such as paypal or western union

Only use cash

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Only use cash

And take them to your bank before handing over keys, they can check if the notes are genuine.

Be careful that you dont get mugged by someone in the know!

Peter

 

[ROB1CHELSEA1]

Sold mine on ebay and the buyer said they really liked it and wanted it, so i asked for £5,000 deposit and said i would remove the add from all sites if deposit was payed. Deposit was payed that night into my bank.

Rob

 

[Gorse Hill]

Thks for all the info, very useful to be aware of the sly tricks used by some, especially where eBay concerned having never used them and how there system can be exploited by rats

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[Bacchus]

Just put my van up for sale, and had what looks like a genuine enquiry from eBay but not 100% about it
Any tips or ways to establish if genuine before I waste any time having never used to either buy/sell
Thks in advance

To some extent you have to trust your own judgement, if the prospective buyer is simply asking questions then answer them truthfully and concisely, if they are offering to buy unseen then treat them with caution but not contempt but this does happen so trust your judgement, don't release the van until you are happy that you have been paid (either cash paid into your bank or a bank transfer made at their bank are safe, I don't think anything else is guaranteed).

Don't be afraid to stand your ground, you want to sell, obviously, but it is your van until sold.

 

[Dave K]

I wouldn't trust feedback as in the past scammers have bought accounts with good feedback. If the buyer offers to buy without viewing and offers to pay by paypal and arrange collection then this will be a scam.
Only accept payment by credit transfer to own bank, don't accept payments such as paypal or western union

PayPal seems to be the biggest scam going with the amounts they charge for using them to sell

 

[Minxy]

PayPal seems to be the biggest scam going with the amounts they charge for using them to sell

Paypal do NOT offer any protection whatsoever for motor vehicles of any sort - anyone insisting on paying via Paypal is IMV a scammer as they know the transaction is not 'live' as the Paypal payment is a 'promise to pay' so can be cancelled at any time or if money isn't in the buyer's bank when Paypal get round to 'claiming' it, they'll reverse the transaction by which time they'll be off with your vehicle!

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[Dave K]

Paypal do NOT offer any protection whatsoever for motor vehicles of any sort - anyone insisting on paying via Paypal is IMV a scammer as they know the transaction is not 'live' as the Paypal payment is a 'promise to pay' so can be cancelled at any time or if money isn't in the buyer's bank when Paypal get round to 'claiming' it, they'll reverse the transaction by which time they'll be off with your vehicle!

I didn't realise that so thanks for the information, I always thought it was a safe way of collecting funds, I only used them once for selling a car, I was obviously lucky, that was until I got their charges for using them

 

[gus-lopez]

Bought this one from Weston super mare,unseen did about 10 000 miles in it France Italy Spain uk put it back on three years later got same money I bought it for to some guy in Manchester , and according to the mot checker thing it's still going strong.
View attachment 107492

Tidy that is. Private plate as well. Was it the Peugeot engine in it ?

 

[chaser]

Tidy that is. Private plate as well. Was it the Peugeot engine in it ?

No, tranny, never missed a beat, had a bit of rust on it and the people we bought it off couldn't get their heads round that, weren't used to old motors, but mechanically perfect, had shower toilet cooker fridge the lot, superb, £3000 cash, only problem was when the bed was up couldn't use the cooker or anything so had to get up and put bed away before you could have a cuppa so in the end decided on a bit easier comfort and sold it, but never seen a better van conversion anywhere.

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[GAVLAD]

I'm sure you will 'suss' out who is genuine and who is a time waster.
Just don't accept Paypal for the balance, request cash or a bankers draft but if the latter, don't release the van until funds have fully cleared in your bank account (they can reverse a bankers draft and if it's on a Friday, you'd be stuffed)
And don't accept any camels, my brother's a Nigerian Prince or any other

 

[Hollyberry]

I've just strung a scammer along for a couple of days. Easy to spot by:
Text with no contact number. Message started "Hi it Gerard here" (sic)
He would buy vehicle unseen and arrange collection because he is so busy working.
Asked a few questions but ones where the answers were in the ad and also asked "Will I like it?" ( how the hell would I know?)
Gave the "secure PayPal" spiel. He would pay me £2300 over the asking price which I would pay ( cash only!) into a Nat West a/c. Sent me a totally fake PayPal page "showing the money is held securely" The small print on the fake page read like a kids comic " .......PayPal directors held a meeting and passed this into law"

If they won't pay a deposit, see the vehicle and pay by cash verified at the bank or bank transfer verified by you, they're fake.

 

[DanielFord]

These scammers will have many scams ongoing at any one time, therefore they are unable to keep track of the lies they are telling and to whom. A good indicator that you have a scammer is to subtly change the details whilst you are communicating with them.
For example, change the asking price by about £10,000 or indeed change the vehicle, so suddenly refer to it as a sports car. A scammer will carry on without mentioning this, a real buyer will question this immediately.

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[34127]

I've just strung a scammer along for a couple of days. Easy to spot by:
Text with no contact number. Message started "Hi it Gerard here" (sic)
He would buy vehicle unseen and arrange collection because he is so busy working.
Asked a few questions but ones where the answers were in the ad and also asked "Will I like it?" ( how the hell would I know?)
Gave the "secure PayPal" spiel. He would pay me £2300 over the asking price which I would pay ( cash only!) into a Nat West a/c. Sent me a totally fake PayPal page "showing the money is held securely" The small print on the fake page read like a kids comic " .......PayPal directors held a meeting and passed this into law"

If they won't pay a deposit, see the vehicle and pay by cash verified at the bank or bank transfer verified by you, they're fake.

This seems to be most common paypal scam at the moment.

 

[DanielFord]

This seems to be most common paypal scam at the moment.

Indeed, very common now. They will send what looks like an official document from PayPal, saying that funds are held in Escrow. Unfortunately, this is not a service that PayPal offer. I did have a copy of one of these letters, but I can't find it now.

 

[Lenny HB]

Only use cash

Bad advice, difficult to count n' thousands in cash and even if you pay it into the bank before you let them take the van, when they cash up at the end of the day and find it's forged they can claim it back from you. Best to accept payments via online transfer under the faster payments system it is non reversible.

Scams are fairly easy to spot, don't get as many from eBay as you do from Gumtree, sold our last van via eBay without any problems.

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Another scam is to pay over the asking price for some reason and then ask for the overpayment back in cash.

People do fall for it, pay up and then they have do a runner and the original payment bounces, dont accept PayPal for vehicles or Western Union

Peter