Ebay scam ?

[Moemg]

I have been selling on ebay for a year and so far no problems until yesterday . One person won two of my items so I figured she contact me to negotiate lower shipping or price . My policy is I accept paypal or money orders as payment . She contacts me on my home phone which is bizarre . I have no idea how she got that number . She asks if she can send a personal check and I should wait until it clears and then send her the items . This woman has only bought on ebay once so my scam alert is at an all time high combined with the fact of the personal phone call I'm suspicious . I email her and tell her I only accept paypal or money orders and that I can not accept personal checks . Am I wrong ? What sort of scam could this be ?

 

[73ss454]

I don't know what her game is but if you get a check and it clears I think your golden. Unless I'm missing something.

 

[tryan]

What's wrong with a personal check if it clears before you release the items??

 

[Khan]

A scam:

http://www.moneycrashers.com/oh-how-i-hate-ebay-scams/

Needless to say, I saw that the check “cleared” into my account, and I sent out the item. Then, three days later the bank took the money back out of my account because of the check bouncing.

 

[Walt34]

It might be a counterfeit check drawn on a legitimate account. That can be paid initially (clear) but can bounce up to 60 days later when the legitimate account holder - who was on vacation in Europe and therefore didn't read his statement for 50 days - learns of the counterfeit and contacts his bank.

There can be some pretty creative scams out there.

If the dollar amount is more than you're willing to write off then stick to what works for you.

 

[hankster]

What Khan said. The check hasn't really cleared until the bank with the checking account has made good on the funds to your bank. It sometimes takes awhile between you making the deposit and the other bank paying.

 

[Outtahere]

It does sound like scam. She can get your information from Ebay once she's won an auction of yours but you should have received an email notifying you that she had asked for your contact info.

If your auction stated money orders and Paypal only then I'd be very wary of taking a check from this person.

 

[debster747]

We sometimes sell on ebay and also only accept paypal & m.o.'s. You can refuse to sell to her because she did not follow the seller's instructions. You can then offer it to the second highest bidder or simply relist it.

 

[Moemg]

Thanks everybody ! I'm usually very trusting but this just seemed a little off to me .