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How to avoid being scammed?

I wasn't sure where to post this question.

I have a buyer who wants to buy my amp. He has no feedback (neither do I since I have never bought anything on Audiogon.)

He is in Taiwan. I am in the US.

He is offering to pay full asking price on everything I am selling.

He has given me his EBayID, his address in Taiwan, and his e-mail.

I tried Googling his e-mail and it does link to a company in Taiwan.

I have sent him a message on EBay to his EBAYID just to make sure it's actually his account.

I sent an e-mail too just in case.

What else can I do to see if this buyer is legit or not? I am seriously considering not selling it to him since I am paranoid.

Any suggestions on how to confirm someone is legit if they are international?

Thanks.
darinf
rodman99999
6,033 posts
 
I've dealt with those in Asia, in the past. Always felt Western Union was the safest/easiest/fastest: ( http://www.westernunion.tw/en/location_search.php ) As you can see; they have a number of sites in Taiwan. The buyer would have no excuse not to use them.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Just say no to any international transaction unless the person arranges for personal pickup with a dollar cash payment at that time.
unsound
7,315 posts
 
I won't do foreign transactions, just not worth the potential aggravation.
jdoris
972 posts
 
I'd be very hesitant about a zero feedback, overseas sale, esp. with an immediate offer to "buy everything" full price. Lots of potential for headache here. In general, I try to chat by phone before committing to any significant transaction; if that's not possible, I'd pass.

John
steveaudio
331 posts
 
I routinely put in both my fee-bay, & A'gon listings: SHIPPING WITHIN USA ONLY. And I've done probably 1000 selling transactions by now on fee-bay, so I'm not a Newbie, but I don't want to do it.

Also, did you offer international shipping in your fee-bay listing? There are settings to turn that off. And there's a ton to learn about international shipping, it's different country by country in some cases.

Then there's the "no feedback" issue, that alone puts up red flags to a lot of sellers.....
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