2. misc-audio
  3. 1344850555

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
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.....
jsd52756
420 posts
 
Another royal PIA is if it's over $2500 US $ you must do an SED (Shippers export delaration). If its not done correctly the product is held up somewhere until it is straightend out. We avoid this at work by only shipping to a freight forwarder here in the USA and let them figure it out. Good luck- JD
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
I have sold a few times to overseas buyers. Try to avoid it if I can but a sale's a sale. The problem I had was undercharging for shipping as asking for an additional $20-30 hardly seems worth it after the item shipped.
If the buyer is an ebay member I would insist on paypal payment and increase the shipping charge. You can easily refund the extra.
tbromgard
814 posts
 
Once the payment clears, why would you care?
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