Think I just got scammed on ebay

Beta2

Hi all

What do you make of this, I just a few mins ago bought an iPhone on ebay, I paid immediately after the auction ended, I then got the following email:

Hi, and thank you for your purchase. As it is, the current paypal account that I'm using is a personal account (not business) and therefore I don't have to pay ridiculous fees on every transaction that I make, being $17 on this transaction alone. I'm given the choice of accepting (in which case I have to upgrade to a business account) or denying the payment. If I upgrade my account, I'll have to pay a percentage fee on every transaction that I make from this point on. However, if I deny the payment, you can re-pay taking the funds from your bank account and there will be no fee charged me. Now I know that this is an inconvenience for you, so I'm willing to knock $5 off the price for you. If you cannot pay using a bank account, I understand and I have another paypal account that has been upgraded to the business tier that I would ask you to send the payment to instead. I'm going to deny this payment and you can make your choice, I'm hoping that you go with the bank account transfer. That being said, if you cannot do a bank account transfer, please repay the $435 toXXXXXXX@gmail.com.

Once again, Thank You very much for your purchase and sorry for the inconvenience.

-Victor Krug

Alarm bells started ringing at this stage, I rang paypal who were the most unhelpful people I have ever spoken with, they said he has done nothing wrong, they refused to cancel the payment and said he can return the payment easily.

Minutes later, I get this:

Hi, Sorry I hadn't completely researched my options before hand but I have some updated info. It turns out that ebay forces you to accept any kind of payment, so I do not have the option of denying your payment. I could either leave it for 30 days in which case it would be cancelled at the end of those 30 days or I could accept and then refund your payment and then downgrade my account back to its personal standing. If you are comfortable with letting me let the payment sit in pending for 30 days, that would be excellent, but I doubt that you would like to see a $435 payment pending on your account for 30 days. So now there are 3 options, just pay again via a bank account and I will give you that discount I mentioned and have the pending charge for 30 days, pay again via bank account after I refund the payment, or just have me accept the payment if you cannot pay via a bank account. Please let me know which option you are willing to take.

Thanks once again and sorry for the confusion and any inconvenience.

I then rang MBNA, who said ring back between 9-5 tomorrow

I then replied to his email with :

Hi Victor

I just rang ebay and they said its fiine for you to go ahead and deny, once payment is denied I can go via international bank transfer (5 working days) or your other email account

Regards

Steven

I was hoping he would refund, thinking I was gullable enough to follow through with a bank transfer, but he replied

Thanks for your response. There is a "Deny" button on the paypal site that I cannot push, so I can't deny the payment. I've decided that it's not worth making you wait the extra time for the money, so I'll just accept the payment and send it out as early as possible tomorrow.

Thanks once again,

The amount in paypal is marked as unclaimed, he says he can't deny it, Is this genuine??

If not what is my next step??

Thanks

B2

padi89

Beta2 wrote: »

Hi all

What do you make of this, I just a few mins ago bought an iPhone on ebay, I paid immediately after the auction ended, I then got the following email:



Alarm bells started ringing at this stage, I rang paypal who were the most unhelpful people I have ever spoken with, they said he has done nothing wrong, they refused to cancel the payment and said he can return the payment easily.

Minutes later, I get this:



I then rang MBNA, who said ring back between 9-5 tomorrow

I then replied to his email with :



I was hoping he would refund, thinking I was gullable enough to follow through with a bank transfer, but he replied




The amount in paypal is marked as unclaimed, he says he can't deny it, Is this genuine??

If not what is my next step??

Thanks

B2

Hmmm he seems like a sheite seller and has obviously done zero research.Having said that he has replied to all your emails and has agreeded to send it out.If you do not receive it open a dispute.

StormWarrior

Why would he have to pay $17 for getting one payment on paypal? On the UK site sellers only have to py 45p when they accept a payment. I believe he can deny the payment, paypal always gives that option and you don't have to wait 30 days, I myself have denied a payment immediately after getting it. If this happened to me, I would tell him to accept the payment you have sent immediately. Tell him you will report him to ebay otherwise. Or else you can cancel the payment and just not bother going through with the transaction. That's what I would do.

dropes

StormWarrior wrote: »

Why would he have to pay $17 for getting one payment on paypal? On the UK site sellers only have to py 45p when they accept a payment. I believe he can deny the payment, paypal always gives that option and you don't have to wait 30 days, I myself have denied a payment immediately after getting it. If this happened to me, I would tell him to accept the payment you have sent immediately. Tell him you will report him to ebay otherwise. Or else you can cancel the payment and just not bother going through with the transaction. That's what I would do.

paypal fees could easily be $17...

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-xborder-fees-outside&countries=
(3.9% + £0.20 GBP)


fees on a 220ukpound sale would be around 8.78pound ($17)

StormWarrior

Well, it's still extra hassle for the OP, and there must be some rule against trying to circumvent seller fees that way? If I were you, I would cancel the payment and forget the transaction. Let us know what you do!

Vikings

OP, everything the seller has said above would be correct. It does not look like he is trying to scam you. Either way, whatever you do do not send a second payment to him. If you do he can accept the first payment and end up with the two payments and you will have no comeback.

Just ask him to accept the original payment. If he does not want to do this it will be returned to you after 30 days and in the mean time you can report him to eBay for not fulfilling his side of the deal.

HarryD

Looks ok to me.. I don't think it's a scam.
The seller is trying to avoid the ridiculous paypal fees.
Paypal fees are crazy if you ask me..

R