Nicci

I put concert tickets up for sale on ebay last night (my first ebay sale), there are 4 days left on the auction.

I do not have any bids on it yet but someone has contacted me and offered a price I am happy with.

The person has been a member for 2 days and has no feedback.

I am worried it may be a dodgy person, as ebay warns of people contacting you direct for a sale should be reported.

It could be that he is genuine and wants the tickets.

I don't know what to do?

My last message to him was to ask why he has not bid on ebay.

Any ebay pro's want to advise me please?

Scooby96

I have people contacting me directly to end an auction.

Get payment first, postal orders would be a good bet, once you've cashed them then send the tickets.

I think eBay say that as they don't make as much commission out of you, only the listing fees

Nicci

Thanks, I told them postal order would be the quickest way.

I have just had a reply to say he would like to pay the money into my bank account or pay by CHAPS.

I don't want to give out my bank details as this makes me think of the nigerian scams.

What now?

OllyK

I'd walk or tell him to go through ebay with PayPal

Tiggs

give him your bank acc and see if the money shows up.

he cant steal your money with your account number and sort code!

i do 90% of my ebay deals with bank transfers...easy and quick.

Freak

End the item either once cash arrives (sent registered) or he has paid into your paypal account- and not before

I do this all the time- saves waiting and watching the item, and for the seller it avoids (potentially costly) ebay final value fees.

edit- if its a new user- cash/postal order ONLY. Not worth the risk

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I've put money into someones account before and it went ok.

Nicci

freak, he does not want to do it through paypal, but direct with me.

I am still worried and haven't replied to him yet

Tiggs

i never use paypal....cant see the point when you can just transfer direct into someones account for no fee and no waiting?

whats the worse case? you give him your account details and he doesnt pay?

gsm1

Sounds suspect to me. Ask him to give you his home landline telephone number and that you'll call him to arrange something. If he refuses then you'll definitely know he's full of crap.

Scumbag

Anyone who you have ever given a cheque to knows your bank a/c and sort code...nothing they can do with it whatsoever (other than pay into it)...safe as anything.

gsm1

Yes, but he may pay money into it from someone else's account fraudulently.

Also, I'm not too sure about the details but I remember hearing about fraudsters setting up direct debits with people's bank details and pulling money out. Don't know if they have made setting up direct debits any more secure, since, but half the time when you sign something the bank rarely checks the signature. I do give my bank details out to many people but not every Joe that asks for them.

Scumbag

Exactly the same as if he gave you a check from someone else...fraudulently.
DD can only be set up by anyone with access to the actual a/c. If you can write a DD on an account, then you can withdraw money directly from it. DDs also HAVE to be immediatelty reinstated by the bank if you query one (I wrote some DD systems for RBS/Tesco a few years ago!!!)

I repeat...would you not give someone a cheque because it contains a/c details...think of all those cheques we've written over the years? The main problem would be identity fraud/theft, but as long as you destroy documents rather than throw them in the bin, that shouldnt be a problem either

SB

Spoon

Nicci- If everybody paid directly into peoples bank accounts via e-transfer the world would be a much quicker place.

Dream scenario if you asked me.

I've been doing it that way for many years and much prefer it to any other method.

Just make sure it's cleared funds then send him the tickets.

gsm1

Scumbag,
Yes, I know the bank will refund the money taken, but why go through the bother?
I hand out cheques all the time but that is mainly to large companies and even if I do to individuals I make the choice of giving the cheque. If some Joe on the net who has no face and no history on Ebay asks for my bank details I'd want to know a little bit more about them.

gsm1

I'm not sure where you need access to the account. When a company asks you to set up a direct debit they provide you with a piece of paper to enter your bank account details and then present that to your bank. What's to stop anyone entering your bank details in and signing it?

Scumbag

Fair do's...to be honest, I'd do the same too
I have no major worries about giving those details, though

To be honest, I think there is a shed load of fraud that goes on inside banks that we never get to hear about as the banks dont often prosecute staff as it's bad publicity..or at least that was the case a few years ago when the old man, and his missus were working on the counters

Scumbag

Fair comment...but anything that is set up in that way is more than likely completely traceable (Lecky, Gas, mag subscription, Tracker subscription etc etc) Would have to already be set up in your name (which is where the identity theft problem comes in). There would also be no question that it was not your signature - so no fights with the bank if it did happen (unlike with a cheque, whereby anyone seeing it has also seen your signature, and can try and forge it).

Tiggs

i would rather give out my bank details than my address for someone to send me a cheque in the post!

Nicci

gsm voiced my doubts completely.

I haven't heard from the guy tonight. I warned him that a bank transfer may take 3 days if he banks with someone different to me (I did not disclose my bank). I said postal order would still be quicker for him.

I might call my bank tomorrow morning (in India?) to check if its ok to give out details.

rik-1

When someone new to eBay bids high with no feedback and ask for bank details, tell them to only buy through the eBay process. If they are from abroard then if something goes wrong you can't turn to the British police. If you sell it early then you also can't turn to eBay.

Tiggs

a postal order!!!! why not get him to send it to you via a pigeon!

postal order or cheque means he has to go get the postal order....then wait a day for postage then you have to faff about with it at you end.

bank transfer would be clear tues if you had just said yes- if he's real keen he could TT it and you would have the cash already.

As has been said already...the account number of your bank is no secret, the sort code is not personal to you and i assume your name is avalible to the public!

i had this recently would some daft biddy on ebay who wouldnt take a TT for something i bought...she faffed about with cashing the cheque i had to send her (so shes ok to have MY bank details then!) all a load of hassle.

T

type-r-stan

Giving him your details will be o.k...

but if he asks for your date of birth or mothers' maiden name....run...!!!

Nicci

After scooby96's own thread today, I thought I would update this.

The guy agreed to a postal order so he could get the goods quickly.
He said he would send them on Saturday, fine with me.

On Monday the P.O. didn't arrive in the post. I later received an email saying that he couldn't take the tickets as he will be away...grrr.

So my items have gone back up on ebay (with time running out) and the guy gets away with it.

How many time wasters on ebay right now?

Tiggs

had you accepted the transfer on day 1 wouldnt this have been sorted a lot quicker?

once you start faffing about with postal orders and postage and cheques,etc,etc its no wonder he gave up.....its not right that he did but you could save yourself a lot of bother by understanding the faster ways to deal with people rather than having to refer to here to see if his payment method is ok.

gsm1

I doubt he had any intention of sending the postal orders. Sounds like a prize t*sser to me, plenty of them on Ebay. I just sold a sofa for my Dad the other week for £20 and the auction clearly stated collection only. The winning bidder is 200 miles away and emails me saying they will pay by Paypal and can I deliver?? Feckin messers.