I experienced the first scam (Distant Buyer) last summer. We were selling an item for $50 and the buyer wanted to give me an extra $50 for my troubles. He was leaving on a trip and his secretary would come by to pick up the item. I never responded to the guy because common sense told me that people are going to bargain you down for an item, not up.

Thanks for sharing these!

I was the victim of an eBay scam when I posted an item to a buyer who claimed never to have received it. I made sure my return address was on the parcel and I checked with my local post office. The buyer started to badger me demanding a refund and a veiled threat to give me a negative rating. I caved in and refunded her even though I knew she received the item. SInce then she has been blocked from buying anything from me.

Thank you for this good advice. I am planning on selling my handmade jewelry on Etsy and this will help me a lot !

Unfortunitly, in our neighborhood around the holidays, a lot of packages were stollen off of people's steps after they were delivered - so even if an item was delivered to the right address, the recpeint may have leigtamately never received it. Not sure what to do in these situations, b/c it's really no one's fault (other than the person stealing the packages of course), but good to keep in mind that in this kind of situation, the other person in the transaction may also feel like they got scammed. You can always require a signiture for delivery, but that can be a pain for the recipient who then has to go to the post office/fed. ex facility, etc. - but certainly worth it for expensive items.

Hmm, I buy a lot of items on eBay and Etsy and sometimes... stuff just doesn't make it. I've had multiple items arrive broken or crushed, necessitating a claim with the seller/shipper, at least one package that just never came (fortunately the seller did send me a refund and it didn't get unpleasant), and my favorite, a package that arrived with a hole in it where the item had either fallen out or been cut out by a clever thief! (That was not fun to explain to the seller, but she was lovely about it and sent a replacement). Unfortunately based on my experience I do think that most "item not received/received damaged" claims are probably legitimate rather than scams. It's just a normal risk of doing business through the mail for both buyer and seller.

I have had someone use my paypal account to buy a computer-the seller was not very good at catching this though as the guy said he wanted it shipped to a different address and sent him a prepaid label! What a mess it was!

I went to a website to purchase one of those things you see on TV. The website was very unclear as to how many items you were purchasing (I was trying to buy one set that included two items) so I checked 2 instead of 1. Also, the way the colors were listed led me to believe that I was to pick out my first and second choices. So funny, but I ended up buying 8 sets of these things. The free gift (only worth a dollar or two at Walmart or Target) was not really free, they charged me around $8 to ship 8 pairs...the checkout wouldn't let me revise my order so immediately after I put in my credit card info I got a confirmation saying that I spent over $250 when I only intended to spend a total of about $40. When I called I got the run around, ended up sending most of the items back and it took persistence, but I was able to return most of my things and get a refund for shipping and the returned items. Beware of anything you might see advertised on TV; the websites are tricky to navigate and they probably make a lot of money off of people who aren't willing to make 1,000 phone calls and send the same number of emails just to send back some cheap China made stuff! It has been a funny story and definitely a learning experience!

My friend sold an expensive watch on Ebay- the seller promptly paid and the funds were received no problem through paypal, however, the item was said to be a "gift" and needed to be sent IMMEDIATELY to a different address in Indonesia. UPS/Fedex charge a fortune to ship internationally, so of course my friend used the USPS which doesn't offer tracking overseas (they only offer proof that the package was sent). The buyer, banking on all this, had actually hacked an innocent 3rd party's Paypal account to complete the transaction. The watch was sent to the shady address in Indonesia, the innocent 3rd party guy was refunded the money stolen from his account to pay for the watch, and my friend had to reverse the Paypal credit or have his account sent to a collections agecy and was out thousands of dollars. Talk about disgusting! Furthermore, when turning to Ebay & PayPal for help, he found out after the fact that apparently you are required to use UPS/FedEx when shipping an item overseas that has sold for more than $250- I guess to track who has received the package. I have yet to see this info advertised anywhere on Ebay but double check if you sell anything expensive, or better yet, only sell it domestically!

Ugh, I had the third scam happen to me about 2 years ago. I sold a faux-fur coat on Ebay for $1.29. Yes, $1.29. New, with tags. Shipping was $8. The buyer gave me a great review, then filed a complaint with paypal saying that the item was not as described-- something about the way it comes together in the front. Her suggestion was that she be refunded some of the money because she still liked it. She suggested that I refund $3. So, I would be refunding her the entire coat plus some of the shipping. We obviously fought this, gave examples of how DETAILED the list was, with pictures of the front clasps, showed the positive review, and explained the shipping. She still fought back, lowering the refund to $2, and then eventually escalating it all the way to a full-fledged complaint for review and then demanding $4 back. We fought the whole way, and thankfully it was decided in our favor. We didn't have to pay her anything, blocked her, and haven't sold anything on Ebay since. :(

To piggyback onto what Toniadee said, my husband years ago bought a set of knives from the teevee. It was one of those specials where you get two sets for the price of one (just pay shipping and processing). If I recall correctly, the single set of knives was $40, and then shipping was $20 or $30 FOR EACH SET. I was blown away to find out he'd spent a hundred dollars on plastic-handled TV knives. Granted, we're still occasionally using them, but that shipping and processing can be a killer.

@Rosie, and others,

My Friend/neighbor was at work and the ups was being followed by undercover police. UPS dropped off package. Someone came by and tried to steal the package, Suspect caught. My Friend came back from Vegas a few weeks later and received a copy of the restraining order that the Jury ordered because they thought the suspect was a threat while he is out on bail. Scarey.

Great tips but having had many of these experiences, even though every eBay dispute was found in my favor, soured me on the experience of buying (or selling) this way. For the package theft issue, I outwitted the thieves, I had all my packages delivered before their annual package theft program even began! Still, it just killed my enthusiasm to deal with the hassles, for me the memory of it is almost always tied to the item I received - so - instead of buying/selling on eBay, Etsy, Craigslist I've started donating to my local thrift shop that's dedicated to benefitting my local humane society. So far that's working far better (for me) and it's also prompting me to buy less and save more.

My sister got scammed out of $2,000.00 on a Nannying website. They did the first scam, sent her a check and asked her to wire the difference via Western Union. Don't fall for this stuff and ANY time you get a check from someone make sure that it clears with your bank before doing anything else!

I was once involved in an anti-scam! We sold an exercise bike on Craigslist, the guy came to collect it and handed me money, which I stuffed in my pocket without looking. (It was a good quality $750 Schwinn Airdyne, but kind of old and hard to get rid of.) He paid me $20 more than I asked! (I phoned to offer him a refund, but he said they thought it was worth the extra -- and since it was for the Police station workout room, we believed him!!)

As for a real scam, my partner tried repeatedly to sell a cell phone on eBay that he'd purchased at Heathrow airport on a trip so he'd have service in Egypt. Every single time it sold as a "buy it now" it was "send this to Nigeria" and "we will pay later". As if. Every single time he was required by eBay to wait out the "grace period" for payees before re-posting. Eventually he gave up and let me use it for a few years. We would NEVER accept an offer for technology from a known problem country -- so the nice people there suffer for the criminals. (I'm sure he tried to restrict it to domestic offers, too, but whatever he did, the bozos got around it somehow.)

As for online purchases from "as seen on TV" sites, do a lot of product review research first. Nearly all the time I find something fascinating, I read the comments from buyers and learn it is not at all what I expect and I don't order. Watch out for a "second set FREE for only shipping and handling." That, of course, means that the shipping and handling actually covers the real cost of the thing you are ordering, or the company would fold. (I try to find those things at drug stores, NO shipping, if I really want to try them!) Be a little cynical!

I bought something from a tv ad once too. As others have mentioned the "second one free" had a hefty shipping and handling charge. Then at the end of the transaction there was a message that standard shipping would take 8-12 weeks but I could pay more for expedited shipping. I stuck with standard and the item showed up 5 days later.

Even though it all turned out OK I would never go through it again. It was so unpleasant.

We've been lucky and have never been burned, but I work in banking so I'm super suspicious. If a price seems too low, I leave it alone. If a seller has never had a review or the reviews seem vague or not legit, I leave it alone. I give reliable sellers repeat business and will even sometimes contact them to see if they can obtain a particular item for me (like a vintage something), do a custom item for me, or if they know another trustworthy seller I could get it from. And when I'm selling on Craigslist, it always ends in a face to face, cash only deal.

totally true. These are all over craigslist and even sometimes autotrader. Once you know what to look for it's easy to spot. But the Paypal thing sounds rough. I'll be more careful for sure! :)

http://munchtalk.blogspot.com

My boyfriend's brother is a tri-athlete and had a couple bikes worth about $14,000 combined. He was trying to sell them online and got a few responses. He made the massive error of giving some one's "representative" his address to come check out the bikes. My boyfriend's brother knew that the guy was shady the second he saw him and after the guy left he hid the bikes in the house. A day later "some one" broke into their house and stole the bikes. Nothing else. :(

We had a bad experience the year we landed in this country. We were getting into our car in a fedex parking lot, when a guy in a good looking van asked us if we want a music system. We din't want one but hesitated. He told us he had ordered a good music system online & by mistake they had delivered 2. He wanted to make money by selling the second one fast. He had 2 systems in the back of the van, nicely boxed/packaged with good pictures, details, MSRP saying $1500. The name of the system was "Matrix". He said he wanted $300 cash. We had never heard about the brand. But we went to the nearby ATM, got cash & paid him - fooled by the packaging. As, we handed over the money, we felt a sense of unease. We quickly noted down his license plate number when the fellow made a quick exit.
When we reached home & opened the box and set it up, it was a very cheap set. We felt like the biggest fools. Checking the internet took us to a fake one page website with no contact details. We had the license number of his van but were not sure if we can report it. We didn't want to get into any hassles as we were new to the country.
We tried selling it in craigslist but there were no takers. We ended up donating it. Most unpleasant experience ever.
From then on, we never do any buying from any individual. We are also skeptical of selling anything in craigslist. What if the person who comes to buy wants to know what is in the house & who lives in it ? Anything that we don't need is donated to goodwill.

did anybody else notice that the 2 scam emails are both full of mistakes?
e.g.
"I will like you to know..."
"You benefit of free delivery..."
not that you can't get scammed by native English speakers, but it's kind of like those Chinese resellers on Etsy... the language tips you off....

I'm in trouble now. I've paid more than $200 including shipping on Jan 12, 2012. But I haven't received items yet. I live in Japan. So maybe it takes more time but the fastest deliver from the US to Japan takes only 4 days. It is not via FedEx kind, it's USPS.
I have asked the fabric store about how they shipped the items, via airmail or surface, and there is anything like a tracking number. They haven't replied my emails for 3 or 4 days.
Is this a scam? Because I am Japanese? How long do I have to wait for the reply from the store and the package? If I won't receive the items I have already paid for forever, what should I do?

@Kaoriw,

It depends on what you bought and from where...I have sent things overseas (including Japan) and on average it should take about 2-3 weeks unless you paid for expedited shipping. Otherwise I would continue to try to contact the store. If it is a privately owned store then their customer service may be very poor, and I'm sorry about that. Otherwise I would check to see if the package wasn't intercepted by customs. But I would wait another couple weeks before starting to panic. Overseas shipping can be very iffy in terms of time and whether or not the package gets lost. :/

In the future, I would really recommend requiring a tracking number on the packages.

Paypal requires* unhappy buyers to return the defective/broken/what-have-you goods to the seller before they issue the refund. Scammers get around this by sending back empty box, box with brick, box with junk etc. They know Paypal only cares that there is a delivery confirmation number showing the item was delivered, not that the box actually contains what the seller originally sent. Advantage scammer as they get to keep the original item plus get all their money back.

*Supposedly requires, but I have heard of cases where they just take the money without making the buyer do anything.

I've seen a variation of this several times on a collectibles forum I frequent where the scammer buys a mint in box piece, then complains it arrived broken, initiates Paypal claim, Paypal tells them to return it, scammer sends back their own item that they'd already broken in a trashed box, Paypal refunds their money and original seller is completely screwed out of money and item.

Seriously folks, if you sell anything that you can't easily replace ALWAYS do the following 1) buy insurance on the package that covers both the price of the contents and the shipping cost, if the buyer complains save yourself a lot of bother and don't complete the transaction 2) only ship using a method that does door to door tracking and make sure this is clear to your buyers when listing your items 3) take pictures of the item from every angle to document the condition when it left you plus take pictures of the wrapped package with shipping info visible 4) if a buyer sends an item back to you, take pictures as you open it and to be extra safe only open it in the presence of a postal employee 5) If you do a lot of mailing, invest in a postage printing program that keeps a complete record of each transaction so you know you have all tracking numbers, addresses, customs numbers, etc. ready at your fingertips.

@Kaoriw,

Also, this is something common in America, so I don't know if you can do this in Japan, but if you dont' receive the package you may be able to complain to your credit card company. They will investigate the charge and possibly refund you the money. Again, I don't know if you can do this in Japan.

@Kaoriw

All USPS shipping is airmail, they discontinued surface mailing a few years ago. If the fabric was sent Priority Mail or Express Mail there should be a tracking number. If it was sent 1st class international, there is no official tracking number, only a customs number. In many cases though, the customs number can be used for very limited tracking in that it will show when the package left the USA. I've used that limited tracking to show international buyers that their package sat for a week or more in the USA before even leaving the country. After that, the package is in the hands of the other country's postal system where things are often stuck in customs waiting to be cleared or at your local post office waiting to be picked up. If you have to pay duty on the package that may have to be sorted out before you can get it. Are you sure your package isn't already in Japan? Without a customs number it may be harder to track down, but you should still ask at your local post office.

@Just_Kazari

Thank you for the comment & suggestion.:-)
I have bought a lot from the US, so I have this kind of experience a couple of times before. Actually I bought some hooks from an eBay seller 2 weeks ago & still not received them too. But they gave me a tracking number of USPS international first class. So I know they have sent me the items but not just arrived yet. But the fabric store seems avoiding me. Usually stores or sellers emailed me back within 24hr when it's not during weekend or holiday, like you do.
Well, I'll wait a couple of weeks more. Then I'll contact with my credit card company. Maybe they can do something for me.

Thank you so much, Just_Kazari. :-)

It isn't really much help to say that you should report someone you know is trying to scam you, because unless you have actually fallen victim to the scam and are out of pocket, ie either the goods or your funds have been effectively stolen, there really is nothing the police can do. They may possibly start investigating the person if they've had other complaints or if the action is serious enough, but mostly, there really is no course of action they can take. After all, if you have no actually been defrauded, then you'll have a really hard time proving intent to defraud. We had a company try to get our credit card number out of us by calling and claiming we'd won a cruise and just had to pay "taxes and processing fees" on the tickets. We knew it was complete nonsense - first, if you win something, in most contests, you really do win and there are no fees. Second, they'd gotten our phone number because my husband had filled out a ballot at our favorite restaurant to win the trip. The owners were Chinese, spoke very little English, & didn't realize that the supposed charity running the contest was actually a scam. The big tip off was that the slimy-sounding guy who was trying to get our credit card info couldn't figure out the name of the restaurant where we'd entered the contest. You had to fill in that part yourself, and the guy couldn't read my husband's handwriting, and called it the China Ching, not the China China. I figured that any legitimate contest would at least have some clue as to which restaurants they were working with! I hung up on the guy, and called both the restaurant (where the owner immediately took away the "contest" so that his patrons wouldn't be victimized) and the cops. The cops told me that since I hadn't been dumb enough to hand over my info, they couldn't prove the guy would have ripped us off. It was even suggested that if I wanted the guy stopped, I should have given him my info, watched the credit card transactions, & waited for him to misuse my card! I understand, but I sure wasn't going to do that! I asked if they would do anything at all to investigate as to whether anyone else had been ripped off - there was a box full of contest entries, after all, and the restaurant owner would have happily handed them over. The answer was no. Maybe they did - they certainly would not tell me, so I don't know why I even asked, except that it just popped out, as I was startled. But I was disconcerted. I know you have to commit a crime to be caught, but even attempting theft is illegal, and I thought they could have checked to see what this guy was up to ...

@Juliadevi...I've noticed this, too. Moral of the story: teach your kids good grammar, and you'll also be teaching them to avoid internet scams.

I almost got taken in the Distant Buyer Scam. I was selling my aunt's rocking chair on Kijiji for $500. The guys story was that he was buying furniture in advance of moving to our city. When the bank draft arrived it was for $2500 and it was noted that it was paying for the rocker and a bedroom set. When I contacted the buyer he said his wife had made the mistake, thinking they bought both items from me. Would I cash the money order and send him back the $2000. (I was honored he would place such trust in me) It was the bank who decided the bank draft was phoney, and the local police were aware of the person's name. I felt like a fool.

Many craiglist scams start with someone who will email you saying something like "I saw your item on craigslist and would like to buy it. Please let me know if it is still available and what is the final price."

They always refer to "your item" never saying what it is that you are selling and they usually want to know the price, though of course you listed the price in the posting. They are not being specific because this is an email that they are sending to a number of people just looking for one that will bite. And these inquiries tend to come very shortly after you put your ad up. Whenever I get an inquiry that doesn't refer specifically to the item I am offering for sale (eg. "I am interested in the bike you have posted on craigslist"), I just delete it without a response.

I've been scammed. It was years ago but it was a horrible feeling and it's not something that I discuss with anyone because, quite frankly, it's embarrassing! It makes you react differently to people and I am wary of everything and everyone now. Scammers are SCUM!

Thanks for sharing these! I wish more people realized these scams are out here, and that I'd realized sooner that PayPal does basically nothing for the seller. I was tricked by an ingenious scam a few years ago:

I was selling a nice printer on ebay, ($200ish) with only confirmed addresses eligible and shipping tracking and confirmation included. Welll after I sent the package, before it got to him, the buyer submitted a 'change of address form' to the USPS, to forward the package to another (unconfirmed) address!

My tracking info said that the package was delivered to the original address. Further communication with post office revealed that they had sent the package on to the unconfirmed address. The sender first claimed that the new address was his brother's and he was holding it for him, then changed his story and said the package had never arrived at the shady address, and opened a complaint file.

Despite all the proof that I had sent the package to the confirmed address, PayPal sided with the buyer and charged me the cost of the printer to refund it to the buyer. I called PayPal three times with all the information and emails I had from the buyer, trying to convince them that this guy was a scam so that he couldn't scam other people. At one point the rep said something like "oh yes I see he's had three similar conflicts before - but it's not our policy to look into this". So frustrating. Have avoided PayPal ever since!

I purchase alot from craigslist and few from Etsy and fewer from e-bay and luckily, I've never been scammed and always happy with my purchases. But I will say that I'm still uneasy about going to a strangers home to pick an item up. After knocking, I take 2 steps back and make sure the front door stays open and I don't step too far into the home.
I feel for the folks that have been scammed.
Thanks AP for keeping an eye out for us.

No big baddies such as discussed, but, having become distrustful of Google after so many years, I was reading how and working to disengage many of the tracking devices it uses; one of the main ones was simply ones gender.
On my way to comments here, a "Scrubbing Bubbles" 5 question quiz was just there, in the middle of the road, so to speak. I automatically answered, including my age group and gender, it knows I'm on this site, probably the topic and my ip number, location, etc. Slow learner!
Point being that subtle and constant rip-offs of identity, vulnerability, add up if nothing more than for telling sellers HOW to make us want something.

Good tips... but there's no way I'd ever think the example emails are real - you can tell they're dodgy by how they're written. I'd also never send an item or wire money back without a check clearing first.... actually I wouldn't take part in a scenario that required me to wire money back in the first place.
I'm not sure how the buyer did it, but I once sold an item on Ebay, the buyer paid with PayPal, I sent it off, and the next day the money had mysteriously been refunded to them
Another buyer tried to claim that the post office charged her $20 to pick up an item she'd bought off me, but she was unsuccessful..
I also just bought some chairs on Ebay (luckily only $8), and I paid PayPal and now the seller has gone silent when I email about collecting the chairs.

The pay pal scam and how they behave are all the reasons I hate pay pal and eBay. I won't use them to buy or sell. Things like this can happen all to often. I would recommend selling else where whenever possible. I'm not sure if other sites like amazon ect are loads better but I'm really not sure they can be any worse than eBay in combination with Pay Pal!

I recently went through a round of listing a bunch of stuff on Craigslist and did feel something scammy was afoot with some of the responses - basically the "distant buyer" scam. I was wondering when that whole type of scam started since I'll go through a spate where I list a bunch of stuff and that had never happened before. I thought, Do other people know about this type of scam? I can put up warnings for whoever reads my FB page, but that doesn't travel very far.

So thanks AT for such a detailed post with useful consumer info. And thanks to the commenters for your stories!

Beware also the eBay Seller who has delayed delivery, due to the size of an item and freight shipping, I'd been fortunate enough to have a freight service I'd used before (who was half the price of the service the Seller recommended) who knew me from previous furniture deliveries. After 6 attempts to arrange pick-up of the furniture, the freight company alerted me to the problem, my attempts to reach the Seller also failed. The transaction was 'timing out' for feedback/resolution on eBay, something that comes up quickly if you're dealing with furniture deliveries, so I filed a claim and noticed that two other items from them that I'd issued low-bids on were closed and all their sale items had been delisted by eBay and their sales suspended. The Seller tried to allege that I just wanted free furniture, but I explained to eBay that they had both my money AND the furniture still, and eBay refunded my money and closed that Seller's account immediately (so I couldn't have been the first to report them I'd think). So beware of those that look legit but then draw out their transaction with you until you're at the transaction time-out date.

BTW I've had the same sorts of problems with local businesses so it really is buyer-beware out there. A local company took my order for a fridge, floor model I chose in-warehouse, then managed to 'lose' it 7x in their warehouse. 22 phone calls later, and having refused their offer for a fridge in another color with fewer features (same price), I demanded a refund. Refund took 4 months to arrive during which time their check auto-expired and my bank wouldn't cash it. It took another 18 months, plus a local television consumer reporter, to get my money back and of course the business wasn't required to pay any interest on my money.

As much as I advocate consumer safety and prudence, especially since it happens to be my professional job, I think it’s also important not to overreact when someone expresses interest in an item you’re selling and they happen to be a little far away. Whenever I travel, I always peruse the area’s Craigslist for items I’m seeking and I am currently shopping for items that I would have no problem driving up to 600 miles from home to buy, fortunately, I’ve not yet had to travel that far for something.

I have been fortunate to have bought several items via Craigslist where the seller was well over 200 miles away from my home. Of course there are risks, I could drive all the way to the seller for them to decide they have me over a barrel and raise the price, put me in a bidding war with another buyer, or simply sell the item prior to my arrival. Fortunately, the vast majority of sellers are honest people and this has never happened. What did happen once was an ignorant Craigslist seller with a mahogany chest I wanted refused to communicate with me because she decided I was a scammer simply because my cell number wasn’t “local” enough for her. Her offensive responses included e-mailing me a copy of Craigslist’s seller warnings. She simply succeeded in cheating herself out of selling her furniture.

My point is, if you have an item you’re seriously interested in selling, (casual posters should stay off of EBay and Craigslist), and you think it might generate interest from outside your locality, be prepared for the not-so-local buyer to arrive. We may occasionally send our friend or parent in our stead, but we always pay in cash or the payment terms specified.

I've sold things on Ebay before and I always make sure to cover myself in the listing before hand. For instance I'll clearly state that if the buyer does purchase the item from me they must know that I can't control the mail and that I don't provide refunds if the item is lost of damaged in them mail. Its a risk they're taking if they choose to buy them item from me.

You didn't mention scams on Amazon.

I sold an item on Amazon recently for $550. All seemed well, until the buyer said it wasn't 'what they expected' but they would keep it for $125 discount. I replied that it was either acceptable or they could have a full refund. I issued the refund and they then refuse to return the item or to authorize Amazon to recharge their card.

Of course the buyer hides behind a pseudonym and Amazon will not reveal their details so I can take action, nor will they take action on my behalf because "The transaction is closed".

I will not be trusting (naive?) again, but I expected Amazon to provide a trusted place for transactions.

I registered just to comment on this thread ;) as I wanted to emphasize that many of us "distant buyers" really appreciate the new opportunities Ebay and Etsy offer, in places where no catalogue company sells and malls are nonexistent. I lived in South America and in Africa and I have been so grateful for sellers who were willing to go the extra mile and trust someone outside of their area.

Fascinating article and comments. I have been scammed buying perfume from eBay twice, w different sellers within a short period of time. Both fragrances were counterfeit, but I'd paid by Paypal for both long before either arrived. Paypal issued a warning about the first seller so I followed their advice and was given an immediate refund. The second time no help was forthcoming. I wasn't even permitted to email photos of a real bottle of Chanel Chance next to the fake. Paypal often fails to protect sellers AND BUYERS alike. The people I've rung sound like robots, they follow their guidelines and get paid. I do not agree that photographic documentation is of any help as I was informed that my photos did not prove anything, and that emailing them constituted a security risk. Remember caveat emptor, (I hope), BUYER BEWARE. Sellers beware too. I feel for all of us. That trusting side of our natures needs to be over-ridden and I agree with an earlier commentator, BE MORE CYNICAL. And those Chinese re-sellers? I won't go there. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Hit report, but just realise Paypal and eBay are into making money, not handing it out. Their spin is good, but it's not real. The reality is they make money whether we're scammed or not. They are businesses, not our friends, and if we trust the wrong person they won't be footing the bill if they can help it. Rant over.

I also have purchased items from Craigslist as a distant buyer. I have paid for the items via Paypal, postal money order (what the seller asked for, go figure), and a personal check--which I offered to wait 2 or more weeks until it completely cleared. I've contacted shippers to pick-up, pack and ship the items on my dime. I have had people not want to sell me items, one because he had been scammed before, the other didn't want the extra bother. I would hate for someone to want to report me because I happen to have broadened my shopping horizons. Beside the fact that generally unless a crime has been committed, reporting does no good.
As far as selling on craigslist. I think it's wise not to allow people into your house or garage or whatever to pick-up and item--a lot of people who have sold to me have met me on their drive way or such. Also as someone else said, people who want to buy your 'item' without identifying it or never ask any questions about it--condition, why you are selling etc. are more than likely scammers.

I also had to lodge a complaint against a Ebay seller because the item was not as described and the seller refused to allow me to send them back for a refund. Among other things the seller accused me of being a scammer, but then begged me to do things that would only benefit her. In the end I send the item back because I said I would and it was the right thing to do, but Paypal/Ebay seemed to care less. So I feel for any sellers who have gotten shafted by the process.
I don't think it's a good idea to trust people who want to do things that make you uncomfortable--whether they are scammers or not--if it's outside your comfort zone I say don't do it. OTOH, most scammers are charmers, one way or another, so beware when a situation feels really chummy from the get go without safe guard for your money or the items you are buying or selling.

Amazon scammed,

You don't say what the process was, but most retails will not issue a refund until the item is returned. That would have been a good course of action for you--have the person return the item and then send them a refund. Even though you are an individual who is selling items, you still need to CYA in the transactions and operate like any prudent business would.

Ah, just had a scam email today. Sent what looked like a legit email requesting a picture (should have been the tip since I had posted a picture) and when I replied, they sent an email with a work from home story and link. Awesome. @@

Depending on what we're selling, I normally try to meet at a central location or have the item in the driveway and my husband is always home (so, you know, we can both get it). I have sold some maternity/baby things recently and one lady came to the house. My husband said he wasn't too worried about the 9 month pregnant woman getting a Bumbo.

I got scammed when selling my old laptop. I was sent a check that was exactly $1000 too much. Before I sent the difference back to them via Western Union I talked to my bank. They told me the check was fine and would clear without a problem. Two days later my debit card was declined because the check had bounced. Dont rely on a bank telling you that the check is fine! Luckily, I cancelled the payment with Western Union. They didn't get my $1000 but they did get my old laptop :(

Wow, it's chilling reading these comments. Makes me feel lucky that I've never been a victim.

Re: the issue of customs hold ups, though. I have been a 'victim' of these. My glasses were stolen while we were holidaying in the UK - who knew that someone would steal glasses, even with a designer label. It was just before we were due to see Keira Knightly and Damian Lewis onstage. Tried but couldn't get replacement glasses in time, so I had my sister send me some contact lenses in the post. Instead of just enclosing them in a letter, she did the whole custom declaration thing and over-nighted them FedEx. They actually arrived 2 weeks after the play and with a demand to pay £10 customs fee, for contact lenses worth about $1.50. I just refused to accept them.

All perfectly legal, but annoying anyway, and certainly not the first time we've had similar experiences with UK customs. We've concluded that there is no point to sending things overnight to the UK from the US because it still takes a couple of weeks to receive them. It may well be the same coming this way.

Sold a used math textbook on Amazon and had a kid pull the third scam on me. Over a math book. I'm sure his college education is going swimmingly. If he's willing to cheat to get the book, I can only imagine what he'll do to pass the class.

The best way to avoid chargeback problems on ebay and etsy is to ship with paypal online labels. They come with delivery confirmation which has evolved into tracking information. This way, if you get a chargeback, paypal can go into your information and see that the package actually arrived. If it's a high ticket item, pay a little extra for signature confirmation. Paypal allows you to print labels for first class items so even if the shipping is cheap, take the time to print a label instead of using stamps.

Paypal is very good at refunding your money if you follow all their rules about delivering to the confirmed address on the account. I've had a few and it's never taken more than a day to refund the money into my account.

We're trying to sell my husband's car right now and running into every scam imaginable. We haven't had a single call from an actual buyer, yet these people call us and say they have a buyer all lined up who will pay MORE than we're asking. Yeah, if it's too good to be true, and too easy, then it's probably a scam.

I do love that my husband stays on the phone with them FOREVER and tries to catch them in their lies.

OHHHH the "distant buyer" scam....I sell loads of things on Craigslist (and buy quite a few as well) so I am well-versed in the nuances of the distant buyer scam. It's gotten to the point where I will deliberately mess with them, just to see what happens. I once made up a story about a family of elves that lived in a dollhouse I was selling, and did they mind terribly if they were shipped as well?

Also one time I was harassed over text by a scammer. He wanted me to ship a cell phone overseas to South Africa to his brother. After initially declining to respond, he began repeatedly texting me around 2AM. I threatened to report his phone # to the police and that shut him up!

The last one happened to my friend. Sold his iPad, guy paid on PayPal and then emailed I say he was in the area so can pick it up. Which he did. Weeks later, the money was taken back by PayPal. So he Obviously claimed he didn't recieve it, and because he picked it up, there wasn't proof. Gutted

My personal recommendation when selling on eBay is to automatically insure items worth over $___ (you decide) for me I "self insure" items under $40 meaning if something happens I personally take the hit. I won't die if I eat a $40 sale.
$40 and up I automatically insure, BUT, I NEVER state that the item is insured or that it will be. This leaves the opportunity for scammers to know in advance that an item will be insured and can therefore make a claim. I insure thru a separate insurance company (thru Auctiva auction listing ) this way it doesn't even show as insured on package.

I have gone thru most ebay scams or attempted scams and the fact that both eBay and PayPal (same company as one owns the other) do not support the sellers when buyers make these awful scams, makes me SICK! I have become steadfast and hardcore in doing everything I possibly can to protect myself from being a victim in these circumstances.

It's very important to make a very strongly stated policy in your listing and never ever send an item overseas and listed as a gift so they can avoid customs fees... it's actually a federal crime if you do this and you could be in big trouble there's nothing in it for you to assist somebody in committing a crime.

The person who commented about tracking overseas shipments is completely correct the only trackable USPS shipment overseas is EXPRESS mail or FEDEX but be careful because scammers often want items quickly before they can be discovered.

My philosophy regarding eBay sales at this point is this: as an avid seller sometimes loss is inevitable and it is a cost of doing business, however it completely sucks.
For those people selling one item once in a while this can be devastating so I completely understand the tragedy and frustration everyone feels when they are scammed this way.

Bottom line....BE VIGILANT! You MUST become smarter that than the criminal. Unfortunately that is the way the world is now :-(

The same thing as the first fraud example is happening to me and I received the check. Now I'm wondering should I just send it back to the address which it was sent from or should I just destroy it? The person eve sent me a photocopy of her passport with her full name as to reassure me that it's not a fraud but I don't trust her and don't want to follow through. Also, I don't want to put my address on the envelope when I send it back. Could I put my P.O. Box address which is approximately 2 hours away from the actual place where I'll be mailing it from?