V
varjag
Guest
Uhh, you CAN'T have a confirmed address outside of United States. It is not and indication of anything.
Suspicious activity in classifieds ?
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bob338
Well-known
i'll bet you will get the usual 'read the guidelines, it's not our problem' response.
bob
thomasw_
Well-known
No, not until you have way more evidence to back up your suspicion.
Be aware you seem very quick to jump to a conclusion and overly suspicious without much ground for the stand you take. For example, every detail you give seems quite consistent with your buyer acting in good faith. It sounds to me as though you need to communicate more with your buyer before you take action to blacken his name publicly.
finguanzo
Well-known
www.escrow.com
always use them for online fund transfers..
they hold the money until the product has been received and inspected.
always use them for online fund transfers..
they hold the money until the product has been received and inspected.
Paul T.
Veteran
I will echo the sentiment that rff is the best, no, nicest place to trade.
I had about six items to shift to buy me a GF-1. Six items went in a day, the previous seller dropped in on the sale, as did Brian Sweeney to try and talk me out of it.... it was less grief, and eBay/PayPal would have charged me 8% more.
But as the hideous Vuitton handbag I sold for my neighbour, for $1200 to a bidder in Latvia (with an under-bidder in China) testifies, the benefits of eBay overall outweigh the risks.
I had about six items to shift to buy me a GF-1. Six items went in a day, the previous seller dropped in on the sale, as did Brian Sweeney to try and talk me out of it.... it was less grief, and eBay/PayPal would have charged me 8% more.
But as the hideous Vuitton handbag I sold for my neighbour, for $1200 to a bidder in Latvia (with an under-bidder in China) testifies, the benefits of eBay overall outweigh the risks.
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wgerrard
Veteran
Do sellers get a cut of the money paypal earns from 21 days of interest on their money? Talk about a scam...
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
The odds of it being a scam would be large if the buyer requested the funds to be returned to another account. However if they are to be returned to the same account, the chance of it being a scam would be minor.
Only thing I can think of is the buyer sending EUR and requesting USD back, so the seller would eat the conversion fees. But, if any PayPal fees were subtracted before refunding, you'd have that covered.
To the OP regarding posting RFF handle etc. online: no use. A true scammer would just as easy create a new account and try to hustle the next RFF member.
All in all this is a non issue.
jack palmer
Well-known
Sounds like a scam. It may not be but you did the right thing in cancelling the transaction and requesting that the correct curreny be submitted. It would be to long of a story to go in to but should something happen, don't expect any help from eBay or PayPal. You would be on your own and out the funds. It's wise to be cautious. Everyone offers advise but if the transaction goes South nobody on this forum is going to make good on it. So I say you did the right thing.
oftheherd
Veteran
Lot's of strange things can happen on ebay. I recently (close to Christmas) made a purchase of an item that isn't common unless you have a darkroom with a certain brand of enlarger. Nobody else bid and I got it cheap. I immediately paid by paypal. Three weeks later, no item. I sent a very nice email requesting status. Four days later, with no reply, I sent another very nice email. Three days after that, I sent a rather testy email, and two days later got a reply that he couldn't find the item, that he had refunded my money through paypal (he did), and that if he ever did find it he would give it to me at half price. The next day I got a notice though ebay that he wished to cancel the transaction. I guess he feared a negative response. I wouldn't have done that, but frankly, I was considering a neutral for the lack of responses. The whole thing sounded a little phony, but honestly, things do happen, especially I guess if you are a prolific seller, which this person is. In the long run, I probably wouldn't have given him any feedback. Of course, I likely won't buy anything from him again either.
lewis44
Well-known
That would be because when both agree to cancel a transaction, the seller is refunded the eBay fees he paid for the sale.
jmilkins
Digited User
What is this "Ebay" of which you speak? I've heard of Ebob OhBoy and That Auction Site, but not this new Ebay... ;-)
Paypal and Ebay are businesses with an underlying profit motive. While they care about reputation, their market share seems so strong that it seems they can focus more on ways to maximize profit on the fees from the next transaction.
The OP may well have considered a warning to the RFF community because it is a community. Nonetheless the evidence is doesn't seem clear enough to name names. The warning about the error or scam is however sufficient - thank you.
Paypal and Ebay are businesses with an underlying profit motive. While they care about reputation, their market share seems so strong that it seems they can focus more on ways to maximize profit on the fees from the next transaction.
The OP may well have considered a warning to the RFF community because it is a community. Nonetheless the evidence is doesn't seem clear enough to name names. The warning about the error or scam is however sufficient - thank you.
xoDox
Member
A guy cannot be claimed to be a crook until it‘s proven. Of course it’s always your choice to deal or not to deal with a stranger from whatever murky country in particular when he pays the wrong currency 
Being from the heartland of Mother Russia, I know from my personal experience on eBay (4 years+, over 50 purchases, 100% positive) and here on rangefinderforum (2 years, over 10 purchases) that some fellows in America consider Russians as potential swindlers and reject upfront any bidders from the FSU (Russia, Ukraine, you name it…). Perhaps it’s some sort of paranoia provoked by mass media that likes to make fun of us. Just don’t be quick to jump to conclusions. Frankly, I should be thankful to many others who don't care much abouth the country origin of the buyer and thanks to them I bought my Leica M camera and a few precious lenses like Noctilux and Summicron 35mm ASPH.
My personal experience dealing with different business cultures says that crooks are rather evenly distributed across societies in all countries and continents (although any fraud is rather rare in Scandinavian countries). Funny enough the only one time when I was tricked out on eBay was done by a guy with a nickname Bombaygoose who is living in SF Bay area. Here was the trick: I was the second winner on a bid for Kobalux 28mm LTM lens. Soon after the auction ended he sent me a second chance offer for the reason that the first guy decided not to pay. I didn’t realize that any second chance offer is considered as the outside of eBay transaction and is not covered by eBay rules. Also he wrote he cannot trust my paypal account (although I had over 40 positive references by that time) and finally said he will accept only a bank-to bank wire from Russia. Fine, I wanted the lens and transferred $300+ and… he disappeared. He didn’t report the shipment details and stopped answering e-mails. Later I realized I cannot report this fraud to eBay; although my friends in the US suggested initiating fraud investigation I decided the time and the junky Bombaygoose were not worth it. From time to time we have to pay for knowledge of the crooks like him, but sooner or later a guy like him gets what he deserves.
Perhaps he saved me from even worse crooks.
I’m sorry to be off topic, just added my two cents to an interesting discussion.
Being from the heartland of Mother Russia, I know from my personal experience on eBay (4 years+, over 50 purchases, 100% positive) and here on rangefinderforum (2 years, over 10 purchases) that some fellows in America consider Russians as potential swindlers and reject upfront any bidders from the FSU (Russia, Ukraine, you name it…). Perhaps it’s some sort of paranoia provoked by mass media that likes to make fun of us. Just don’t be quick to jump to conclusions. Frankly, I should be thankful to many others who don't care much abouth the country origin of the buyer and thanks to them I bought my Leica M camera and a few precious lenses like Noctilux and Summicron 35mm ASPH.
My personal experience dealing with different business cultures says that crooks are rather evenly distributed across societies in all countries and continents (although any fraud is rather rare in Scandinavian countries). Funny enough the only one time when I was tricked out on eBay was done by a guy with a nickname Bombaygoose who is living in SF Bay area. Here was the trick: I was the second winner on a bid for Kobalux 28mm LTM lens. Soon after the auction ended he sent me a second chance offer for the reason that the first guy decided not to pay. I didn’t realize that any second chance offer is considered as the outside of eBay transaction and is not covered by eBay rules. Also he wrote he cannot trust my paypal account (although I had over 40 positive references by that time) and finally said he will accept only a bank-to bank wire from Russia. Fine, I wanted the lens and transferred $300+ and… he disappeared. He didn’t report the shipment details and stopped answering e-mails. Later I realized I cannot report this fraud to eBay; although my friends in the US suggested initiating fraud investigation I decided the time and the junky Bombaygoose were not worth it. From time to time we have to pay for knowledge of the crooks like him, but sooner or later a guy like him gets what he deserves.
Perhaps he saved me from even worse crooks.
I’m sorry to be off topic, just added my two cents to an interesting discussion.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
That's f***ing outrageous .... I have no liking for paypal after my experiences with them after being scammed recently but this is ridiculous!
ferider
Veteran
I'm not alone it seems. Have a look here, Keith:
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/eBay/HORRIBLE-IDEA-TO-HOLD-FUNDS-FOR-21-DAYS/td-p/14220
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/eBay/HORRIBLE-IDEA-TO-HOLD-FUNDS-FOR-21-DAYS/td-p/14220
Solinar
Analog Preferred
PayPal - a.k.a. eBay - holding funds for 21 days is plain arrogant. If this continues, small mom and pop sellers will leave in droves.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
It became very apparent a while ago that paypal and eBay are only interested in serving themselves.
They've turned into a monster that answers to no one ... and obviously do not now feel the need to do so!
They've turned into a monster that answers to no one ... and obviously do not now feel the need to do so!
raid
Dad Photographer
When paypal came out, it was making already 25% of all ebay profit. With the "tweaking" of paypal rules, they must make even a larger proportion of the ebay profits.
colyn
ישו משיח
Tried this once. It took me nearly a year to get my original camera back after the buyer decided not to buy and sent me his broken camera.
oldoc
oldoc
Raid is correct, as usual.
Paypal is the scum of the earth, positioned well, but with nothing but themselves at heart.
I have told them so, verbally, once, just before the female individual who answered my call hung up...
Paypal is the scum of the earth, positioned well, but with nothing but themselves at heart.
I have told them so, verbally, once, just before the female individual who answered my call hung up...
jack palmer
Well-known
I battled with them for almost a year over $500.00, until I finally just gave up. There's really just no recourse with this company. You're extreamly lucky just to get someone on the phone and no need to bother writing you'll never hear back.