Dealing with a ******* eBay Buyer

[DusterRT]

5 weeks ago I listed my Mustang on eBay. It was only a couple of hours before I got an email from a guy asking what I wanted. I told him what my local asking price was, and he offered it in full. He paypal'd me a $500 deposit and told me he'd get me a check that week.

That week came and went; his "wife" says there was a family emergency and he'll take care of it right away since he just got back (isn't there always a family emergency when you owe someone thousands of dollars..). OK, so I am skeptical, but I can't prove it either way. I'm an easy going guy, I got my full price, I'll be forgiving.

I wait another week; he claims the *bank* has sent me a cashier's check and I should be getting it soon. Fair enough..of course the old saying of, "The check is in the mail!" Crosses my mind, but I figure no one is just going to throw $500 away like that, so I hang tight and wait it out.

Another week comes and goes. Another email reveals that he has just sent a personal check and I should be getting it soon. At this point I plan on never getting the money, but a few days later, low and behold, I have a check in my hand. I immediately deposit it.

Of course, the check bounces.

I send out a polite "WTF, bro?" And he seems stunned (I, however, was not). I sent a screenshot of my online bank statement showing where I had deposited the check and where it was returned. I heard nothing for three days; no emails, and I looked up his phone number and he never returned the message I left, nor called me at the phone number I emailed him.

So I relist the car last night, 5 weeks after I ended the first one.

http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29296-2357-0?uid=953781&site=0&ver=LCA080805&item=140164810232&lk=URL

Not 20 minutes afterwards, I get an email saying this gentleman has bought the car again, using Buy It Now. I assume he got an email stating the car had been relisted, since I think it would have been hours before the car would show up in searches. Mother $*%&@#! The BIN price was actually $500 more than our agreed price. He says he's going to send me a cashier's check overnight (gosh, haven't heard that one before). I send him a mild nastygram saying if I don't have an actual cashier's check in my hand by Saturday he totally surrenders his deposit; and that I wouldn't mind getting that extra $500 over the initial agreed price for the pain in the ass he's been, plus the extra month of insurance and carport rent I've had to pay, along with relisting fees. Of course, he says he will not do that.

At this point if I get that $9000 cashier's check I think I should just be happy, but do I have any options to try and get that last $500? From what I hear, trying to get eBay to enforce anything is useless. Paypal was only used for the deposit; and after I moved the funds to my bank account I removed the link to it so it's only a credit card account if he tries to pull some sort of dispute BS and get that money back...

Now this would probably be a question for eBay, but since he was the winning bidder on *both* auctions, if he flakes, I have almost $200 in listing fees to pay. Would I be able to get a refund for both of those since it's the same mother-effing bidder on both?

Arrgh.

[Steve1968LS2]

just make a comfortable living of the $500 he keeps sending you. If he flakes again then nail him with negative feedbacks and if he bids the next time them cancell his bid (I'm sure you can do this with eBay).

I would talk to eBay about a refund due to the flaky bidder.

[DusterRT]

I just have the initial $500 deposit..which is 2/3 consumed with relisting fees, insurance, carport, etc.

I've sold a few cars/trucks on eBay with great success; I get a good/great price, and the buyers were always very pleased with what they drive off in; but I suppose I was about due for some character building and a lesson in sticking to your terms you clearly lay out..

I wish his feedback wasn't set to private, I'd have a few choice words in there either way this works out. Guess that should have been my first sign, he's got something to hide!

[Rebird]

duster, you can block him or anyone else from bidding on your auctions.... i realize it is too late now but in the future. good luck.

[BA.]

bummer deal Duster.
I was going to mention the same thing as Rebird there, just block him and hope he doesn't come in as another user.


I think Ebay will work with you on the fee's here. I think you should give that a shot.

Good luck man!

[Restomod]

Block him and ,file a complaint with Ebay on the BIN auction (they cant do anything about the one off Ebay), relist it in about a month and move on. Make sure to file a complaint with PayPal before he does on the same auction. Also dont use a BIN,it is just an easy way for an as*ho*e to screw you up again. I just saw who the guy who you are dealing with is, he had bid on my 68. Thank God he did not bid up very high on it. The two cars looked very simillar to!

[GT500KR_Vert]

I had this same guy try the same thing with my Mustang, I think it's a fake account and uses other people's paypal accounts.

[StRacerDuke]

If you get a personal check again go cash it at a check-cashing place! They will give you cash and hunt him down for the balance. It's an old trick I learned from my negotiable instruments section of bus law clase :)

Then, go and relist the car. Try autotrader too, I've had lots of luck with them.

[DusterRT]

I had a cashier's check from Washington Mutual waiting for me after I got home from work. I called a Wa-Mu office to verify that it was a good check; they took the guy's name and check number, put me on hold for a while, and came back saying it was A-OK.

I should be in the clear now then, right? Wish I would have posted about this earlier and heard the negative experiences with this particular guy, or I would have blocked him a while ago and started over.

That said..why on earth would ebay make it possible to block people from viewing their feedback? He has mostly good feedback but on who knows what; and I'd like to hear what his negatives were!

[streetk14]

Just make sure you have all the cash in your hands before you let the car go. This guy sounds a little shady, and there are plenty of people who get scammed selling stuff on ebay. I had a friend who got scammed when he was selling his CBR 600 RR. You can never be too careful.

Andy

[SatisTraction]

make sure you have the $$$$$ (cash) before he gets the car.

[DusterRT]

Dumb question; are we talking cleared funds in my checking account, or should I go get a stack of Benjamins from the bank as soon as it clears? Since the bank verified it was good, and it being a cashier's check he shouldn't have any link to my bank account should he?

I didn't think to just go to a Wa-Mu and cash it instantly.. :pat:

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

if your bank says "the money is in the bank" then youre alright.

but to be safe.. "and im oldschool" cash it out.. hold the money.. throw it up in the air, toss it on the bed and roll around in it, take photos of the money shoved in your new wheels to show how ballin you are, then deposit it back..

lol!

btw did he take the car yet?

[Bow Tie 67]

but to be safe.. "and im oldschool" cash it out.. hold the money.. throw it up in the air, toss it on the bed and roll around in it, take photos of the money shoved in your new wheels to show how ballin you are, then deposit it back..



To funny, I can only imagine the type of partys you throw.

[THX 138]

That sucks. But Isn't that what deposits are for? to cover the listing and storage and stuff? Make your required deposites higher next time if you have to to cover that stuff for a month.

[DusterRT]

My terms were to have the deposit for 24 hours, rest of payment within a week. But I was a sucker and gave the benefit of the doubt. I wasn't demanding the extra cash, but I basically said it'd sure be nice since I was overly understanding and forgiving, when I should have re-listed the car a month ago.

As it is now, those extra expenses I encountered aren't covered by the deposit since he's still getting the car for the original price. If I were to sell the car to someone else for that price, the deposit would cover my time/expenses and I'd still get the $9500 for the car, where as it is now the bottom line for me is I am out $400 for basically holding and storing the car for him, plus the pain in my ass of a month of dicking around with this tool.

I always looked at deposits as securing interest; as in, ensuring the buyer follows through in a timely fashion. Lesson learned I guess. Funny thing is I was in Dallas twice last weekend between flights; I wish the layover was longer and I may have gone and collected in person.

[paul67]

Make sure the other bank clears the money first , its a scam that's played over here in the UK , theres about a weeks delay before it can be cleared even though the bank says its good, do as the person say's take it to a cashing place as if you put the money in your account they will take it back out.Its so the bank that issued the check cannot go after your bank account for the money

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Man if you only knew..
dont make me call up the bishesh.. you might not make it home tonight.



To funny, I can only imagine the type of partys you throw.

[PRO TC]

Make sure the other bank clears the money first , its a scam that's played over here in the UK , theres about a weeks delay before it can be cleared even though the bank says its good, do as the person say's take it to a cashing place as if you put the money in your account they will take it back out.Its so the bank that issued the check cannot go after your bank account for the money

yes great advice.
Barry

[rocketman]

As long as you never give up the car till you have cash don't worry about it. and I thought deposits weren't refundable? My dad dealt with this trying to sell his street rod on ebay, and finally gave up on it. ebay isn't where I would sell a car at.

[DusterRT]

I've seen deposits work both ways; they can show serious interest or be used to hold something, but may be refunded if there is some issue and the buyer wants to back out (ie, puts the deposit down before the first inspection to ensure they have first grabs on it). I never actually called the deposit nonrefundable, but this guy did so I rolled with that mentality. I'm glad he did, although in the end it looks like he has followed through, but certainly not without a hitch.

[WhiteG240]

Normally after an Official check has been written against an account, the bank will place a hold in that account for the amount of the check. That way if the person were to pull out, there is a hold on his account for that money against the check. Or at least this is what the bank that I work for does.

[DusterRT]

Yes; when I bought the car, the instant I had my bank make the check, the funds were out of my account by the time I got home from picking the car up, which was hours later than when the banks closed. I *should* be good to go.

Too bad my bank is closed today..I had to shoo off the haulers, they wanted to pick up today. Me: "Haha! Umm, no..that's not going to happen!"

[Moose]

i would think he lost the first 500$, I would have made him pay another 500$ depoist or no deal. I hate to see people get screwed when there are honest people out there selling stuff trying to make a few bucks.