ebay member from Brazil

Actually, this may be a form of promoting your items.

However, if you suspect this person, check his feedback rating, or you can specifically limit the bidders on all or some of your auctions. RTFM or in this case RTFWP.... that's web pages....

Thanks so much for your insightful comments. Your mother must be very proud. I didn't think it would hurt to post a link to my auction. People do that all the time.

About the guy from Brazil, he has a 100% positive rating, but only 26 comments and a one year history. As this situation was sinking into my head I recalled reading on an ebay seller forum a couple of years ago that the notorious Brazilian con artist had a history of changing user IDs, and his feedback was generally good because his modus operandi was to receive the engine via a shipping method with no delivery receipt, then ask paypal for a refund due to non-shipment. The seller, who already left feedback upon payment, could not prove that the engine was shipped, so paypal would yank the money out of the seller's account and refund it to the buyer.

What made me really suspicious was that the buyer in question first complimented me on my 100% positive rating, then talked about how marvelous the engine was and how much he would like to have it. Then he told me that he had no choice but to use paypal (which is clearly not true as there are lots of methods for international payments), and that he would be happy to pay for any extra money it would cost me. He specifically asked for USPS First Class International shipping, which has no delivery receipt. This leads me to suspect that he was setting me up for the classic scam I heard about on the ebay forum.

I'm familiar with the blocked bidder list. Any ebay member I have even a little bit of trouble with goes right on the list. This is a pretty good indication of the good experiences I've had with ebay. In about

2000 auctions in 8 years I've put only about a dozen people on the list. I've done business with several Brazilians and had no trouble, but this particular guy was just fishy enough to earn a spot on my blocked bidder list.

Oh, Paypal is only good for paypal. You thought paypal was good? you are lucky. I use it, but I've been screwed anyway. mk

"MJKolodziej" wrote

There are horror stories out there about paypal and the rights you sign away when you consent to using it. You basically give paypal unlimited control over your bank accounts.

I am a very light Ebay user, but I avoid paypal, and use it as a last resort, only.

I wont use it.

If the seller/buyer insists ion it, no sale. End of story.

I used to specify on my auctions "NO PAYPAL". But the world has changed enough that I think I would be losing money if I sold only to the old fashioned folks who don't use it. I haven't had any trouble since about

2002 when they stole a few bucks from me. Back then I even heard about a guy who got his bank account vacuumed out by paypal. He lost about $1700. For casual users it's a decent system. But I don't let it get out of control.

Regarding a previous question of how you could lose with a "secure" payment system such as paypal, the scam involves the buyer's guarantee to receive what he paid for. That's why the Brazilian guy requested First Class International, which has no delivery receipt. His next step is to claim that he didn't receive anything, and the seller has no proof, so Paypal confiscates the money and gives it back. That's why I was suspicious about this particular inquiry because he specifically wanted Paypal and a no-proof delivery. No thanks.

Just by coincendence, I sold a J3 electric on eBay at least three years ago, and some dickwick from Brazil almost begged me to cancel the auction and send it to him. I said NO intl sales, period. A few days later, same shit. Same response.. Why couldn't he had just purchased it openly like I did - it was not a big ticket item. Made NO sense............

I use it linked to my credit card only. Secure payments without letting them at my bank accounts. It's good for buyers especially if done that way.

Do you happen to remember his name? (Just out of curiosity. The auction is over.)

I won't buy if the seller won't take PayPal. I've been using it since it started and no problems at all. You don't get screwed by PayPal, you get screwed by the buyer/seller!

Goedendag Robert,

You could ask in this Brazilian forum, they don't mind English posts:

Vriendelijke groeten ;-) Ron van Sommeren int. electric fly-in, Nijmegen, Netherlands

That's pretty much the same scam, except this guy was using Paypal. I think you're right that as a buyer you do pretty well with Paypal. Sellers have a lot more at stake.

Seems like the city was Sao Paulo, but it's been awhile... Hell , the shipping would have almost been as much as the airplane!

Seems like I go through this on every auction I put up. I don't remember the names(there are lots of them). I just refuse to do international buyers, it's not worth the risk.

PCPhill

I hate to block other countries because I know there are a lot of nice folks out there looking for deals. I've sold to dozens of people from all over the world, and the three or four times I've been burned has been by Americans. Well, there was one Canadian who sold me a couple of junk engines, but they turned out to be collectible so I made a profit on that deal.

I'm a firm believer in "find out for your self" mk