selling on ebay to zero-feedback buyer

not really photography related, but figured id ask for some opinions/advice

i am trying to sell a cellphone on ebay. i listed it up, and after a couple of days, it was snagged at buy it now price. the buyer has 0 feedback and registered the same day as the purchase - this set off red flags in my mind. however, the address she has with paypal is confirmed.

i emailed her to let her know of my concern, and asked if she would be willing to somehow confirm that she is legit. she responded saying she understood, that she lost that same model of phone and didnt want to pay retail to verizon, and would be willing to provide proof. so far, seems ok. i just dont know what kind of proof to ask her for. i want to give the benefit of doubt, as everyone starts at 0 feedback, but at the same time i dont want to be burned with a chargeback.

how do i proceed here?

If you are shipping to a Paypal confirmed address you are covered. I would not worry about it.

you should be ok. how to proceed? get the payment, and ship the item with tracking.

Zero feedback can be OK as long as you protect yourself.

That being said, whenever I used to say that 'zero feedback or recent negative members have to contact me first or their bids will be cancelled'. That gives you a bit of control (especially if you leave it vague and the person has any negative feedback, since 'recent' can be relative).

ekinnyc wrote in post #13976073
not really photography related, but figured id ask for some opinions/advice

i am trying to sell a cellphone on ebay. i listed it up, and after a couple of days, it was snagged at buy it now price. the buyer has 0 feedback and registered the same day as the purchase - this set off red flags in my mind. however, the address she has with paypal is confirmed.

i emailed her to let her know of my concern, and asked if she would be willing to somehow confirm that she is legit. she responded saying she understood, that she lost that same model of phone and didnt want to pay retail to verizon, and would be willing to provide proof. so far, seems ok. i just dont know what kind of proof to ask her for. i want to give the benefit of doubt, as everyone starts at 0 feedback, but at the same time i dont want to be burned with a chargeback.

how do i proceed here?

You're going overboard. You have to be careful not to upset your customers too--it's a balancing act. If it's over $249.99, you need to get signature confirmation. Otherwise, ship with tracking to the address as listed, and you're okay. Insurance is recommended, but NOT necessary... as long as it arrives.

as people have stated above. as long as you take the necessary steps, you should be fine. If everyone never sold to 0 feedback ebay buyers, there would be no ebay. everyone has to start somewhere, and maybe your buyer is one of the people who finally jumped on a deal on ebay that they found suitable.

I understand your concern. But as others have stated, so as long you ship to that confirmed address, you're protected by PayPal. However, you do have to remember that we all started off as new and with 0 feedback at some point in time whether its selling or buying.

Make sure you ship package with tracking number and document IMEI or serial number incase they try and do a switcheroo. There are sneaky people out there, so always protect yourself.

Unlike everybody else my suggestion would be to talk to her on the phone and get comfortable and do not go ahead with the transaction if you are not. I just have no trust in paypal. It may or may not help you and getting signature is not the end of the story.

Just ship it USPS signature required. Belt and suspenders.

she was kind enough to send me a scan of her cable bill (sensitive data blacked out) that showed address and name
shipped the item usps signature required

i feel slightly more secure, but still better to be safe than sorry.

Everyone started as a zero feedback...good on you for helping someone out a little.

I dont think I have ever even looked at a buyers feedback. Sellers, absolutley, but never a buyer.

Ebay has features for blocking buyers that don't have adequate feedback for you (for the future at least)

You gotta try not to tick off the customers either. If a seller emailed me after paying and wanted to see a cable bill or proof of who I am I would probably be pretty upset with them, that is going way over the top. Although in your case, it sounds like it was volunteered, so not saying you did anything wrong. Just follow paypal's rules exactly so you can avoid the chargeback possibility and you'll be fine

I think you did everything exactly the way I would have. You confirmed that she was a real person before sending her the phone. No worries - get on to you next deal!