eBay scam or legit mistake?

Whoaru99 · Jan 27, 2019

End of December I buy an item from eBay, pay with PayPal, said item arrives as described and in a timely manner. Gave good feedback. All seems good.

Today I receive an invoice that appears be from/through eBay asking me to pay again for this item, but it is asking me to pay directly to a gmail email address.

I check eBay and it appears the seller has issued a full refund for the item. As well, my PayPal account reflects a full refund of the purchase. In PayPal I also see a new request for payment to the different email address (same as in the eBay-looking invoice or whatever).

Through Ebay I send this message to the seller -
"Why have you sent a refund for this purchase, and why is someone else asking me to pay again?"

I received a reply from the seller, through Ebay, within minutes saying this -
"It's not a different person it's me. eBay had an old email for an old PayPal account. I didn't realize that didn't change it. So I refunded you the money so you can send it to the correct PayPal account. Minus the shipping for the inconvenience. I apologize for the trouble. Thank you for your understanding. The email it should go to is xxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com"

I don't use Ebay all that often but I am wary of scams. This seems odd to me, perhaps especially because it says minus shipping for inconvenience, but shipping was included in the purchase price.

What gives here? Someone trying to scam me, or bypass eBay's cut of the sale since payment would be outside of eBay, or what's the deal?

mat200 · Jan 27, 2019

Whoaru99 said:
End of December I buy an item from eBay, pay with PayPal, said item arrives as described and in a timely manner. Gave good feedback. All seems good.

Today I receive an invoice that appears be from/through eBay asking me to pay again for this item, but it is asking me to pay directly to a gmail email address.

I check eBay and it appears the seller has issued a full refund for the item. As well, my PayPal account reflects a full refund of the purchase. In PayPal I also see a new request for payment to the different email address (same as in the eBay-looking invoice or whatever).

Through Ebay I send this message to the seller -
"Why have you sent a refund for this purchase, and why is someone else asking me to pay again?"

I received a reply from the seller, through Ebay, within minutes saying this -
"It's not a different person it's me. eBay had an old email for an old PayPal account. I didn't realize that didn't change it. So I refunded you the money so you can send it to the correct PayPal account. Minus the shipping for the inconvenience. I apologize for the trouble. Thank you for your understanding. The email it should go to is xxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com"

I don't use Ebay all that often but I am wary of scams. This seems odd to me, perhaps especially because it says minus shipping for inconvenience, but shipping was included in the purchase price.

What gives here? Someone trying to scam me, or bypass eBay's cut of the sale since payment would be outside of eBay, or what's the deal?

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

Wondering what the potential downside would be? I would probably at least wait a few days before acting on it.

CV350 · Jan 27, 2019

Just like you I would be cautious as there are scams out there that are quiet sophisticated.

If you separately logged into ebay and PayPal and didnt use a link attached in the email that was sent then you should be seeing a true reflection of your ebay and paypal accounts. Where a lot of people get caught is that they are sent a link in an email that takes them to a bogus account that looks exactly like the real thing but isn't.

In your situation I would reach out to Paypal directly and ask them for advice. They should know whether the two email accounts are linked or be able to advise on how to protect your payment.

Whoaru99 · Jan 27, 2019

Yes, for sure I checked eBay and PayPal directly. Did not use any links or buttons in the email.

Q™ · Jan 27, 2019

I'd move on. Irregularities are irregular; they make me uncomfortable.

IAmATeaf · Jan 28, 2019

I’d also be wary, especially as the seller did all this without talking to you first. Also how if the PayPal address was wrong did he manage to issue a refund?

Mike · Jan 28, 2019

I would not pay again. You paid once already and why would he refund you and not transfer the funds to his "other paypal account"? Maybe call PayPal

bp2008 · Jan 28, 2019

IAmATeaf said:
I’d also be wary, especially as the seller did all this without talking to you first. Also how if the PayPal address was wrong did he manage to issue a refund?

This is what I'm thinking. If the guy had access to issue a refund, then he had access to the money already, and something shady is definitely going on.

Whoaru99 · Jan 28, 2019

Wondering if trying to sidestep eBay fees?

Refund eBay transaction then pay outside the loop, so to speak?

I've never sold anything on eBay so not sure how all that works.

t84a · Jan 28, 2019

Either pay the guy or return what you bought. Contact eBay to see if they can intervene. I don't see why anyone would think he should just keep the goods without paying for them.

bp2008 · Jan 28, 2019

If I were you, I would ask ebay support how to proceed. Most likely they will tell you not to pay again, and then you will have full justification for not exposing yourself further to a likely scammer.

Whoaru99 · Jan 28, 2019

t84a said:
Either pay the guy or return what you bought. Contact eBay to see if they can intervene. I don't see why anyone would think he should just keep the goods without paying for them.

Let me be brutally clear here. My intent is NOT to stiff anyone so let's nix that implication post haste.

This is simply a matter whether this refund and request for repayment on something I already paid in full for ~1 month ago is legit or some sort of scam.

FWIW, just got off the phone with PayPal and their opinion is it seems legit.

bp2008 · Jan 28, 2019

Indeed, I can think of a number of reasons why it is a bad idea to simply follow the seller's instructions and pay outside the normal system.

1) The buyer would likely be giving up Ebay buyer protection. As far as Ebay would be concerned, the purchase would have been refunded, so if it is later discovered that the item is counterfeit, stolen, etc, the buyer would be screwed.
2) The seller is almost certainly in violation of Ebay's terms of service by asking for payment outside the system. This is why I think Ebay will side with the buyer.
3) It might not be the actual seller anymore (ebay accounts are stolen and used maliciously all the time).
4) There could be a clever scam where the earlier refund gets reversed, and the buyer is out his money twice.

Whoaru99 · Jan 28, 2019

eBay probably my next call.

Sheesh, I'm going to have way more time value in this than the item is worth. That doesn't mean I'm just going to pay without due diligence though.

mat200 · Jan 28, 2019

Thinking more on this.. wondering if the ebay account got hijacked somehow?

( attacker - hijacks account, sends refurnd, asks for payment outside of the network )

Whoaru99 · Jan 28, 2019

The name on the original transaction and the refund match up, it's the please re-pay to different email that has me.

To an earlier point, and question I sent the seller, if you can refund to me from your "old" account, why couldn't you have paid/transferred that to your "new" account instead?

t84a · Jan 28, 2019

I believe he can issue the refund from his eBay account. He may have different email addresses for eBay and PayPal. What is eBay saying?

bp2008 · Jan 28, 2019

Whoaru99 said:
To an earlier point, and question I sent the seller, if you can refund to me from your "old" account, why couldn't you have paid/transferred that to your "new" account instead?

I'm curious what the answer to this is. But probably what @t84a said... lost access to the paypal account but was able to refund through ebay directly.

Mike · Jan 28, 2019

You know we are all wondering what the item was

Whoaru99 · Jan 28, 2019

The i7 CPU for my BI machine. It's merrily plugging away as we speak.

I have zero issue with the purchase/seller from an original transaction standpoint. It's just this funny business now has me on alert.

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eBay scam or legit mistake?

Whoaru99

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