Knowing eBay buyer is not a fraudster

[sorinc03]

I just sold my early 2011 Macbook Pro on eBay. The buyer contacted me to ask if I can lower to Buy it Now price, I negotiated with him a bit and then did that. As soon as I lowered the price he paid for it and the money is now in my bank account (from paypal).

How do I know he's still not a fraudster? How can I protect myself from him not returning the laptop or anything like that and then asking for the money back?

The reason I'm asking is because after buying it he said he's buying it to get his mind off two of his family members dying in a car crash. This makes it sound a bit like a fraud for some reason.

Can someone please help? Should I send it to him or should I cancel the transaction?

 

[Jessica Lares]

Cancel it. He's trying to make you feel guilty for something that didn't happen. That is not regular behavior of someone going through that kind of thing.

 

[sorinc03]

Hi Jessica,
Thanks, that's what I just did. It's very hard to find a proper buyer on eBay, unfortunately.

Thanks for the advice.

Sorin

 

[thatoneguy82]

I just sold my early 2011 Macbook Pro on eBay. The buyer contacted me to ask if I can lower to Buy it Now price, I negotiated with him a bit and then did that. As soon as I lowered the price he paid for it and the money is now in my bank account (from paypal).

How do I know he's still not a fraudster? How can I protect myself from him not returning the laptop or anything like that and then asking for the money back?

The reason I'm asking is because after buying it he said he's buying it to get his mind off two of his family members dying in a car crash. This makes it sound a bit like a fraud for some reason.

Can someone please help? Should I send it to him or should I cancel the transaction?

Though his story sounds iffy, I don't think it's tantamount to him being a fraud. Per your story, he hasn't asked for a refund; the story was probably used to bring the price down. I'm a frequent eBay seller and I abhor cancellations. For it to be successful, both parties must agree or the seller is stuck at paying the final value fee of 10% plus the S&H percentage as well, which could be substantial with a laptop. Also, eBay protects both seller and buyer so I wouldn't worry about being swindled. Additionally, you already have the money, so it would be much harder for him to make a case.

 

[rhett7660]

Though his story sounds iffy, I don't think it's tantamount to him being a fraud. Per your story, he hasn't asked for a refund; the story was probably used to bring the price down. I'm a frequent eBay seller and I abhor cancellations. For it to be successful, both parties must agree or the seller is stuck at paying the final value fee of 10% plus the S&H percentage as well, which could be substantial with a laptop. Also, eBay protects both seller and buyer so I wouldn't worry about being swindled. Additionally, you already have the money, so it would be much harder for him to make a case.

However, they did use Paypal and we have heard to many stories about Paypal protecting the buyer and the seller being left with a product that is worthless, broken and unable to do anything with.

To me this sounded kind of fishy also.