Manipulative buyer

[mcguire58]

So I sold an sprint iPhone 11 pro max(this is new iPhone just released) it wasn’t enough storage for me and with the return to sprint restock fee it was more money if I sold it and get a higher storage model.

I had it listed as open box at $975 ,it retails at Apple and Sprint for $1099. Had a buyer offer me $900 which I accepted,buyer paid then asked to make sure I would inactivate from my account so he could activate,with sprint phones if a phone is activated on someone’s account it can’t be activated on another account until it is inactivated or another phone is activated in its place.

I told the buyer no problem as I was selling this phone to get a larger storage model and would order it overnight so by the time he got it it would be ready to activate. So I bought my new phone and thought everything ok.

Wrong! About 15 min later buyer messaged and says oh I didn’t realize this was 64gb can you either cancel or make price $825. I’m like what?! I already sold it $200 less than it goes for which I told buyer and why didn’t he ask questions before hand or read listing,and he knew I was buying a different phone and already ordered a replacement so I now didn’t have money to refund him.

He replies,”well I know they sale for $1099 but for that price I could get a fully unlocked model and for me to feel comfortable and complete sale please refund $75.”

I think this buyer deliberately knew and waited until I ordered a replacement phone for my account then came up with the oh I didn’t know it was 64gb so he could strong arm me into a cheaper price and get more money back.

I haven’t shipped phone yet,it sold yesterday,I was getting ready to ship this afternoon and he asked that I send him that$75 tonight.

I’m not sure about this,if I don’t refund that money,he will just return it,I thought about reselling then refunding his money but he is liable to neg me. I don’t know what to do about this.

[tdumonde2014]

Buyer said "Cancel", do so before you s/he changes their mind. You have the opportunity to avoid a mess here, I suggest you take it.

[triswe24]

Cancel and be done with this con artist

[mcguire58]

I’d have to relist it and sale it first as I already used the money to buy another phone so I don’t have the money to refund him

[triswe24]

You're about to be screwed

[m60driver]

You have sold enough phones on Ebay to know that, especially with phones, you can't count your chickens before they hatch.  Phones are arguably the number one scam target on Ebay.  I see only crocodile tears here.

[a_c_green]

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@mcguire58 wrote:

I think this buyer deliberately knew and waited until I ordered a replacement phone for my account then came up with the oh I didn’t know it was 64gb so he could strong arm me into a cheaper price and get more money back.

I haven’t shipped phone yet,it sold yesterday,I was getting ready to ship this afternoon and he asked that I send him that$75 tonight.

I’m not sure about this, if I don’t refund that money, he will just return it, I thought about reselling then refunding his money but he is liable to neg me. I don’t know what to do about this.

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Forget about a Neg; the buyer sounds slippery enough that you may be getting scammed anyway, and a Neg is the least of your worries, if he even leaves one in the first place. (Look at his Feedback Left for Others to see what sort of history he has for doing that.)

He has asked to cancel, and you should use that opportunity to bail: Cancel the transaction using the reason of "Buyer Requested," since you have that in writing from him. Return the phone to Sprint regardless of the restock fee so you can get the majority of your money back, borrow whatever more is needed to get the full amount back to the buyer, and do it. 

If you are determined to sell that here, do so only as a Local Pickup item for cash. No one elsewhere in the world has a pressing need for your specific phone, and scammers will be circling you like moths to a flame if you list that here again. Good luck.

[fab_finds4u]

You spent the money before the transaction was complete?  It's not complete until the buyer has received it, is happy with it and has left positive feedback, or 30 days has passed with no dispute filed.

If they decide to ask for a refund claiming not as described you have to provide a return label and refund when it's been sent back.  If you don't and the buyer asks eBay to decide you could end up having to refund and eBay lets the buyer keep the phone.  You don't want the buyer to end up with a refund and keeping the phone, do you?

There's NO WAY I would send them a partial refund after the sale.  I would cancel and refund  (best choice) or send them the phone and force them to file a return.  Sending them the phone is going to result in you losing the shipping money from the refund money and being forced to provide return shipping because the buyer is going to return it for a refund after he gets it unless he can jack you up for a cheaper price.  

If he negs you eBay would probably remove it because his unhappiness was because you wouldn't give him a refund or a partial refund and he hadn't even received the it yet.

[fashunu4eeuh]

This is a real pickle here. On eBay, the buyer has 30 days to seek a return. On PayPal he has 180 days. That is how many days you must wait to spend your proceeds of a sale if you have no working capital. If you have not got the funds to refund, eBay will refund and then collect from you. You won't be allowed to sell or list if your account falls in arrears. Even though you listed with No Returns, if the buyer opens a Not As Described case, you must refund according to the Money Back Guarantee or the PayPal Buyer Protection program. A buyer determined to get a refund can use these programs to force it. As a seller, I keep a cushion in my PayPal account equal to the most expensive item I have sold in the last 180 days. So sorry this has happened to you. Can you return the phone you just purchased? You will have to come up with the cash.

[a_c_green]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

There's NO WAY I would send them a partial refund after the sale.  I would cancel and refund  (best choice) or send them the phone and force them to file a return.

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I suspect that if you did send the phone anyway, the buyer would simply claim that he received an empty box. Cancel and Refund would be the best strategy, as you have the buyer's cancel request in writing already, and you (still) have the phone.

[tools*]

Are you saying that you bought a $1,000 iPhone, but you have no money in the bank?

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Agreed. The best option here is any that keeps the phone out of this "buyer"'s hands.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

I can't even begin to imagine spending $1k on a phone. But that's just me. (I wouldn't spend it on other things either, like a purse).

[mcguire58]

I’ve been selling on eBay for several years. Most of us sell to make extra money,if we waited months for every buyer to be happy to spend the money is ridiculous. When I sell something that is my money,if I have a return I figure it out I always have. And usually I have capital in case of a refund,it’s the end of the month though so waiting on payday.

 I don’t get the feeling that this guy is a scammer just one trying to get the lowest price he could. After all he did say either do the price fo $825 or cancel the sale. I was trying to get the other phone ordered so it would be on its way and here so I could activate it so when the one I sold got to him in a few days he’d have no problem. I guess I should have waited a bit. 
Anyway Ive already got the shipping label printed,I’m going to ship and I’ll figure out the refund thing, it would be more trouble to resell and refund and I’m already past return period with sprint so I cannot return.

[mcguire58]

Yes I got money in the bank for bills and payday is in a few days. And I didn’t flat out spend a thousand on a phone,I do like most people do I paid money down and pay it out on my phone bill.