After all, people forget to update addresses all the time. On the face of it, a buyer asking to send an item to a different address is a perfectly reasonable request. Red flag no 6: Request to ship to a different address Some sellers choose to block buyers with zero Feedback to avoid this issue. It may be a legitimate new buyer but it is hard to tell with no Feedback to go on. A buyer with no history of any kind on eBay is a cause for concern, especially if their first purchase happens to be a high-value electronic item. Red flag no 5: Buyers with no historyĪ buyer with low positive Feedback is enough to make any seller a bit wary. In combination with other red flags, however, broken English is an indicator that the buyer may not have honest intentions in mind. In the same way, buyers with an excellent command of English are not always legitimate buyers. This is not to say, of course, that every message sent to sellers with broken English is from an unscrupulous buyer. Red flag no 4: Broken EnglishĪs experienced eBay sellers will confirm, messages sent by scammers to sellers often include incorrect spellings, bad grammar or broken English. Always direct buyers to pay directly through eBay and be sure to double check payments within PayPal before sending items. Less obvious variations exist, such as requesting a seller’s PayPal email address so they can later fake a PayPal payment notification email. Requesting to pay via Western Union, MoneyGram or any other type of wire transfer is a major red flag. There are many ways a scammer can try and cheat a seller out of payment for an item. Red flag no 3: Request to pay outside eBay There is nothing inherently shady about sellers who are quick off the mark, but it’s more than a little suspicious with high-value items such as electronics. It may be legitimate, but you may also soon receive a message from the buyer with some unusual requests to complete the transaction (see no.3 and no. If you place a high-value item for sale and it is sold exceptionally quickly (say, less than twenty minutes later) keep on your toes. If something sounds too good to be true (such as a buyer wanting to pay over the asking price) then it probably isn’t. 6) that can potentially result in the seller being scammed. The offer for more money than the listed price is usually followed by another request (see no. Why would anyone ever offer to pay more than the asking price? The probable answer: scammers who are trying to get a seller’s guard down. Red flag no 1: Buyer offers more money than listed price Here are six red flags to watch out for while selling on eBay, to help avoid being scammed. Recognizing these can help avoid many scam situations altogether. While it is useful to be aware of specific eBay scams (and we’ve featured quite a few already), it is also helpful for new sellers to be familiar with common scam characteristics. Plenty of new eBay sellers come afoul of scammers while trying to make their first sales.