Convoluted non-pony ebay issue (worried might be a scam...)

[Zombelina]

Okay. Bear with me, this is complicated, but I really need advice.

I recently put up for auction a vintage catalogue that's 12"x16" and 1" thick and weighs about 1.5 kg. I put it up for $10 starting bid just to see if there was interest, plus set the shipping cost to the US. (I ship worldwide but only set shipping cost to the US in my listings, for everyplace else it's "Will ship worldwide--contact seller" and I calculate it on request.) I figured I'd probably ultimately end up taking this thing to the thrift store because no one would want to pay crazy postage to get it (to the US is $25), but while I had free listing fees I figured it wouldn't hurt to list it a few times first.

The listing ended on October 27 with no bids. Early morning on Oct 28, I got two messages, an hour apart, from 0-feedback members with very recently opened accounts.

From 0-feedback user #1; member since 23-Oct-13 in China
"Got some problems with the paypal account and late for bid......or if no other is bidding, could we make a deal at certain price? What do you think? Btw, I'm in Beijing, China. Thanks."

From 0-feedback user #2; member since 27-Oct-13 in China
"I'm a book lover in China.And I am very interest in your used catalog.But Because the time difference I missed it.Could you sell it to me?Thank you very much."

As I'm certainly not about to make any outside-of-ebay deals, I replied to each with this: "Hi, thanks for the message. I have relisted this item if you are interested in bidding. Please note that as this catalog is very heavy, shipping to China will be around $60." And figured I wouldn't hear from either of them again.

Well, I didn't hear from either of them, and the relisted catalogue again eventually ended with no bids. I relisted it one last time, last Sunday, and it ends tomorrow night (in 26 hours). This afternoon, who should bid on it but 0-feedback user #2.

So here's my problem. If this bidder (let's call him "him") does win (and I'm pretty sure he will, I don't think there's anyone else interested), do I just send it to him as normal, after invoicing him for $10 plus $60 for shipping like I estimated for him?

I am really concerned that this may be a scam of some sort, though, especially because not only is he brand new and has no feedback, but another account from China, made just four days earlier, also asked to buy it off-ebay literally an hour before him. Something about this feels really off to me  I'm worried he will try to claim non-delivery with Paypal and I'll end up having to refund the item price PLUS the shipping and I'll be out $70. Because here's the thing, the $60 shipping I estimated doesn't include tracking, because (stupid me) I didn't even think to look up how much tracking would cost to add (I usually ship without tracking because Canada Post charges an arm and a leg to add it, and I'd never sell anything at all with how expensive it'd be, so I take my chances and have never had a problem til now--and I generally sell smaller lighter items anyway, this is a very heavy exception), since I didn't think in a million years he'd bid on it.

Anyway, I don't much feel like taking my chances this time, so I have sure as heck looked it up, and shipping it with tracking will be $90.

So then. (Bless anyone who's made it this far.) Should I invoice him for the $10 + $90 shipping instead so that I can ship with tracking, thus giving me Paypal protection should he try to claim non-delivery? Will that get me in trouble with ebay since I replied to his earlier message saying shipping to him would be "around $60"? That was my guesstimate, not a firm quote, but I don't know in what light ebay will view it. Can I tell him something like, "Shipping to China is unfortunately actually $90. I know that's extremely expensive, so let me know if you would like to cancel the transaction."

Or, should I just end the listing now and cancel his bid (and immediately take the catalogue to the thrift store because I'm not going through this again)? I don't want to get negative feedback, of course, but at this point really I just really don't want to lose a ton of money If I end a listing early/cancel the bid, does that bidder have the opportunity to leave feedback?

I'm going around in circles here trying to figure out how to deal with this. Any help would be SO much appreciated.

[ponylady]

I would most definitely ship with tracking, do not take any chances. If you do not have proof of delivery and they open a claim, you will loose the case. Ebay will refund them the cost of the item and also their original shipping charges, leaving you out your book and shipping costs.

I would send him a message and explain that you are not covered unless you send the item with tracking. So the new charges will be such and such. The worst case scenario is he won't agree and then you can always just cancel the transaction.

[Shiromisa]

 Agreed, no harm in sending a message explaining. If he's not okay with it, just cancel his bid. I don't think he can leave you feedback unless he actually wins the auction.

[tulagirl]

Well, if it were me...no...I would not take this risk. I would cancel his bid and not allow bids from China to stop him from bidding again under another user name.  There is a lot about this that bugs me.  The problem is you don't have the shipping quote listed in the auction and it really needs to be there.  Very very suspicious.  You know we all have instinct for a reason.  I have learned over time to listen to mine.  Its your decision.

Post Merge: November 16, 2013, 10:33:47 AM

Oh, no they can't leave feedback for anything unless they win it.

[Zombelina]

Thank you all so much for your advice I've thought it through again, with what you've all said in mind, and I decided to cancel the bid and end the listing. Didn't want to push it too close to the 12-hours-prior cutoff for ending a listing early, by waiting for him to reply to a message in the next few hours.

And I'm taking the darn catalogue off to Value Village tomorrow and washing my hands of it, lol! Just waaay too many red flags and bad feelings about the whole thing

It's the first (and hopefully only) time I've ended a listing early, so I hope there won't be any backlash from ebay against my account. It actually looks like I don't even have to pay a fee, as this is the only time I've done it and the ebay support pages say you get one "freebie" early-ending per year, lol.

I wish there was a better way to set up shipping prices. I really am willing to ship anywhere, but I just can't possibly calculate the cost for every country in the world before listing something. (eta: and I should add, using ebay.com as a Canadian doesn't give me access to any of ebay's own shipping calculations, as I have to choose "shipping from outside US") So I figure out and set the cost to ship to the US, and then in the International Shipping section of my shipping policy, under "Additional ship to locations - buyers contact for costs", I select "Will ship worldwide" and then I figure it out case by case, if and when someone inquires about their country. But from this moment on, I am certainly going to be quoting shipping PLUS tracking every darn time I feel even the slightest bit of trepidation!

Thanks again everyone.

[NoDivision]

Hm, that's a shame that there's not a way to calculate shipping directly in the auction :\