Weird eBay situation, please help!

[foalpatrol]

Last night a buyer messaged me about one of my ebay auctions and asked if I could invoice her directly as she was having payment troubles.  I didn't respond as I was asleep at the time, and an hour later she took the buy now on the auction.  I saw the sale and the message when I woke this morning, and assuming that her payment troubles were resolved, I packaged the item ready to send.

The item has NOT been posted.  Later this morning, I received a message from another eBay account, claiming to be from the buyer's mother, saying that the buyer used her credit card for the purchase without permission, and could I cancel the transaction.

Obviously, I don't want to get into a credit card dispute here.  But the message came from an unverified third party, so I'm not sure if I should act on it.  I have messaged the buyer asking for an explanation, but so far no response has been received.

How do I cancel this sale without paying ebay fees?

[Loa]

Eeeek!
I would contact Ebay ASAP and send them the messages. This sounds dodgy as hell!

[foalpatrol]

The buyer responded and asked me to refund the credit card payment, then send her another invoice through PayPal so she could pay with her own money.  She then messaged me again and said she had settled the payment with her mother and not to cancel the sale after all.  I messaged her mother to ask if this was correct. 

However, I then checked out the buyer's feedback and it's appalling.  One seller noted that she racked up $1,500 in purchases and then stopped responding.  Another said she didn't pay or make contact. 

I reported her earlier in the day through the "report buyer" link, shortly after the mother messaged me.  I don't think eBay respond to those reports though, do they?  How can I get out of the sale without paying the fees?

[Stiletto]

What a strange situation!  In order to recoup your sellers fees in any situation you will need to open a case with eBay, and fully refund the buyer.   When I went in to report a non-paying bidder a few days ago there was an option to "I need to cancel a transaction" so I would try that, and see where that leads. 

And as soon as get everything figured out make sure you add both user IDs to your blocked bidders list!  May I ask what their eBay IDs are so I avoid these people?  What a nightmare to rack up $1500 in eBay purchases and then not pay!  And it seems as if she has a track record of screwing people over.

[Taffeta]

I feel the queen of suspicious people by saying this...and the story could be true with a mother trying to manage her daughter's buying online or whatever. But it could also be a scam using two people. I would consult ebay but try to cancel the transaction. I would suggest to the buyer and her mother that if they then want to buy the item it should be done by the mother's account if her feedback is better...but it seems like a very high risk transaction to continue with to me :/

[Marlin]

I feel the queen of suspicious people by saying this...and the story could be true with a mother trying to manage her daughter's buying online or whatever. But it could also be a scam using two people. I would consult ebay but try to cancel the transaction. I would suggest to the buyer and her mother that if they then want to buy the item it should be done by the mother's account if her feedback is better...but it seems like a very high risk transaction to continue with to me :/

I agree. Better to get out of the whole thing, I think. I hope you can and without any loss to yourself!

[foalpatrol]

May I ask what their eBay IDs are so I avoid these people?  What a nightmare to rack up $1500 in eBay purchases and then not pay!  And it seems as if she has a track record of screwing people over.

The buyer is "horwi-jilli", and the mother is "probuilsys".

I didn't hear back from the mother overnight, so I will just cancel the sale - no point trying to pursue it. 

[LadyMoondancer]

Do NOT accept payment from any Paypal account EXCEPT the one connected with the buyer's account.  Sounds to me like a scam. 

I would be very very surprised if the "mother's" Paypal and eBay accounts didn't really belong to the buyer.

Perhaps the saddest part is that the eBay sellers who left negative "positive" feedback were taking a big risk.  Believe it or not, THEY are the ones who risk getting in trouble if this skeevy buyer reported them.  (Sellers are not allowed to leave negative feedback under a positive. They also do not have the option of leaving 'real' negative or neutral feedback anymore.)  If those sellers hadn't broken the rules we would have NO way of knowing this "100% positive" buyer was a bad buyer.

An example of how eBay's feedback system has become toothless.