Ive made quite a few sales over the years and I have friends that do over $100k a year on ebay. None of them ship internationally or deal with people with no feedback. Here is his message to me. Just sounds kinda shady..
Hello, thanks for your message. I can completely understand your reticence with respect to my being a newbie on ebay. the fact of the matter is that I live and work in St. Petersburg, Russia, but I am an American citizen from Austin, Texas. I am trying to start up a club here in western Russia focused on American card deck styles (I order often from Theory 11, they have some awesome decks). This is not for gambling per se, but rather towards appreciation of deck styles (I will be setting up a museum display) and to teach card games that are not familiar here.
That said, I return to the USA twice a year to visit with family and friends, and my BoA debit card there is what I use for payment from any purchases I make overseas (professional outlets mostly, but I leapt onto ebay once I started to search for these cards).
If all of this is okay with you, I would wish to reinstate my bid. If the auction is successful in my favor, the cards would be delivered to my Mother's house in Austin, Texas, and I would pick them up when I return in March. I have a PayPal account, but can also pay you directly through BoA. However, I do not wish to do a transaction outside of ebay (for obvious reasons).
I hope you understand my position; let me know if I might re-bid. I will pay top dollar for this, and if you have any other decks let me know!
I understand this all might sound a bit strange, but that's life for some of us.
Cheers, and please let me know.
Whitney
Plus he bid again without my permission. Just saying for such an avid and enthusiastic card collector. I find it had to believe he does not have an ebay account. Maybe if he messages me on here I will apologize but i find it weird.
Also.. Lets say he bids them up because he has them for sale and wants his to sell over mine with the more attractive price. Then he doesnt pay for mine. Then I just wasted my time on an auction and have to do a second chance offer.. Thats why its not worth dealing with crap that seems a little odd.
You're doing absolutely the right thing, on or off eBay you should definitely be wary - that story, even if true - is not worth the potential problems.
Also, if that's a different address to the one his PayPal account is registered with, you probably won't be covered. I'm not sure about US, but here are the UK PayPal rules:
Eligibility RequirementsYou must obtain proof of delivery that can be tracked online.
Seller Protection covers physical items only. Check that the item is eligible in the 'Transaction Details' in your PayPal account and in your confirmation email.
Eligible transactions between buyers and sellers in the UK, US and Canada qualify for Seller Protection. If you're selling on eBay, you can post to buyers in any of the 190 countries where PayPal is accepted and still be covered.
Only post to the buyer's address provided in the 'Transaction Details' and only accept payments in full from a single PayPal account.
If you deliver an item in person or post it in any other way that can't be tracked, you won't be covered.