Selling iPhone 12 Pro Max on eBay

User210686 on 24/11/2021 - 14:06
Last edited 24/11/2021 - 17:07 by 1 other user

Let me preface this by saying that I understand the risks after reading horror stories on here, but I was wondering if anyone could give advice as to how to mitigate the risk of falling victim to a scam. I'm also going to post an ad on Gumtree/FB Marketplace. eBay final seller fee is $1 or zero if I post the ad via Gumtree, I believe.

I've observed a few patterns scammers use on eBay:

1) Buyer claims "item not received" despite tracking showing delivered
2) Buyer disputes "payment unauthorised"
3) Everything else from "item not as described" to the box was empty

To protect myself from financial loss and unnecessary stress, what should I do aside from not selling on eBay? I considered trade in and mobilemonster options but their offers are $400-$500 below the market value.

  • Use AusPost Registered Post + Signature + Insurance. They don't check IDs, so the buyer could still say that whoever received the parcel did not reside at the delivery address. AusPost Insurance becomes useless because it was delivered to the correct address. Are there another other delivery methods with proof of identity requirement upon delivery? eBay Seller Protection should kick in if you purchase insurance but did they ever side with the buyer?

  • Ship with Find My iPhone enabled with burner iCloud account. Not sure how this would work but I should be able to locate the exact location of the phone and also lock the phone remotely if the seller claims that they haven't received it. If the buyer is legit, they can sign out of my iCloud account after receiving it.

EDIT:
- Block IMEI before sending and once the buyer has received it, I will contact mobile carrier to remove the block

Mobile Apple Mobile Phone

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Comments

  • perhaps on 24/11/2021 - 14:09
    +4

    Cold hard cash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

    *Only really applicable for the Gumtree/FB listing tho

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 24/11/2021 - 14:10
    +5

    Face to face, cash in a very public place is the only way to go for anything remotely decent valued imo.

    Guy in my neighbourhood had some blokes come around to buy a macbook in cash, and they snatched the laptop when seller had turned around and bolted out door.
    They recovered the laptop in the chase but it was smashed and the guys got away.

    While most transactions are relatively normal, do you REALLLYYYY want to go through with the headache.

    • User210686 on 24/11/2021 - 17:10

      I saw a similar incident on evening news not long ago….

      If I'm meeting face to face, it would be at Westfield, bank or police station lol and will only sign out of my iCloud account when the payment is complete.

    • valleyrain on 24/11/2021 - 17:12

      In a public place, they could still bolt out with your laptop in a stolen car or car with dummy plates. Unless you have cctv around, you’re out of luck.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 24/11/2021 - 17:24

        Cop shop lobby. If anyone would have good cctv hopefully it’s them

  • Fredfloresjr on 24/11/2021 - 14:16
    +1

    Only cash babey

  • Catullus on 24/11/2021 - 14:19

    Registered Post used to be good. When I was a Postie, I would ask for the Receiver's licence before I gave it to him, or else it went to the Post Office.

  • FartPants on 24/11/2021 - 14:25
    +2

    One of the things you can do to safeguard yourself on eBay is to limit buyers/bidders to those with a certain amount of feedback and restrict it to a certain % of positive feedback to go one step further. You could have a courier deliver it and pay for insurance

    • User210686 on 24/11/2021 - 17:12

      DHL, FedEx, they all just ask for your name and hand it over….
      My eBay is already set to restrict unfavourable bidders but will definitely scrutinise feedback of the buyer.

  • MagicMushroom on 24/11/2021 - 14:30
    +1

    sell it on ozbargain

  • Hithere on 24/11/2021 - 14:31
    +4

    Selling iPhone 12 Pro Max on eBay

    Just don't, unless you are willing to be scammed and never see your phone, or any money, again.

    While there may be some honest buyers wanting to buy your phone they will be outnumbered by the scammers.

    Put up with the time wasters and sell it on FB or GT, cash on pickup only.

  • Drakesy on 24/11/2021 - 15:16
    +1

    Don't do it.
    Plenty of people on marketplace/gumtree willing to do cash in hand

    Ebay is geared to favour the buyer
    it's like playing russian roulette

  • stirlo on 24/11/2021 - 15:22
    +1

    Sell on Facebook at a reasonable price.

    If you offer it for even $50 less than other sellers it will normally be snapped up by an honest buyer relatively quickly. The discount is less than the eBay fees. And obviously cash only, meetup in public place..

    Just don't listen to people asking you to post to their oil rig or offering to pay extra for some stupid reason.

  • freefall101 on 24/11/2021 - 15:25
    +1

    There is no easy way to mitigate it, thus why those scams are so popular.

    I sell/give my phones to family members/friends first, then try forums I'm a member of or facebook/gumtree with cash only. There's always a family member looking for a "new" phone with a couple of hundred bucks knocked off, only problem is they also tend to want free tech support with it.

  • andysa on 24/11/2021 - 15:42
    +2

    Does eBay side with the buyer if you use signature required when posting, and they claim to have not received it? Doesn't sound right to me.

    As an experienced eBayer:
    1. Post high value items only with signature required.
    2. Look at the buyers rating before posting the item, do they have a very low rating? If there's anything suspicious then cancel the auction (just say the item was damaged or something).

    • stirlo on 25/11/2021 - 17:51

      It's relatively easy to get a high rating by buying a bunch of cheap phone cases to build feedback before switching to scamming for a whole phone.

  • t_c on 24/11/2021 - 16:04
    +2

    Don't do it, fb marketplace and cash only. watch out for when they rock up and they like can I transfer you the money on the spot scam.

    • elib on 24/11/2021 - 17:00

      Agreed for the most part, although I've reluctantly taken bank transfer for a few transactions over the years, and haven't had a problem (yet). Still prefer cash!

  • SF3 on 24/11/2021 - 16:06
    +2

    Here we go again.

    Good luck playing Russian roulette.

    "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

    • elib on 24/11/2021 - 17:02

      It seems crazy to me that so many people here don't trust eBay as a seller's tool (and rightfully so, from what I've heard). Is eBay aware of this problem / do they care to fix it? The more people who advise other people to steer clear of eBay, the more eBay loses out on potential fees. It just doesn't make sense to me they wouldn't do something to fix this bad reputation they're getting.

      • Presence on 24/11/2021 - 17:47
        +2

        eBay just don't care about individual users. The vast majority of their sales are new items from businesses.

      • brendanm on 24/11/2021 - 19:43
        +1

        Is eBay aware of this problem / do they care to fix it

        Yes/no.

        They get enough money now from people drop shipping cheap Chinese trinkets, they don't care about small sellers anymore, and you now also have no PayPal protection.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/11/2021 - 16:12

    Donate to techrax

  • Sneaky1 on 25/11/2021 - 09:16
    -1

    "what should I do aside from not selling on eBay?"
    Mate, just go visit Dandenong train station - the vibrant local community will do the rest.
    As a bonus you'll be looking for new shoes too :)

  • OzHunterNSW on 25/11/2021 - 11:45
    -2

    Should be ok… only deal via eBay. Send phone with tracking. Do not communicate via phone. Do not meet up with buyer.
    Remember, "e" in email = evidence.

  • stirlo on 25/11/2021 - 17:56

    The problem with all your potential solutions is while they do punish the scammer by making the device less valuable/usable it still won't result in payment or return of the device.

    These scammers don't have the money to pay you and will be perfectly happy to get an IMEI blocked or iCloud locked phone for free. Sure they'd prefer to get it in working order but they're never going to pay you just so they can have it working. They'll just sell the locked phone for $500 as parts.

    • User210686 on 01/12/2021 - 10:53

      I know, I've read that they can still sell iCloud/IMEI locked iPhone for less, for parts. But obviously, I won't ship it till the payment appears in my bank account, and will clear all the money in that bank account just in case.

      • stirlo on 01/12/2021 - 11:32

        Right but even if you empty your account you still have to deal with being scammed and eBay chasing you for the money (and possibly send debt collectors).

        Seriously, just sell on Facebook marketplace. $1000 for 128gb (maybe a couple of hundred more for larger sizes) and it will sell to a legit buyer in less than a day. eBay doesn't even seem to have much higher prices…

        • User210686 on 02/12/2021 - 19:20

          Definitely. I will list it on Facebook and Gumtree as well, although meeting a stranger for transaction also carries risk.

          • stirlo on 02/12/2021 - 20:57
            +1

            @User210686: Facebook has the advantage of being able to check out the buyers profile first. If they're a new account without a photo that doesn't list any personal information be more wary than if they've had one 10 years, have photos of their face and their friends and a location listed.

  • fishka2 on 29/11/2021 - 23:27

    Wait until you receive the payment from eBay, transfer all money from your bank account, and only then post registered.
    Put a note in item description that you will require small amount (around $20) for postal insurance transferred to your payID

    • User210686 on 01/12/2021 - 10:57

      Emptying bank account balance crossed my mind too, but if the buyer disputes via PayPal, can't PayPal still take the money from your account as long as your PayPal account is active?

      And what's that direct bank transfer for, instead of including the postal insurance in the total shipping charge? If you disclose your PayID, the buyer will get your full name…

  • fishka2 on 02/12/2021 - 11:48
    1. If bank account is empty- there’s nothing to take; not for PayPal, not for anyone. Just make sure it’s not a credit card account. Besides, eBay are processing payments themselves since June via new system , not PayPal.
    2. Direct bank transfer will show you to some extent that buyer is serious and real.
      PayID has options where money sender only sees your nickname and phone/email. But you will see their full bank details
    • User210686 on 02/12/2021 - 19:18

      If that's the case, wouldn't selling mobile phones and other high value items on eBay be somewhat ok? At least you get the money even though your eBay/PayPal account might get blocked? I thought PayPal still had the power to take money from your account even though eBay has been processing payments since June… if you unlink credit cards from your PayPal account and the linked bank account has zero balance, then your PayPal account will be negative if the buyer disputes?

      As for PayID, are you sure that the sender won't see your full name? My experience has been that I see full name of the recipient when I use their PayID.
      https://www.peopleschoice.com.au/help-and-support/faqs/fast-…
      https://www.westpac.com.au/faq/payid-display-name/

      But if you use regular BSB and account number, you don't see the recipient's name but they will see the sender's name (unless the sender uses NAB). Direct bank transfer is a good idea though if I don't have to disclose my full name or bank details.

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