Rob and Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about how to prevent eBay scams when doing local pickup.
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How To Prevent Local Pick Up eBay Scams
Rob: What's up, Pro Flippers? On today's episode, we're talking about how to prevent local pickup scams on eBay.
Alright guys, today we are talking about scams, and even more specifically, scams on eBay that can take place if you do local pickup.
Melissa: So, eBay has come up with a solution to this, which can help you as long as you use it, and we're going to dive into what that is.
But what the scam is, is that somebody wants to pick up an item, they buy it on eBay, so they don't necessarily, they don't have to pay for it, they could pay, no, they do have to pay, they pay for it online, because they're not going to give you cash, because that's part of the scam. They pay for it on eBay, and then whenever you go, they pick up the item, and then, they go back to eBay and say the item was never delivered.
So because it's a local pickup, eBay didn't really have a recourse to be like, well, we're going on the word of the buyer or the word of the seller. Now the buyer has the item and now they're asking for a refund. And eBay would side with them because there was no tracking. So, but they did come up with a solution for that, which we're going to dive into.
Rob: Absolutely. So how it did work was every single transaction that goes through eBay has a tracking number that is assigned to that item once it is shipped. When you're doing local pickup, you don't have that tracking number. And this was, this has been for years. If you did local pickup, somebody could get it and say that they did not receive it, and go back and get their money back as long as they paid through eBay and did that, that whole.
thing.
Melissa: One little thing is most people don't do this. Like this is the people that are trying to scam the system and they are few and far between, but it's also good to be protected.
Rob: So absolutely. So how do you protect yourself if you are doing a local pickup sale on eBay? Well, follow these steps and you'll be protected and it will be a hundred percent.
Okay. They can't come back after you and try and get the money back after they've actually received the item.
Melissa: So eBay came out with a QR code that you can scan, the seller scans the QR code, the buyer gets the code, the seller scans it, or you can type in the numbers of the QR code into that. You, it's uploading the tracking.
Basically you're uploading the tracking into the sale and now the buyer cannot come back and say it wasn't delivered because the tracking is showing that it was delivered. So.
Rob: As long as you scan it or get the numbers off the QR code and enter it into your eBay listing that shows that it was picked up.
And that'll be under the shipping portion, right? Yes. So, yeah, this is something that eBay has not done, in the past. They didn't have this, but now you can do it a couple of years ago and you can't even if somebody else is picking up the item for the actual sell, for the buyer, then they can actually, the, the buyer.
Who's giving the qr code or the numbers they can totally give those numbers to who is picking up once they inspect the item. They give it to the seller and the seller can enter those items in their eBay listing to show that it was inspected and picked up and then that that is what suffices for the tracking number. In the past, you had to have that tracking number to prove that the transaction took place, but now you can use the QR code to be able to do that on local pickups.
Melissa: So, which is good to know that even if somebody else is picking up, as long as they have that number, then you're protected and you're covered with eBay. If they don't have that number or the QR code and they have no way of looking it up and they say they don't understand it, that we have had people that don't get it, like maybe they're older and they don't have a smartphone. You, you don't have to go through with the sale obviously you still want to go through this with the sale. But I mean it would not be advised to go through with the sale if they do not have that number.
Rob: In the past when I've had to do it before I take a picture of the person's license plate, their car, the transaction so I just have some type of proof. If you get to that point you have to just get some type of proof of a picture, the date that you did it, and the interaction through eBay, your messages from the buyer talking about when you were going to meet up in the time frame and all that.
Just keep all your ducks in a row. If you do have to go back and do that, but eBay has passed all that by doing the QR code. Now you have done that right? I have, the buyer has, they don't get that QR code until they pay for it. So if they are actually picking up the item and trying to pay you in person, they will not get that QR code until yeah, the transactions,
Melissa: they won't because you're getting cash, so they can't go back to eBay because you got paid the cash?
Rob: Until you mark it as either picked up or sold, and I'm not sure how that works if you do a cash transaction. Safest thing is don't do the cash transaction. When it goes, the sale goes through eBay and they're buying it through eBay, take the payment through eBay as well just to keep it safe.
Melissa: But you do like cash too, so.
Rob: I do, but the problem is the proof of it.
Melissa: I feel like they would get a QR code still.
Rob: Not until they pay. They will not get a QR code until they pay. eBay does not have a reason to give a QR code.
Just like you can't, if somebody buys something from you, you can't get that shipping address until it is paid for, for us to ship something out. So that's how eBay is protecting us. If somebody buys an item, says they want to buy it, they end the auction or end the listing, you will not get that shipping address until the transaction comes through there, for that, that actual listing that you sold.
So until it is paid, you will not get the address to ship the item to. Same thing with a local pickup. So they're just trying to protect everybody. Exactly. That's all it is, is about protection. So this is, like I said, this is a new thing within the last couple years eBay has come out with but prior to that I told you guys exactly how I did it for a local pickup I would take a picture of the person and I would also have them while I was with them, send me a message stating hey, I picked up the item.
Everything's okay. You can do that as well. And that's been, it's perfectly fine for us to be able to prove that it was done, but it's all easier with a QR code.
Melissa: And most people, if you think about it, are not going to let you take a picture of their license if they're trying to scam you. Like, they're not.
And have you ever had that done where somebody tried to come back after it and tried to say it was claimed? I have not. I know we've had members that have, but not, or people in the audience, but I don't know if, I don't think we have ever had that happen. That you can think of? No. Local pickup?
Rob: Never that type of scam on us for a local pickup.
Melissa: Write us in and let us know if you had that happen. You know, hit us up on one of the social media channels or email us and let us know if you've ever had somebody try to and if they were able to succeed and what happened. But this isn't something like we go over some of these scams just to keep you protected.
We're not trying to scare you because these don't happen, especially on eBay don't happen off, like this is not something that happens all the time. Like, local, Facebook, there's a lot more people on there that are just crazy. So, but on eBay it doesn't happen that much. And, I was gonna also ask, so do you have to do anything different to, for your listing as far as so you make sure you get that QR code?
Because I thought before you used to have to do something different. Or is it just when
Rob: You have to check local pickup. Okay. So, typically when you do a listing at the bottom of where the shipping is, there's a little toggle that you can c heck on local pickup that you are offering it.
If you do not offer local pickup, they will not send you a QR code. When you do check local pickup, when the buyer goes through and completes the transaction, they buy the item, they complete the transaction, it will give them the option, do you want this item shipped or do you want local pickup? And they just have to check on local pickup and then they're going to get the QR code to give to you showing that they actually picked it up. So you do have to check that when you are listing the item, you have to check that toggle. So it gives that buyer the option to, select local pickup for the item.
Melissa: So if this has happened before, if a buyer comes in, or they already bought the item and then they say, hey, I see that you're only 20 minutes from me. Can I pick this up instead and not pay for shipping or whatever it is? You can do that. But if you don't have local pickup selected, you won't get the QR code. So the best way to do it is to cancel the transaction and then redo it.
Rob: Refund the transaction get them to redo it and check local pickup on the transaction.
Melissa: That will just keep you protected you can still go through with the transaction if you want to as is you know and not have to because there are there is a risk if you don't go through with it that they change their mind like just from the refund and redoing it. They might not want to do it and they change their mind.
There is that risk but for the most part, it's just better to protect yourself.
Rob: Yeah, better safe than sorry. Absolutely. So go back and check it. Absolutely. And we have done both ways. I have, like I said, we're giving you by the book the best way to do it, but we've done it both ways. We've accepted it, and gone through with it and, and done the local pickup and gone that route with it.
And we've also refunded it and had them rebuy the item. So the only caveat about refunding it is now that eBay does all the transactions through them, the people might not get the refund immediately. So they might not want to go out with the extra money four or five days to get the funds back before they can rebuy it again.
So you are taking that risk, but definitely use your better judgment to figure out which you think is the best thing to do, and use your gut. The biggest thing is when people are, you know, giving you excuses or telling you different things that are happening. If it doesn't feel right, chances are you might just refund it and be done with it.
If it does feel right and it makes sense, then maybe you can do that. But by the book, the way to do it is refund it and get them to rebuy it with the right local pickup.
Melissa: You can also get them on the phone too, right? And talk to them and you're trying to arrange local pickup. I know you're not supposed to put phone numbers through eBay, so that is another thing like eBay will.
Yeah. They're trying to prevent you from going outside of eBay, but you've managed to get people on the phone a lot.
Rob: If you do do the transaction, if they do do it and pay for it, eBay does give you their phone number to connect, contact them if you need to. So we have to have phone numbers for shipping, and that is all comes into your inbox. When they buy it, you get their address to ship it to and you can get their phone number as well.
So, all that is included, so you can call them up if you want to. I just had a transaction not that long ago where I had issues with shipping, and I actually called the lady up on the phone who bought the Thomas the Train car that we did. And I just called her up on the phone because we had so many problems with the shipping company.
That, yeah, they, yeah. I shipped it to them. They said they couldn't deliver it. They lied. They shipped it back to me and just back and forth, back and forth that I had. This was a huge ordeal. I finally called the lady up and said, listen, I'm so sorry for this. This is what's going on. This is why the, why it all happened.
I'm working to get it shipped back to you as quick as I possibly can. She was very appreciative. So you can get people on the phone and talk to them, just to give them that ease of mind as well or peace of mind. You can totally do that as well. And that's what I do do sometimes. So.
Melissa: That was basically for you guys to protect yourself.
You know, there are, most people are good out there. There are just some people that try to scam the system. And so we just want you to be protected against those people. I mean, they're going to get what's coming to them anyway, but we're just trying to help you protect you in your business. So thanks so much for listening and we'll see you on the next episode.
Rob: You guys rock. Have an amazing day. See you next time.