weird message on ebay from previously unknown account

[RCO]

I got a weird message request on ebay the other day , looking for a second opinion if it may be a red flag or not ?

it seemed innocent enough , someone wrote saying they were interested in obtaining items related to my local areas history , such as books , postcards , maps etc . I have at times previously posted things for sale online and my ebay user name includes the name of my local area , so it may give off the impression I find a lot of stuff from here

but when I clicked on there user name it said they only had a feedback score of 1 , meaning they've never actually bought anything on ebay , they also claimed to be from the same area where I live but I've never heard of them before .

they also mentioned the possibility of an inperson meeting to trade or swap items which considering the major covid 19 outbreak at the moment seems like an unlikely scenario .

the whole thing seemed innocent enough but something about it did come across as off , and most of my local history items are part of my private collection and not for sale anyways unless I had duplicates which are few

 

[bubbas dad]

it would make me suspicious also, but i have run into low feed back that was due to the seller changing their ebay name. if you are interested in doing business with them have them meet you at the police parking lot. most of the police departments here have safe spots set up with cameras for in person transactions.

 

[UncleBruce]

This has SCAM/PHISING written all over it. I may be wrong, but it isn't worth the risk.

 

[ROBBYBOBBY64]

He's on Ebay but never bought anything, from your local area but you but you don't know him (small town i guess), he wants to meet you in person to do business during the outbreak. 1-2-3 strikes your out! Might be innocent but why does he sound so guilty? If you have nothing to sell just tell him anything I have to sell gets listed on my site. Just be smart what ever your choice.
ROBBYBOBBY64.

 

[RCO]

He's on Ebay but never bought anything, from your local area but you but you don't know him (small town i guess), he wants to meet you in person to do business during the outbreak. 1-2-3 strikes your out! Might be innocent but why does he sound so guilty? If you have nothing to sell just tell him anything I have to sell gets listed on my site. Just be smart what ever your choice.
ROBBYBOBBY64.

I find on ebay its actually fairly common for accounts to have zero or only 1 as feedback score , I've sold a number of books online and the buyer had accounts like that


but something about this message seemed off and I got the feeling they were trying to feel me out as to what I had . trust these days is so limited , was a story on the news the other day . someone actually robbed Wayne Gretzyk's 80 year old father of hockey sticks and such items to resell on the black market . sounds like they knew him or befriended him and stole stuff from his garage .


I also don't really sell local items if there part of my private collection and obviously list anything that is actually for sale but meeting inperson during covid isn't likely going to happen

 

[RCO]

it would make me suspicious also, but i have run into low feed back that was due to the seller changing their ebay name. if you are interested in doing business with them have them meet you at the police parking lot. most of the police departments here have safe spots set up with cameras for in person transactions.

I've heard of that before , there is police stations that do such if you have doubts about the buyer/seller .

they never told me what there name was , just claimed to live in the same area , there ebay name didn't mean anything to me or remind me of any local names , but there could be people active on ebay here that I don't know , as its online and has a lot of users

 

[Timelypicken]

Buyers can se were sellers live right below the shipping cost of an item listed. I’ve been doing eBay for around 2 years and have had a couple weird messages we’re I just think there scam don’t message back and forget all about them.

 

[Len]

This person might be a transitional tech challenged oldie that uses ebay for reference but doesn't like knowing plastic money. Probably wants a little something for his own collection, perhaps. Okay that is the optimist. The other side of the coin is your safety factor. "Choose wisely." --Len

 

[ROBBYBOBBY64]

I changed my Ebay name and it did not zero out my sales or purchases as I thought it would. You are still the same person just a different name. I was worried about losing my rating for nothing.
ROBBYBOBBY64.

 

[brent little]

I deal on ebay also and have had my share of scams. i bought a killer Patented hamilton bottle from England and the guy claimed it was lost in the post. i really believe he never really sent it. i had quite a time recovering my money. Its all based on what you tell eBay. if you say you shipped it they pretty much take it at face value. They do nothing until you say,"Hey i got scammed!".