Fake - Buyer? How can I know whether a buyer is legitimate or not? | Sell

skypilot66 · 2026-06-02T09:55:37.119000Z

In June 2025, I listed an old 'DDR recorder' on Ebay as defective. Shortly afterward, 3 bidders had driven it up to a completely unrealistic amount of up to 850.00 euros.Then one of them retracted their bid ("Explanation: Entered the wrong amount") and it started all over again. In the end, the device was sold for a FAKE price of 650.00 euros. Of course, this amount (realistic selling price between 15.00 and 50.00 euros) was never paid and no one ever got in touch again. Even back then, during the ongoing auction and then after it ended, I contacted Ebay asking for help. Ebay = NO response!Up to that point, I had sold items on Ebay again and again and received over 1,000 positive ratings (not a single neutral or even negative one). Because of the incident described above, I completely stopped my selling efforts on Ebay.Now, after almost a year, in May 2026 I listed this defective 'radio recorder' on Ebay again. Until one day before the auction ended, the bids were at a completely realistic price of 26.00 euros and everything was quite 'normal'.Yesterday, on the last day of the auction, 4 bidders drove the amount up. In the end, the recorder was sold (again at an unrealistic amount) for 251.00 euros. The device was bought by the buyer who had bid 850.00 euros / 650.00 euros last year. Unlike last time, the purchase price was also paid to Ebay in a timely manner. The buyer has set their status to 'PRIVATE' and apparently has no active listings online themselves.In my auction listing I had explicitly pointed out that, please, 'fun bidders' - as in 2025 - should NOT place any bids. Of course, it is very 'naive' to believe that such people will be deterred by that.Strangely enough, shortly after the auction ended I received the following message via Ebay: "Hi, if this was a fake bid again, please get in touch with me. Interested!"Maybe I'm crazy or just thinking too negatively, but after what happened last year, I'm simply very suspicious. Who buys a heavily used and defective device, especially when such recorders are currently available in multiple listings on Ebay for little money (!!!), for so much money?I will probably ship the item, but I still have a 'bad feeling' about it. By sending it as a parcel, I also have proof that the device was sent. But what if it really is a fake purchase and the device ends up somewhere else, or is returned by the buyer because they 'don't like it' and, as an added bonus, I also get a bad rating? In the worst case, am I then stuck with the postage, or do I need to watch out for anything else?Has anyone perhaps had similar experiences?

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Fake - Buyer? How can I know whether a buyer is legitimate or not? | Sell | eBay Germany