Problem with buyer on new stealth account

[pickieyg]

Hi everyone!
Sorry for my English, I'm better with Spanish. Anyway my problem is the following.
I’m on stealth. My new account is around 2 months old and everything was good so far. I even was requested to talk with eBay over the phone to discuss my selling limits. The ebay lady talked with me about 30 minutes about my new stealth lifetime, she even was impressed with my handmade stuff I’m selling, everything was perfect and she raised my selling limits.
My problem starts when a buyer bought one of my handmade stuff at a very low cost. I'm selling low cost while I build up my reputation. The buyer has over 1000 + feedback, but he is requesting my address to send the payment cash. I played stupid but he insists. I really can’t believe him, I’m sure he is after something; make no sense at all to pay in cash. It almost seems like he knew I’m stealth and is doing this on purpose. He even pointed out on his message “ please send me your shipping address on X state where the item is (stealth information) to send the cash”, so even if I provide him other address that meant problem. I really don’t care about the money, I can provide him the incorrect address and send him the items, but as I’m suspicious he may want the items to be returned he will check from where I shipped the items with the tracking information, etc., can this be ebay?
I have send him a nice letter explaining that I cannot do that as that is against eBay policies, bla bla, but what are my options?. He will insist and if he finally pay with paypal he will see that the item was shipped from another state. I only have 5 positive feedback and this buyer will destroy my reputation or even worst, what can I do???
any suggestion is much appreciated

[vogeltron]

I would tell them that paying by cash or money order is now against eBay policy. You do not feel comfortable with the transaction. If you can not pay via PayPal you will gladly be willing to cancel the transaction. Also for future reference I would always put the type of payments you accept in the description. Say like PayPal is the only method of payment at this time etc.

[jeffweico]

You did the right thing. I never violate eBay's rules. If a buyer wants to complain to eBay that I refused to accept a money order or cash payment, eBay will understand (hopefully!) that I was just following their rules.

Returns can be handled one of two ways. If the buyer complains, you could offer to refund the money WITHOUT the item being returned. It works well when the value of the item is low.

The other way to handle it is to offer to send a prepaid package for the return of the item. This can costa few bucks, so it is only worth doing if the item is worth more than the postage and package costs.

Luckily, the vast majority of transactions go smoothly. Everyone runs into problem buyers occasionally. Don't let them discourage you!

[JamesNorth101]

You defiantly did the right thing.

Ask them to pay via PP, or offer to cancel transaction.

If they have over 1000fb then they will in all likelyhood have a PP

[rsot]

Welcome to the forums.

Lot of tips there for you OP. While I won't go against the advice of the posters here, I have had similar situations happen for some low end handcrafted items where buyers have offered to send low amounts in mail. I accepted them based on 100+ feedback - never had issues (just giving my personal experience) and the amount involved (<$5).

All the best.

[joesshooze]

Sounds kind of like one of the scams they run on Craigs List. You can never go wrong us eb policy to your benefit.