Thought I'd be cheeky and asked if they would accept offers, thinking I would be shut down immediately and they divulged a reserve price.
I offered the reserve price which was amazing and then proceeded to converse over fleabay messaging on how to conclude the transaction.
Received a very convincing articulated message about the restrictions of covid and travelling and was offered PayPal PAD (payment after delivery).....never heard if this until today or alternatively and van escrow.
I researched paypal PAD and it all seemed legit, with the ability to try the product first and if satisfied, release payment held by PayPal, which all seemed very appealing at this point.
Then I was asked for contact details, name address contact number.....at this point I started to get a little bit nervous as I know these details are normally revealed after you win an auction.
I went against my better judgement because of the deal and proceeded to send my contact details. I then got a warning message from ebay stating I couldn't send my message as it appeared I was sending contact details.
I sent my mobile number (I knew this was risky) to see how this PayPal PAD thing all worked.
Then I received a WhatsApp message asking for full name and address so he could send an invoice for the PayPal PAD arrangement. At this point I'd already looked up PayPal PAD online and it all seemed above board.
They then messaged me and asked if had received the invoice....I checked ebay and PayPal...not received anything.
I then got a SMS text from ebay with instructions on how to proceed with PayPal PAD.
It then took me to a PayPal invoice with my name, address and amount agreed....with further instructions on how to proceed making payment to the PayPal holding account and additional links in the invoice for PayPal help.
At this point alarm bell were ringing all over the place and my initial thought of "this is too good to be true" we're starting to ring true.
I informed the seller that I wasn't familiar with PayPal PAD and didn't feel comfortable proceeding down this route.
I asked them to propose a direct offer to myself on fleabay and I would pay the full amount agreed by credit card today, thus protecting us both in the eventually that anything went wrong.
They highlighted that payment wouldn't go directly to them, but would be held in PayPal holding account until I was happy with the product.
I declined again and they politely left it there. No interest in going through ebay via credit card today.
I could be wrong and it might be legit....and I know before you all lecture me that my first mistake was deviating from the parameters of fleabay, but I got caught up in the possibily of snatching a JVC NX9 for a ridiculous price.
If anyone knows this individual and can vouch for them, then I apologise for casting doubt....but it all just started to feel like they were phishing.
Wouldn't want anyone to get burnt with this as it's a lot of money and currently bidding at £3,200.