Expert: Suzanne Wells - 11/8/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi I am thinking of buying a item with the seller using ebay as the third party...this person is moving   have you heard of this before?  Ebay sends me the invoice, transaction etc and then ships to me on the sellers behalf?

ANSWER: I am not sure I understand your question. It seems that someone is selling an item on eBay and you want to purchase it? eBay is not a store, it is a marketplace where buyers and sellers connect to exchange goods. eBay does not have possession of the item and is not involved in the exchange of money. You will be dealing with the seller of the item, not eBay itself.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi we saw a atv listed on buy and sell .com and inquired about it.  The seller says once we agree on price she will contact ebay and they send the transaction, invoice etc hold the funds until the shipping company sends atv and we approve once we tested ( we have 5 days to test ) we sign papers and then ebay releases funds to her.  All expenses and shipping is paid for by seller.  she only needs my name and address to get ebay to send me the invoice/transaction details.  She is moving back to the UK from Canada in a couple of days that is why the ebay and shipping company are used. I have not heard of this being done before.  We hope this is a legit way but not sure at this point.  Does this make things clearer re: my question?
Thanks

Answer
What you are describing sounds like a scam. If it were me, I wouldn't touch this with a 10-foot pole.

If you are going to buy an item off of eBay, you go to the item listing, place a bid or click BUY IT NOW, and the transaction is completed through the eBay system so that you have recourse if there is a problem. If you do not buy the item directly from a site such as eBay or Amazon, you are dealing with an individual and opening yourself up to a world of potential problems.

Hope that helps.