Scammed by buyer ? Take a look.

[slay2k]

I've just sold an iPhone on eBay to a buyer in Canada who bought-it-now and immediately sent me the PayPal funds. I'm concerned for several reasons:

1) His eBay account was made today, with 0 feedback.

2) His PayPal account shows up as "Personal Account", confirmed but unverified non-US address. PayPal claims it's OK to ship and that I'm eligible and covered under Seller Protection.

3) He sent instructions requesting specific methods of shipping, which I have pasted below.

My questions are -- how can I get **bleep**ed here ? This is a $650 purchase. If I mail the phone via tracked courier, can I lose a dispute somehow ? I have contacted him 6 hours ago with no reply. This feels fishy...

Buyer email:

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Hey dude, i just bought your iPhone. Payment has been made, please check your account or email.

Also If you don't mind can you declare the item at $100 & label it as Gift to reduce duty tax / customs.

PS. VERY IMPORTANT, do not send this USPS First Class Mail or Flat Rate Mail 

Please ship it USPS Priority Mail International the tracking number they give you starts with "C" (Example: CV 123 456 789 US) and not First Class or Flat Rate which tracking number starts with "L" (Example: LC 123 456 789). 

"C" stands for Priority Mail W/ Tracking (Actual Tracking) and "L" stands for First Class Mail or Flat Rate Mail (This does not get tracked), it will only say the item has been accept at the postal office nothing else, which means you can be held liable if its lost and we won't know where it is on top of that. 

For proof of delivery and complete tracking please ship with Priority Mail W/ Tracking or USPS Express. This is very secure for both of us.

Caio

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[RoC1909]

What it sounds like the person is attempting to do is just lower the amount that he would have to pay for customs fees. A lot of people do this especially for higher priced items since the fees can become quite large but from what I have read, it is considered illegal to mark something lower than it's actual value.

Custom fees absolutely **bleep** but it's up to you whether you want to do this or not.

To get around this, you should have placed within your auction that you will only sell to U.S residents only.