wheels78

I've got a backpack for sale. A guy from South America contacts me and says his father will be in the States in May, staying at a hotel. The buyer would send me the money via Paypal and I would mail the Backpack to a motel in Chicago. I'm not worrying about getting the money via Paypal but I'm worried that somehow I could be involved with some kind of illegal activity with the backpack (transporting goods, weapons, etc).
It just seems kind of fishy to me.
To purchase the pack new from the manufacturer would be 109.00 + shipping. I'm selling the pack (excellent cond) for 80.00 and covering paypal and shipping expenses.

You thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Bob

10 Wheels

Sell it local for CASH...

RonH

I agree. Local and cash only.

fettsvenska 

Way too funky. Dont do it.

Spoonrobot 

International buyer?

Wants you to sell to a third party?

Over the internet, using Paypal?

It's a scam. Paypal won't protect you, if the money comes from a compromised account or other fraudulent activity they'll take it back. You'll be out your backpack and either the money you'll have to pay back to Paypal or lose your account since they just ding you with a negative balance. Making the account useless unless you pay them back.

I-Like-To-Bike

It does sound fishy as pointed out by other posters but I would not worry about it being some kind of trick to get a backpack for illegal use. It someone needed/wanted a backpack for illegal purposes why go through all this trouble to save $30 for an item that could be bought anywhere at any time, night or day?

fietsbob

Big enough backpack to pack a loaded pressure Cooker?

doco

Scam!!!!

Retro Grouch 

"If in doubt, don't." Works in lots of different situations.

contango 

If someone wanted a backpack for illegal use they'd just go and buy one. I've bought backpacks since the London Underground bombings and the process was utterly mundane, you hand over your money and take the backpack away.

Sounds to me like it could be a genuine transaction although posting to a motel is fishy. It could be a precursor to the kind of scam where they pay you $800 "by mistake" and just ask you to put $700 in the backpack before you ship it, and keep $20 for your trouble. Then if the deal goes sour and Paypal reverses the transaction you're down your backpack and $700 in cash. If you're really lucky the Feds put you in their sights for being an accessory to money laundering.

wheels78

Yeah, It might be legit but it just doesn't seem quite right.
Thanks everyone for your input.

wphamilton

Good decision but let me emphasize, there is almost zero chance of this being legit. Very common paypal scam.

hueyhoolihan

i don't see how it can be a scam if the guy sends the money via paypal and the OP doesn't send the item until he or she receives the money via paypal.

it doesn't sound like the transaction is any different than any other paypal transaction.

most of the responses don't make any sense to me.

wphamilton

Charge-back for non-delivery. Plus, the variations others have mentioned.

BlazingPedals

Scam.

Fastfingaz

I guess theres nobody else interested in your backpack? sounds like a lot of hassel for a simple transaction!!

wheels78

Hugh? What do you mean? I sell things over the internet and ship all over the U.S all the time using Paypal. I also buy a lot of things used from people using paypal. There's never been a problem. It's the shipping to a hotel that seems sketchy.

This just happens to be the first person that responded to my ad.

Fastfingaz

seems to me theres ahassel youre confused and don't know what to do, if it's so common to you then just do it!!!!!! just saying!!!

MetalPedaler

If it is not shipped with delivery confirmation to the address listed on the buyer's PayEnemy account, the buyer can say he never received it and PayEnemy will refund their money by taking it from your account.

I'd almost be willing to bet though that this would turn out to be the classic scam where the buyer sends more money than the cost of your item, and then wants you to send him the difference. You send him real money, and then later find out that his funds were paid with a stolen credit card, and again...PayEnemy snatches back the fraudulent money.

All kinds of scams out there......especially when dealing with companies like PayEnemy and Ebay, whose policies enable those scams, and who protect the buyers only, at the expense of legitimate sellers.

yak

Many of these will result in a fake email that looks like it is from Paypal. Some may be phishing attempts, hoping you'll click on the links in the email thinking you're logging onto Paypal. Others may hope that the email alone is sufficient for you to think you got paid, without checking independently with Paypal,and shipping the goods to a hotel is a not-so-clever way of trying to shield your identity and location.

bikecrate

Think if you were the buyer. Would you go through this much trouble to buy a backpack from another country and have your relative receive it in another city to save $30 off new? It doesn’t seem logical to me so I would vote…scam.

Roosterbird

You know they sell backpacks everywhere? Can you say Nigerian scam, classic example.

MetalPedaler

Fastfingaz

Thats right ol Wimpy will tell you anything for a hamburger today hahah

ksisler

This is a common scam. The Paypal will have problems and he'll try to get you to accept a check, etc. Or Dad arrives to rob you, etc. Why would anyone pay $80 for a pack that only retails for $109... his motivations are very suspect. But basically no international sales. Just not worth doing. BTW; what about the kid down the street who buys it, robs a bank and drops it when pursued. It has your DNA on it.... Good luck with that.