Recently I listed my son's old bike on you-know-who, and I indicated local pickup only.
About a week later, I got a buyer. However, there was something odd about him. Part of his profile had him living in Korea, and another part of the profile listed him with a US zip code. As strange as that was, I sent him an email asking how he intended to pick up the bike since he didn't live locally. Twenty-four hours later, with no response from the buyer, I contacted YNW to cancel the sale.
YNW was very understanding and accommodating. They agreed that the buyer lived too far away for local pick up and said go ahead and cancel the sale.
But, the commission they earned from the cancelled sale would be processed anyway, and then refunded 10 days later. The commission was only $3.50, so this really didn't bother me much.
But then I got to thinking. Why would someone bid on something they couldn't follow through with? Could it have been a prank from someone with too much time on their hands..well I suppose. But I checked the profile one last time, and now the buyer's country changed to Germany, and the US zip code had changed as well. Also, this buyer had no previous purchases on his profile.
My next thought was that this "buyer" is actually a Bot. But why would someone build a bot that benefits a third party (YNW). My only conclusion is that this Bot was built by YNW to artificially boost their sales and cash position. Sure, the sale would only be good for 10 days before it was reversed, but if this was done to millions of customers each and every day, it would create a perpetual float that would permanently benefit their financial statements.
Your thoughts? Anyone else experience this? Am I being paranoid?
About a week later, I got a buyer. However, there was something odd about him. Part of his profile had him living in Korea, and another part of the profile listed him with a US zip code. As strange as that was, I sent him an email asking how he intended to pick up the bike since he didn't live locally. Twenty-four hours later, with no response from the buyer, I contacted YNW to cancel the sale.
YNW was very understanding and accommodating. They agreed that the buyer lived too far away for local pick up and said go ahead and cancel the sale.
But, the commission they earned from the cancelled sale would be processed anyway, and then refunded 10 days later. The commission was only $3.50, so this really didn't bother me much.
But then I got to thinking. Why would someone bid on something they couldn't follow through with? Could it have been a prank from someone with too much time on their hands..well I suppose. But I checked the profile one last time, and now the buyer's country changed to Germany, and the US zip code had changed as well. Also, this buyer had no previous purchases on his profile.
My next thought was that this "buyer" is actually a Bot. But why would someone build a bot that benefits a third party (YNW). My only conclusion is that this Bot was built by YNW to artificially boost their sales and cash position. Sure, the sale would only be good for 10 days before it was reversed, but if this was done to millions of customers each and every day, it would create a perpetual float that would permanently benefit their financial statements.
Your thoughts? Anyone else experience this? Am I being paranoid?
