Reselling overpayment scam: why a buyer who pays too much is a warning

A buyer who pays too much

A local buyer agrees to your $150 asking price for a bike, then sends a cashier's check for $1,150. A message follows: their assistant made a mistake, could you deposit it and send back the extra $1,000 by wire or gift cards, and a mover will collect the bike. The check looks real, and a few days later the money even shows as available. Weeks after that, the bank returns the check as counterfeit and takes the full $1,150 back from your account. The $1,000 you sent is gone, and so, often, is the bike.

This guide covers the overpayment scam in reselling, using the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's check fraud page, USPS Notice 174 on check scams, and eBay's policy on offers to buy or sell outside eBay, checked November 8, 2026. It's general safety guidance. If you've lost money, contact your bank and report it.

What the postal inspectors say

Notice 174 says that if a check or money order you deposit turns out to be counterfeit or is returned unpaid, you're fully responsible for the loss.

How to recognize it

The details change, but the shape doesn't:

• The payment is more than the agreed price.
• There's a story: an assistant's mistake, shipping costs for a "mover", a business account glitch.
• You're asked to send the difference, often by wire, gift cards or a payment app.
• There's urgency: the mover is coming today, the buyer is traveling.
• The buyer avoids meeting, calling or using the marketplace's checkout.

Any one of these is a reason to slow down. All of them together is the scam.

Step 1: Refuse overpayments entirely

Make it a rule: you accept the exact agreed amount, through a payment method you control, and nothing more. If someone sends more, you don't refund the difference; you return the whole payment through the same channel, or decline the sale.

Step 2: Keep marketplace sales inside the marketplace

On platforms with checkout, complete the sale there. eBay's policy says buyers and sellers can't arrange transactions outside eBay or share contact details before completing a sale, and that transactions outside eBay aren't covered by its protection programs. A buyer asking to pay you by check or outside checkout is a warning sign on any platform.

Step 3: For local sales, take payment you can verify

For in-person sales, many sellers accept only cash or an instant payment method they've used before, checked in their own app before the item changes hands. The meeting buyers manual covers safe local handovers.

Step 4: If a check arrives anyway

Don't deposit it to "see if it clears". The USPIS page says fake checks are hard to spot, even for bank staff. If you think a check might be genuine, contact the issuing bank using a phone number you find yourself, not one printed on the check or given by the buyer. The buyer scams manual covers related tricks.

Worked example: following the money

This chosen example uses the bike sale above.

The check made it look as though you'd received money, but every dollar that left your account was your own.

If it already happened

• Contact your bank straight away.
• Stop any further transfers or gift card purchases.
• Keep every message, the check, envelopes and tracking numbers.
• Report it to the platform where you met the buyer.
• Notice 174 gives a Postal Inspection Service contact line for reporting check scams; use the number printed on the official notice.

Gift cards are a red flag: No legitimate buyer needs you to pay them back in gift cards. Treat any request for gift card numbers as a scam.

Common mistakes

• Depositing an overpayment check to "test" it.
• Trusting that available funds mean a cleared check.
• Sending money back by wire or gift card.
• Moving a marketplace sale off-platform at the buyer's request.
• Using contact details printed on the check to verify it.

Exact amount, or no sale

There's no legitimate reason for a buyer to pay you more and ask for the difference back. Accept only the agreed amount through a method you control, keep marketplace sales in checkout, and never send money to a buyer.