eBay seller in US wants me to fax ID

[TreeTiger]

Bought a phone for my son on eBay yesterday & have got an email today from the US-based seller that international buyers are to email him/her with name, address, tel, item #, date of purchase, eBay user ID, phone model and that a valid copy of ID is to fax this or scan it an email. "No exceptions will be made."

Is this normal? I'm not really enthusiastic about handing out a copy of my ID.
Or am I over-reacting?

 

[anseo]

Was this stated in the auction? If it was then you will have to decide whether you want to go through with the sale or not. Some US sellers don't accept paypal if the a/c is non-US verified, this seller might accept PayPal but with id to give themselves extra security. Perhaps you could pay by using an online service like BidPay but you pay the fees.

If it wasn't stated then tell the seller to get lost.

It's a good idea to have two eBay accounts, one for buying and one for selling. That way you can leave plenty of negs if necessary.

 

[TreeTiger]

Thanks anseo, have just read the small print which says "International buyers: for security purposes, we will be asking for ID verification to be emailed or faxed to us. Without this, we will not ship the item." So I guess I'm stuck! I'll fax them a copy of my driving licence though, rather than my passport.

Thought my son would have let me know this sort of thing - however I learn something new every day!