Bought something expensive but seller has no feedback, ships from China.. worried it's a scam

[hughm-826]

I'm new to ebay and I placed an order  on an RTX 4080 going for $657.00 ($715 after shipping and taxes) This is far below market price for this graphics card (Usually $1000 to $1200).

I thought maybe it was a scam but under the "Shipping, returns, and payments" tab it says:

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Return policy

After receiving the item, contact seller within 30 days
Refund will be given as Money Back
Return shipping Buyer pays for return shipping

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And looking at eBay's return policy looked like I could return it and I figured they must just hold on to the money until after the return period.. but I'm not sure any more.

Any advice from the people who have more experience with eBay than I do? I suspect it's easier to cancel now than go through return policy. And I'm not sure if I have to worry about eBay siding with seller either.

Just placed order within last few hours.  Thanks!

[femmefan1946]

The zero feedback isn't necessarily a problem. Although new sellers, including honest ones,  make lots of foolish mistakes.

As sellers we usually advise newbies not to sell expensive items, but to wait until they have some experience under their belt.
I usually say not until you have at least 10 DSRs, know what DSRs are, and why DSRs are utterly unimportant.  Which takes a while.

The overseas location isn't necessarily a problem. Although you should remember that your duty free allowance is only $800 and I think that may include shipping cost.

The Return policy is a problem because it may contravene the Money Back Guarantee.

Return shipping: Buyer pays for return shipping

Generally, if the reason for a Claim is that the purchase is Not As Described (which can be anything from a different colour to shipping a toothpick instead of a computer) the Seller pays for return shipping.

If this seller is honest, you might have problems in getting that Return Shipping Label from them, although eBay can be helpful with this.

If not, you do have eBay's backing, since if they don't provide Return Shipping in some form, they lose the Claim and you end up with both the computer/toothpick and the refund.

If you have not paid, you can ask the seller for a cancellation. Buyers cannot* cancel only sellers.

If you have paid, you can ask the seller for a refund, but they are not required to cooperate.

If they don't, eBay will have given you a window for delivery and you cannot open a Claim until that window closes.

Do NOT refuse the shipment. EBay does not require refunds if the shipment is Undeliverable.

Go to the Claims process and ask for Return Shipping.**

Don't leave feedback until the Claim is settled. You don't want an honest but confused newbie angry and uncooperative. And a crook won't care.

*Buyers can retract bids before an auction closes.

** It might not be a Label, since you are dealing with an overseas seller.

[kitschy*loot]

I don't think you can cancel after an hour passes, but you can request that the seller cancel the transaction; they don't have to comply. I don't understand why you would purchase if you had all those worries. It's highly unlikely you'll actually get the item you purchased... if it does happen to arrive and it's damaged you can open a not as described case, but typically sellers in China can't print a return label to America so you would have to get the shipping fee sent to you outside of eBay like on PayPal.  

[femmefan1946]

Early days yet but:

If worse comes to worst in addition to filing your Claim from the invoice or from Help and Contact at the bottom of this page, eBay does have a customer service system.

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that means giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

Just don't.


https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.



The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
 

[hughm-826]

Happy to pay for return shipping myself should it come to that.

And I'm fine as long as the policy that if I don't get it or it isn't what I ordered, I can return it and don't owe $700.   Which is what the policy says.. I'm just worried that just because that's what the policy says, doesn't mean that's what it means or there is a way for seller to claim that I'm lying and they'll side with him or something like that.

I bought it because I wasn't all that worried figured that ebay return policy would take care of it if there was an issue and scammers wouldn't get paid and ebay must have a safety or escrow system built in, so it was likely safe. Only afterwards while talking to a friend did I think that perhaps I shouldn't be relying on that.

[hughm-826]

And note that you are correct kitschy*loot.. it already shipped. Ok, looks like I'm waiting for just over a week and we'll see what happens. Fingers crossed I actually just got a great deal and I'll figure it out if not.

Note, profile says USA, it's only somewhere else it says it's shipping from China.

[janet9988]

Where does the listing state the item location is?

[hughm-826]

Item is shipping from China.. maybe it'll be like buying a fake rolex, I'll let you all know what happens.. claims it'll be here within 8 days. No tracking number isn't good.

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

Well, at least you know you won't receive cheap chinese junk. It'll be expensive chinese junk!

Haha, yes, ok, EBay's return policy is very good. I wouldnt have bought electronics from 0 FB seller in China but thats me. Other stuff, I would buy, but electronics is something I'm picky about and is a high scam category.

I'm assuming everyone else has already given great advice.

[fab_finds4u]

No, you will not be happy to pay return shipping, if it comes to that.

The cheapest return shipping that tracks to China is $61.50.

Most likely you'll  receive a counterfeit graphics card.

If you did not know this, China is known as the Counterfeit Capital of the World.

[femmefan1946]

On the third hand, if the shipment really isn't tracked, you will win the Not Received Claim automatically.

If it is something like a graphics card or a toothpick, it will be relatively cheap to return.

https://postcalc.usps.com/Calculator/MailServices?country=10063&ccode=CN&omil=False&dmil=False&retai...

As I read this tracked envelopes of all sorts ship to China for $44.50 and can weigh up to four pounds.

But again, return shipping on a Not As Described shipment is paid by the SELLER.

[soh.maryl]

Well, now you know that the time to reconsider is before committing to buy, so won't dwell on that.

You really need to read eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers.  It explains exactly what to do if/when a transaction goes wrong. 

BTW, that "buyer pays return shipping" means nothing if/when a buyer opens an item not as described case.  

[eburtonlab]

There are many good reasons to not buy expensive items from zero feedback sellers registered overseas, not the least of which being that scammers often list expensive items at fire sale prices as bait to attract potential victims, and then make it as hard as possible to actually get a refund.

And even otherwise honest, new sellers may encounter lots of potential problems selling for the first time and actually delivering the goods, and such sellers may require a lot of additional hand-holding to get through a transaction. And that is if the seller is not planning to drop-ship the item from someone else who turns out to be a scammer.

In general, you can avoid a lot of headaches by choosing to purchase only from established sellers that have recent and past positive feedback as a seller for selling items in the same category that you intend to buy. If someone is selling a dozen apple watches, but has no feedback, or only has feedback as a buyer, or only has feedback for selling dress patterns or fishing lures (actual examples I have seen), perhaps wait until they have a track record of positive feedback for selling electronics before you buy from them.

You might miss out on a good deal from a new seller once in a while, and nothing can guarantee that you won't still run into an issue anyway, but you can avoid a lot of potential problems by choosing to do business with established sellers. Anyone can put together a listing that looks nice -- it is not hard at all to simply copy an existing listing -- but it is much harder to create a history of consistent sales and positive feedback.

For more experienced sellers, you can learn a lot about the sort of seller you are dealing with by checking the seller's feedback page to see where the seller is registered and to notice if the seller has any negative feedback. If you see negatives indicated in the table of recent feedback, you can choose to exclusively see each type of comment by clicking on the numbers shown in the table. Reading negative or neutral comments can often tell you if a seller has a pattern of problems with items not matching the descriptions, canceled orders, late deliveries or item location misrepresentation.

If a seller has a pattern of too many serious negatives -- or just not enough positive history -- it is often better to find another seller with a better track record to do business with.

If you have made a purchase from a listing that you think may be suspicious:

Typically you have to wait until the last estimated delivery date has passed to start an Item Not Received claim on eBay; if the seller is removed and eBay does not send you a message about that, and if you can no longer find the item in your Purchase History or the Help page, you can start a similar process through your PayPal account (if you used PayPal) or through your credit card or other payment source. There are various deadlines that have to be met at each stage, and you must take care not to make more than one claim about a single transaction through eBay or PayPal or your funding source at a time or your claim may be dismissed.

If the seller actually ships something (but not your item) and can provide a tracking number that shows delivery, you must file a Not As Described claim (and typically return the item), as a valid tracking number that shows delivery would cause you to lose an Item Not Received claim. There are other scams that involve shipping an item to another location in your zip code which can complicate matters further.

If possible bookmark the seller's feedback page so that you can monitor that to see if the seller's account has been removed from eBay, just in case the item listing disappears.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@hughm-826 wrote:

Item is shipping from China.. maybe it'll be like buying a fake rolex, I'll let you all know what happens.. claims it'll be here within 8 days. No tracking number isn't good.

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Actually, that'd be the best thing if it's shipped without tracking. On the day after the expected delivery date, go to the order and open a case for INR (item not received). Seller will have to issue a refund if there's no tracking showing delivery. (Let's hope he didn't do a fake tracking scam!)

My guess is that the seller's total price of $657 plus $23 shipping is purposely designed to be <$750 that would have required a signature!

In the future, please vet your sellers more carefully.