eBay

akmo262 · ‎05-28-2017

I have a buyer who recieved an item and decided that he didnt want it after all, I accepted his return request and am currently waiting for the item in the mail. In the mean time he also wants his money back for EVERY item he has purchased from me, which amounts to a pretty significant amount. Here is the thing, all the previous auctions had ended over a month ago (no longer protected by the buyer protection guarantee) and that he was perfectly satisfied with all of his previous purchases and left me good feedback on most if not all of them. Now he decided that everything he bought is fake (they are not) and has threatened me with mail fraud and getting his local district attorney invloved. He also says that if I return his money (which i am no longer obligated to do under ebay policy) he will leave me alone. Sorry for the long post, but what should i do?

classic_luxe · ‎05-28-2017

If you have proof that what you have sold him is authentic then you're good as gold, nothing to worry about and I would ignore his threats until it comes time for you to prove the authenticity of your items.

gramophone-georg · ‎05-28-2017

@akmo262 wrote:
I have a buyer who recieved an item and decided that he didnt want it after all, I accepted his return request and am currently waiting for the item in the mail. In the mean time he also wants his money back for EVERY item he has purchased from me, which amounts to a pretty significant amount. Here is the thing, all the previous auctions had ended over a month ago (no longer protected by the buyer protection guarantee) and that he was perfectly satisfied with all of his previous purchases and left me good feedback on most if not all of them. Now he decided that everything he bought is fake (they are not) and has threatened me with mail fraud and getting his local district attorney invloved. He also says that if I return his money (which i am no longer obligated to do under ebay policy) he will leave me alone. Sorry for the long post, but what should i do?

If they're not fake, and you know they're not fake, you should

1. Ignore his messages, and

2. Add him to your BBL.

Chaos is NOT an "industry standard".

akmo262 · ‎05-29-2017

Thanks for the response. The problem is, I've been selling WWII memorabilia which is known for being a "mine field" to those in the hobby itself. My experience says they are real without a doubt, but someone else my say otherwise. It often boils down to a he-says she-says battle.

My other point is the items in question were sold and delivered well over 30 days ago, which to my understanding is now outside of the buyer protection policy. The buyer has had plenty of time to examine what he bought and ask any other questions he may have had; instead he left me good feedback and went along and contined to buy more from me.

Now all of a sudden he decides he dosnt want them anymore and is demanding his money back with very elaborate threats

chinohighcowboys1963 · ‎05-29-2017

Stop communicating with him.

Ignore anymore messages from him.

His threats are bogus.

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.

7606dennis · ‎05-29-2017

Being America, he can file suit for almost anything he wants. Provided he has deep enough pockets. However, fraud is criminal matter and it is doubtful that any district attorney would take a case to trial without the reasonable expectation of getting a conviction. Thus it is doubtful that his word alone would be enough for a district attorney to launch a full scale investigation. and, of course, mail fraud would require Federal Postal Inspectors to get involved also.

He may, of course, decide to file a SNAD with PayPal for each of the previous purchases he made since it is past eBay's time limit on their MBG program. How PayPal would decide on such a thing I have no idea.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

double2trouble · ‎05-29-2017

District attorney, mail fraud, hold on, I can't stop laughing. Mail fraud is a Federal crime, and has to reach some serious amounts before it is ever prosecuted. Even then, they would have to prove intent.

No, this is a civil matter, and would be small claims if it's under 10 grand. If the guy is in another state, he has to come to your state to sue you. He then has to prove they are fake.

He he can still file with Paypal for 6 months though. I would ignore him.

akmo262 · ‎05-29-2017

Alright...... ignore him it is. Hopefully he isnt dead set on pressing his ideas. I appreciate everyones comments, even if they dont fill me with the utmost confidence at the moment. No offense, i hope you understand given the situation. Thank you again, I'm glad I'm not the only one who views this as a bunch of bologna

double2trouble · ‎05-29-2017

To prove fraud, you need to meet the following criteria,

Misrepresentation of a material fact
Knowledge on the part of the accused that they were misrepresenting the fact
The misrepresentation was made purposefully, with the intent of fooling the victim
The victim believed the misrepresentation and relied upon it
The victim suffered damages as a result of the misrepresentation

You just don't walk into the DA's office and say I want you to prosecute this case. You file a police report, if the police feel that a crime has been commited, and there is enough evidence, they come and arrest you.

This is a he said, she said kind of thing. There are no other supposed victims. There is no way to prove what you actually sent or the buyer actually received. You could just as easily claim the buyer is trying to defraud you.

I have filed a few police reports on people who screwed me on eBay, and each time, I was told I was wasting my time. Honestly, if the buyer is serious about returning, he will just go to Paypal and file a case, which he has 180 days to do.

a_c_green · ‎05-29-2017

@akmo262 wrote:
Alright...... ignore him it is. Hopefully he isnt dead set on pressing his ideas.

It doesn't really matter if he is. No one else has any obligation to bend laws to suit his needs, regardless of how loudly he's shrieking about supposed fraud. The DA will tell him to get lost.

Just deal with him through the dispute as necessary, refunding when the item comes back. Don't respond at all to any other comments on any other matters, including the supposed fake status of his previous items, unless or until he wants to return any of those as well, and files the proper dispute/refund requests to do it.

Basically, he has nothing to lose by threatening to do this, that or the other thing. Typing is cheap. You only need to respond to any actual actions he's entitled to file involving the return of his purchases.

mr_lincoln · ‎05-29-2017

@akmo262 Call eBay and ask for the Trust & Safety Depart, no other. Report this person to them AND their implied threats. The ramifications of something like that being successful are far reaching and eBay may want to put a lid on it real quick.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

retrose1 · ‎05-29-2017

Imagine my surprise when I looked after reading your OP that it wasn't designer leather or fashion, it was WW2 German unform stuff.

I sell at WW2 reenactments and OP, are you aware that the Chinese is reproducing just about everything Nazi uniform now? If someone can make a buck off it (and there are lots of uniform sellers), the Chinese will make it. Unless you got it from some old geezer that shipped it over when he was there and has documentation to prove it, everything - including some of your highest dollar stuff is questionable. Especially if the seller put a little initiative into it and dirtied/sandpapered some wear into the items.

But if you know that the items are real then you can have some fun with your buyer. If they are buying Nazi stuff, do they really wanting to be admitting it in public, let alone court? Since most people buying are reenactors (who would know at the first or second item what they got was repro) or collectors (who would know at first item it was repro), costumers (who wouldn't really care if it was real or not - just has to look good), OR skinheads ( who wouldn't know anything, but might scam if they got the chance).

So you might want to explain where you got the items and that if how you know they are real and if he doesn't like that, you will be happy to bring your documentation and the news media with you to court.

(*Bleep*)

orangehound · ‎05-29-2017

@akmo262 wrote:
My other point is the items in question were sold and delivered well over 30 days ago, which to my understanding is now outside of the buyer protection policy.

If your buyer is wise, he can file a claim through PayPal for up to 6 months ... really, it doesn't matter what inspection time-line you put on your listing or what eBay might state, the clock is really 6 months. If he paid with a credit card thorugh PayPal, then I believe there are other enforcements.

So, I don't know what dollar value we are talking about here ... but, if he returns the items in the condition that they were sold to him, then I would probably accept his returns simply because I could resell them to someone else who would be pleased with the merchandise.

And, of course, he goes on the BBL.

highdesertart · ‎05-29-2017

The answer is no, for this soon-to-be-returned item, and NO for all the others. He cannot return those items which he already was satisfied with and did not return. The guy is broke, and he needs money. Also, he can't threaten you by "leaving you alone". Make sure you report the entire conversation to ebay especially this part; chances are he'll be kicked off ebay. Don't do anything further with this guy, and block him immediately.