Warning!!! Ebay will steal your money if you sell an expensive electronic item.

[blackmountainww]

I sold an expensive aircraft radio on Ebay. It retails for about $9,500. It was used but in near perfect condition. When the buyer received it, he took it apart, removed several expensive internal components and then filed a return with Ebay to send back the radio to me. When I got the radio back, most of the screws were missing, and the case was severely scratched up. The only case screws that remained were stripped so badly. that I can not remove them. I filed an appeal with Ebay and within 20 minutes, they sent me an email saying that my claim was denied and they would be charging my bank account for the sales price of the item. They didn't even care that the buyer stole parts from the radio, ruined it and then sent it back for a refund. I am now out several thousand dollars. I always wondered why when people that sell electronics on Ebay say that it is being sold as parts only in non working condition. Now I know after Ebay and a  buyer stole money from me. An Ebay representative told me that they will always rule in favor of any buyer in a dispute. It is part of their policy. If you ever sell any electronics, make sure that you put a disclaimer that it is being sold as parts only and has not been tested and there is no guarantee that it is in working condition. If the buyer decides to steal your expensive parts, you have no recourse

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[buyselljack2016]

@blackmountainww 

 And, guess what?

The results will be the same.

Parts only, or not working does not preclude a bad buyer from getting a 100% refund on eBay.

Also many have become very good a filing a charge back via their payment method.

Life is a lose, lose situation for a seller when a scammer knows what they are doing.

[monster-deals]

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@blackmountainww wrote:

If you ever sell any electronics, make sure that you put a disclaimer that it is being sold as parts only and has not been tested and there is no guarantee that it is in working condition. 

.

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The outcome is exactly the same as not doing that.

[orangehound]

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@blackmountainww wrote:

An Ebay representative told me that they will always rule in favor of any buyer in a dispute. It is part of their policy. If you ever sell any electronics, make sure that you put a disclaimer that it is being sold as parts only and has not been tested and there is no guarantee that it is in working condition. If the buyer decides to steal your expensive parts, you have no recourse

.

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The strategy you suggest will not work with a thief.  Thieves know the eBay system much better than many sellers, particularly inexperienced sellers ... and thieves target casual sellers trying to sell expensive items.

There is not much a casual seller can do to prevent theft 100%, but there are some things you can do to minimize the chance that you get targeted:

1. List items for a reasonable or market price.  Thieves are willing to over-pay for items because ... well ... they aren't going to really pay for it.  You want to price your items at a level that attracts legitimate buyers.
2. If you are not a Top Rated Seller, then avoid selling high-dollar or high-theft items such as Apple products or designer wear ... thieves are more likely to target inexperienced sellers.
3. When selling an item that could be targeted for theft, set up your listing so as to take advantage of eBay's limited seller protections (non-TRS must offer 30-day seller-paid returns, and TRS must offer 30-day returns).  Thieves notice this, and they'll skip over you for easier prey.  Read more here: click

[dbfolks166mt]

      All sellers should remember the #1 rule as a seller NEVER list anything you are not prepared to take the financial loss on. Eventually ever seller will deal with one of these issues and it's not a question of if it will happen but when. 

[rfmtm]

If items were removed (stolen), the best you can do is file a police report in the buyer's location and send a copy to ebay.

[allen1853]

It is a sad commentary when every reply here admits eBay does NOTHING about buyers who are frauds and literally commit crimes with eBay's help if not participation. Why should we accept that eBay makes it easy for thieves to prey on sellers, experienced or not? There was a time when eBay had seller's backs. Why is that impossible now? Why isn't it immoral to allow thievery? 

[bgt_masters_of_tiki_d]

What was already mentioned before, file an incident report with your local police station. You can probably do a google search for all the information ebay requires (I've done it before but don't have the info handy). After you get the report from your local police station send it to ebay through email and they should reverse it. I've never had to do it for such a high amount though. 

[monster-deals]

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@allen1853 wrote:

 There was a time when eBay had seller's backs. 

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...and when they did they grew by leaps and bounds.

Now growth is squeezing remaining sellers with promoted listings just so their item can get seen

[krazzykats]

For almost 10k, I'd file a civil case against them. 

You can probably even file a small claim case online, then fly in where ever in the USA the buyer lives when it comes up on the docket.

[rfmtm]

You can also consider a small claim court action, but most are limit to $5000.  If your state and the buyer's state have reciprocal agreements, which almost all states do, you can file in your own local court.  If you get a a judgment it will be honored in the buyer's state, but you may have to go there to actually collect.  In the mean time it can hold up any of the buyer's real estate deals, and possibly intervene in any state refunds to the buyer.

In any event, file a police report in the buyer's city.  You might also file a mail fraud case with USPS.  At the very least, if this guy is doing this to others, it will be going on record to be noticed by the authorities.

[nickelsanddimes2015]

File a police report and get in touch with ebay fraud department

[highscoreusa]

Perhaps you haven't established enough sales history where eBay trusts you enough, as one can simply make this up to try and get money out of eBay.

New accounts and people with low history on either the buying or selling end, should stick to lower priced items, and gradually work their way up to dealing with higher priced items. This is better for fraud protection, and financial errors you are going to cost yourself from lack of experience. When learning how to run your business through trial and error, it is better to learn with losses on cheaper products.

[stephenmorgan]

Was that the one you sold a few weeks ago for $2999?  That is a big loss.  Did eBay keep their Fees in addition to forcing you to refund the full amount?

[firesteel_surplus]

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@rfmtm wrote:

If items were removed (stolen), the best you can do is file a police report in the buyer's location and send a copy to ebay.

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The report to ebay? Do you know where that will go? Most likely to some interns desk to file it in File G.

I honestly don't know where people get the idea that the police will give two *whistles* about your issue once the report is filed. They will leave and go about their business....let alone sending it to ebay.

And again...maybe I'm wrong....somewhere...I think I was wrong last week in a post.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus