Got fleeced done with eBay

[bigdrunk92037]

I recently sold an expensive espresso grinder on eBay.  Worked perfect, no issues once so ever.  The buyer had the most bogus reason ever for triggering a return request.   Of course the buyer did not respond to any of my requests for more details etc.   Eventually eBay issued a return label, fraudster, I mean buyer ships my $600 grinder back.  When I get it back it is DOA.  Upon further investigation it was clear the buyer harvested parts from the grinder so it will never work again.  

- I report to eBay and get told there is nothing they will do

- ebay refunds the buyer

 - I just got my eBay invoice for the month and there is a $60 charge for commission on the item.   I call again and eBay refuses to back it out?

so not only is my $600 grinder a paper weight I lost $100 on shipping AND eBay is trying to charge me $60 commission?

i don’t know why anybody would EVER sell an expensive item EVER on eBay as sellers obviously don’t have ANY protection.   I am done, severed my paypal account and will close my eBay account as well.   eBay sucks,  their greed and garbage policies makes me wonder why anybody would use it to sell anything other than cheap Chinese goods.  

I am done and am now looking at how to deal with the buyer.  

[albany_sellers]

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@dhbookds wrote:

 this is a general statement.........

How can Ebay tell whether you are lying or the buyer is lying? 

Buyer would obviously say.....I mailed the same thing back.......seller is lying that he got a stripped out item back.........

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You're acting like eBay would do the right thing if the seller had absolute proof of what happened. They wont. The buyer could write a long letter detailing every step of the scam and how and why he did it, and the outcome would be the same. If the buyer says INAD, then it's no questions asked and nothing else matters.

It's like they would rather have someone going from seller to seller ripping them off, racking up lots of seller fees than to dispose of a buyer like that. Make no mistake, scammers individually put a lot more money into eBay's pocket than individual honest buyers do. Regular buyers are not buying a bunch of expensive items from a bunch of sellers regularly.

[chapeau-noir]

I was in a local large dry goods store the other day and got into a chat with one of the long-term employees - she said their biggest problem was theft/shoplifting - they caught one dude making off with an entire bolt of cloth (he had left the bolt holder behind and just stuffed all of that fabric under his coat) - people will steal anything. The thought is that this is a big chain so who cares?  Only we're not 'big chains' and it's theft.

IAC, I've worked on my Baratza espresso grinder before and I see you did a replacement burr on yours - you may be able to find the rest of the replacement parts this clown stripped at 1st Line Equipment or Seattle Coffee Gear - at least you can get your grinder up and running again as some small consolation. 

[bigdrunk92037]

Thanks for all the reply’s everyone.  This has been a tough pill to swallow for sure.  

even though I am taking it in the shorts, hopefully threads like this make people think twice before selling anything on eBay.  They will not be getting anymore of my money, that is for sure.  

last rant from me, even though this is old and I should have known this a long time ago, I just noticed ebay charges a commission on shipping!  It won’t be hard to have a better selling experience elsewhere.  

[pink.fish.rule]

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@flipper2flipper wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

Let your buyer know that you will be filing a report with the USPS postmaster.  It is a Federal Crime to use USPS in the commission of a crime, in this case fraud.  Since their payment was via an electronic transfer that constitutes wire fraud which is another Federal Crime.  And you will be filing a local police report for theft.

https://www.fraud.org/

https://www.uspis.gov/

https://www.justice.gov/

https://www.usacops.com/

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In my opinion, filing a police report is a waste of time .... it's a 'he said, she said" situation ..... and there is no way for the seller to prove to the police that the buyer took out the parts that they needed.

Filing a report with any of the other named agencies is going to be the equivalent of filing a report with Santa Claus @ The North Pole.

I feel for the seller, but unfortunately, that is the reality of selling on Ebay ever since SNAD was implemented.

This could not have happened during "The Good Old Days" when the buyer paid by check or money order, and there were no "back-sies."

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More to the point since ebay decided sellers had to pay return shipping on SNADS regardless.

[mam98031]

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@pink.fish.rule wrote:

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@flipper2flipper wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

Let your buyer know that you will be filing a report with the USPS postmaster.  It is a Federal Crime to use USPS in the commission of a crime, in this case fraud.  Since their payment was via an electronic transfer that constitutes wire fraud which is another Federal Crime.  And you will be filing a local police report for theft.

https://www.fraud.org/

https://www.uspis.gov/

https://www.justice.gov/

https://www.usacops.com/

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In my opinion, filing a police report is a waste of time .... it's a 'he said, she said" situation ..... and there is no way for the seller to prove to the police that the buyer took out the parts that they needed.

Filing a report with any of the other named agencies is going to be the equivalent of filing a report with Santa Claus @ The North Pole.

I feel for the seller, but unfortunately, that is the reality of selling on Ebay ever since SNAD was implemented.

This could not have happened during "The Good Old Days" when the buyer paid by check or money order, and there were no "back-sies."

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More to the point since ebay decided sellers had to pay return shipping on SNADS regardless.

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Sellers should pay return shipping on a INAD.  Our problem is, as we all know, that buyers filed claims incorrectly sometimes.  And many do it on purpose because it is actually a Buyer's Remorse return but the buyer doesn't want to pay return shipping or lose the original shipping refund if the shipping was separately stated on the purchase.

[carbonart0]

A police report is a waste of time and Ebay could care less,  Ebay already **bleep** well knows what happened here and with every other case just like it.  A police report is not necessary and will make NO DIFFERENCE.

Ebay is complicit in the crime here.  Talk about nonsense - pure fluff.

[1tuna]

I take it that you have never filed a police report and got your money back.It has worked with me for paypal and ebay,to say that its a waste of time is offering no hope at all when I know it will work,why would you advise someone to skip a proven problem solver like filing a police report,

let me ask you ,have you ever filed an appeal with ebay? or do you like to just shoot your mouth off.

[mam98031]

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@carbonart0 wrote:

A police report is a waste of time and Ebay could care less,  Ebay already **bleep** well knows what happened here and with every other case just like it.  A police report is not necessary and will make NO DIFFERENCE.

Ebay is complicit in the crime here.  Talk about nonsense - pure fluff.

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What others are trying to explain here is that contrary to your belief, Ebay does pay attention more when a police report is filed and there is a case number.  Whether it seems important to you doesn't matter.  What matters is can it help you with Ebay in certain cases and the answer is yes.  

[carbonart0]

Again.  Ebay is complicit in this kind of buyer crime.  They don't give a rat's behind about a police report for cases like this one.  They've crafted their policies to encourage scam buying in order to try and increase sales.  Ebay already knows dammm well what is happening to their own customers - like the seller who started this topic - Ebay is making their own customers victims of criminal sellers - so that Ebay can make bigger profits.

File a police report?  Ebay is complicit with the crime!

[carbonart0]

Ebay is making their own customers (the sellers) victims of criminal BUYERS - so that Ebay can make bigger profits. 

[mam98031]

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@carbonart0 wrote:

Again.  Ebay is complicit in this kind of buyer crime.  They don't give a rat's behind about a police report for cases like this one.  They've crafted their policies to encourage scam buying in order to try and increase sales.  Ebay already knows dammm well what is happening to their own customers - like the seller who started this topic - Ebay is making their own customers victims of criminal sellers - so that Ebay can make bigger profits.

File a police report?  Ebay is complicit with the crime!

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Then you should be around for other members that have filed police reports and have had Ebay consider them in the process.  One or two other posters you've said this to has told you they have done it and it has helped them, so you should go back and tell them they are mistaken, it didn't help them.

As for me, I've never done it so I don't have any personal experience with it.  But I've read threads and posts by others that have done it and it has helped them.  Maybe they all lied, IDK.

[luckythewinner]

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@carbonart0 wrote:

Why even bother to list inexpensive items since you'll probably get shafted here too?

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I bother with "inexpensive" items because my exposure in any single transaction is manageable. 

And also because experience informs me that I won't get "shafted" by them. 

[carbonart0]

So in other words, you're saying that in order to get Ebay to do the right thing, you have to get the police involved.  That sure makes Ebay look great!

[mam98031]

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@carbonart0 wrote:

So in other words, you're saying that in order to get Ebay to do the right thing, you have to get the police involved.  That sure makes Ebay look great!

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I never said that.  What I said and what others have said that in certain cases it helps.

In regards to your package that was lost in the mail, it would not help at all.  But in some INADs it can be a useful tool.

[pink.fish.rule]

No one has ever said a seller shouldn't pay return shipping on a true SNAD, but back when it was up to the seller and not mandatory it sure cut down on false returns when the buyer knew they'd have to pay return shipping.