Scammed on My First Major Sale: A Buyer's Deception and Lack of Support

[leonidasloot]

Last week, I made a significant sale on eBay, listing an item for $450, making it my most expensive item sold to date. Unfortunately, the transaction quickly soured when the buyer returned the item, stating dissatisfaction. Although I received a notification on Saturday evening confirming delivery, the item never arrived at my home. Concerned, I contacted support on Sunday, but by Monday morning, they had closed the case, siding with the buyer who allegedly had "proof" of delivery.

This proof, however, only included the city and ZIP code, and since the USPS does not operate on Sundays, I couldn't verify the information until Monday. When I visited my local post office, they confirmed in writing that the item had not been delivered to my address. Despite this evidence, eBay dismissed my appeal, continuing to favor the buyer's ambiguous proof.

In desperation, I reached out via Facebook, only to be advised to revisit the post office, which was futile since they couldn't provide further details about the delivery location. As a result, I not only lost the item but also incurred shipping costs, plunging my initial foray into selling into the negatives.

This experience has been one of the worst in my early selling career, and it's left me puzzled about how to protect oneself from such scams. This wasn't a case of clicking a suspicious link or disclosing credit card information; it was simply an unfortunate decision to sell high-value items on eBay. Moving forward, I've resolved never to list expensive items on the platform again. This ordeal has taught me a harsh lesson about the risks new sellers face in the online marketplace.

[luckythewinner]

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@leonidasloot wrote:

This experience has been one of the worst in my early selling career, and it's left me puzzled about how to protect oneself from such scams. This wasn't a case of clicking a suspicious link or disclosing credit card information; it was simply an unfortunate decision to sell high-value items on eBay. Moving forward, I've resolved never to list expensive items on the platform again. This ordeal has taught me a harsh lesson about the risks new sellers face in the online marketplace.

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Generally speaking, any buyer can steal any item from any seller by filing a fraudulent dispute. This has been true since 2008 when eBay introduced the Money Back Guarantee for buyers.

Even if the item had been delivered to your address, your buyer could have shipped an empty box and you still would have been forced to refund. 

[isaiah53-57]

So very sorry to hear this happened to you - Really, there are no real answers other than I recommend filing reports with Police departments, a mail fraud report with your PO, and an online crime IC3 report. Also, file a BBB report. Use the information gathered to file an appeal.

Again, sorry - The only thing more I can add is BUCKLE UP - In my opinion buyer fraud is going to get WAY WORSE here before it gets any better and there's no guarantee it ever will get any better, so just plan for WAY WORSE, imho...

Best of luck

[ten_o_nine]

When I visited my local post office, they confirmed in writing that the item had not been delivered to my address. 

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How did they confirm in writing? because they should be able to confirm where it was delivered to.

[a_c_green]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

When I visited my local post office, they confirmed in writing that the item had not been delivered to my address. 

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How did they confirm in writing? because they should be able to confirm where it was delivered to.

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Certainly mine did last month. The circumstances leading up to it were a bit different, but basically I was getting tracking notifications (via the USPS network) for a package that I assumed was coming to me, but ended up at a different address in town. When I brought the tracking number in to my PO and asked them where it went, they printed out a report from their in-house intranet that included a street map zoomed in to the exact driveway (and address) where it had been delivered.

So yes, the PO is capable of displaying the GPS coordinates of the delivery. From past events here, it should be possible to scan and send the USPS letter (on USPS letterhead) to eBay to confirm that you really did not get the package because it was directed somewhere else within your City and ZIP.

[leonidasloot]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

When I visited my local post office, they confirmed in writing that the item had not been delivered to my address. 

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How did they confirm in writing? because they should be able to confirm where it was delivered to.

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They provided a formal letter confirming that the item with the specified tracking number was not delivered to the address listed in my return settings. I have attached the letter to this message for your reference.

[ten_o_nine]

You should have also filed a fraud investigation since you have the tracking number stating it was delivered to you, and not the other address.

[ten_o_nine]

@leonidasloot 

Did you provide the return label?

[pcobra93]

Make sure you file a police report in the buyers town along with the FBI cyber crimes division.....and any others you can think of. That is about all you can do unless you want to pay them a visit in person.

[leonidasloot]

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@ten_o_nine wrote:

@leonidasloot 

Did you provide the return label?

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No, I did not provide the return label myself. As far as I'm aware, eBay automatically generated the label for this transaction.

[ten_o_nine]

I assume on the return case, you clicked on "Provide an eBay label", if that's the case, I would call eBay again and provide the document you shared stating it was not delivered to your address but another address. 

Here are some eBay customer service phone numbers.

- General customer service: (866) 348-9519
- Hacked accounts: (866) 961-9253
- Report fraud: (866) 643-1607
- Customer service: 1-866-540-3229
- Customer service (alternative): 1-866-643-1587

Be persistent and you will win the case.

[mam98031]

You need to talk directly with Ebay.

On each Ebay page there is a link to contact Customer Service at the top of the page and again at the bottom of the page.

I would suggest that you contact Ebay for Business on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for the better trained CSRs.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.

https://twitter.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

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

Your options will be on the left. If you use the link below you can only get to the Automated Assistant or Chat box type AGENT in the box and hit enter. You will then get more options. Not all options are available 24/7. It will depend on staffing available. So sometimes you can request a call back and sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have the Chat option available and other times it won't me. If it is important to you to use one of those options, just try back later.

If you use a cell phone or other mobile device, you may need to turn off your Spam filter so that Ebay can call you.

If you are a seller outside of the US or Canada, you will need to use the Chat Option.

https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

https://www.ebay.com/help/home

[vintagecraze50]

Go back to your local PO and get the postmaster to give you the GPS coordinates of where the package was delivered. If this was USPS. THEY KEEP A DATABASE, of where packages are scanned off for delivery. They know exactly within a few ft or less where this package landed. Then submit this information in an appeal to ebay. Get the postmaster to provide documented proof of the GPS location. They cannot share the actual address but the GPS says it all.

[vintagecraze50]

I had a buyer claim non receipt of a very expensive item as well. I called the postmaster at the destination PO AND HE called me back and gave me the GPS coordinates (Global Positioning Scan) where this package was dropped off. This is absolutely proof of where packages end up. Buyer was informed, postmaster called buyer. Buyer suddenly found package.

[vintagecraze50]

If this was a scam continue to do as I said in my two posts. Get that GPS info to ebay. Scammers bet that you will not pursue this and let the whole situation go in their favor. Smart and efficient sellers take care of their business and do the extra legwork to CATCH these people. Do it!!!