Filing a complaint about a fraudulent seller account or scam on eBay.

Question

I cannot find a way on eBay to point out a fraudulent seller or a scam. I mistakenly purchased an item from a seller based in Sri Lanka with a distant delivery date (about four to six weeks), but the item was marked as delivered by USPS just two days after the seller refused my cancellation request. The seller had 5 days to respond to my cancellation request which was placed on the same day the order was placed. Clearly, the seller figured out how to cheat the USPS tracking system also. They got the money, they did not send the item, but USPS marked it as delivered regardless.

EBay must have a mechanism for suspending a fraudulent seller account. I am baffled because I cannot find that mechanism. How can fraud be allowed to survive so easily on eBay?

eburtonlab · Answer

@mr7y7

If the buyer actually receives something, the buyer can file a "not as described" return within thirty days for a full refund. In fact, any buyer on eBay can file a "not as described" return, provided the buyer is willing and able to return exactly what was received.

If tracking shows delivery but nothing arrives and the buyer can obtain some hard copy documentation (email is not good enough) that says that the package was not delivered to the buyer's address or documentation that shows the weight or size of the package cannot possibly correspond to the ordered item, or the shipping date precedes the order, then the buyer may be able to contact eBay via social media direct message, provide that documentation to eBay and get help with "false tracking".

https://x.com/askebay

https://www.facebook.com/ebay

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

With "false tracking" if you go through a standard automated "item not received" case, on the other hand, you will lose the case because the seller can provide tracking that appears to show delivery. If you then appeal, you may have some additional options at that point. It appears that eBay has added a new appeal option regarding "delivery to another address", but I do not know how effective that is compared to contacting eBay via social media with documentation and explicitly mentioning "false tracking", which seems to work provided you can obtain the necessary documentation.

If you are unable to get help through eBay, you may have recourse through your payment method, though you should probably exhaust all your eBay options first since once you go through your payment method, eBay will no longer help with that transaction.

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.