$9,000 SCAM — Buyer Kept My PSA 10 Shining Charizard & Got Refund Advice Needed!
Hi everyone,
Quick credibility check: I’m Auctionmike23, a long time seller specializing in Pokémon cards. I’ve completed nearly 10,000 successful transactions over the course of a decade with 100% positive feedback and am approaching 2,200 in seller feedback. I’m based in Australia and often sell to buyers in the U.S.
On January 25, I sold a PSA 10 Shining Charizard Neo Destiny Holo for $9,000 (this is in AUD) to a U.S. buyer via eBay. The card was delivered safely within a week, and for over 60 days, there were no complaints.
Then suddenly, the buyer opened a claim for “Item not as described.â€
If you dropped $9,000 on a card and it “wasn’t as described,†would you wait two months to say something?
Instead, he made up a story about the certification number being deactivated (which by the way occurred after he received it), and tried to return it. I don't understand how I can be held responsible for something that happens to the card once it is already in the buyers possession. It would be like buying a new car, crashing the car and then returning the car to the dealership 60 days later because "car doesn't match description".
eBay told me to deny the return and assured me there was nothing else the buyer could do.
Spoiler: they were wrong.
The buyer then opened a payment dispute with their bank, and eBay froze $9,000 of my funds — the core income I use to support my family. After 8 weeks, the bank sided with the buyer. eBay then withdrew the remaining balance from my linked bank account.
So here I am:
No $9,000
No PSA 10 Shining Charizard
No support from eBay
The buyer was never required to return the card. eBay’s support throughout this ordeal has been shamefully poor, and I’m left asking:
How is this considered seller protection?
Why is eBay allowing buyers to keep high value items and still get refunded?
Why should I keep selling on a platform that offers me no meaningful protection?
I’d appreciate any insight from others who’ve experienced something similar — or advice on where to escalate this (beyond the useless “support†channels).
stephenmorgan
·1 year agoYou could sue the buyer and their bank. You would have bring eBay into it by subpoenaing them to provide the bank details and a record of how they responded to the bank request for the charge reversal. You would then need to prove the bank made an improper decision. If you need an attorney to help you then you are talking thousands of dollars. Unless you are in the US it would be very difficult and that is why many people will just drop it and the scammer wins.
You can at least report the buyer and if eBay sees a pattern then maybe they will suspend their account.
I did not find this listing in you sold items. Did you have a returns policy? If so did the buyer follow it?
I see on one of your listing "30 days returns. Buyer pays for return shipping. If you use an eBay shipping label, it will be deducted from your refund amount." If that was the case and it was pointed out to the bank during the charge back request they should not have found in favor of the buyer.
doc-holmes
·1 year agoThey told you not to approve the return? Holy...
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoEbay didn't, the buyers credit card company did.
auctionmike23
OP1 year agoMorally and ethically, eBay should be covering me via seller protection as I am not the one who has done anything wrong. What is the point of paying all the fees for over a decade if when issues arise they do absolutely nothing. I literally had a "customer service" representative hang up on me when I asked to speak to a supervisor. He said "That's not part of our protocol, goodbye" and hung up the phone.
bonjourami
·1 year agoOnce the buyer goes to his cc, Ebay is completely out of the picture.
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·1 year agoeBay did cover you....it's the buyers bank who did you wrong
auctionmike23
OP1 year agoAppreciate all your responses!
Unfortunately as I am located in Australia, I don't have access to eBay United States customer service and the "customer service" that we get in Australia is completely abysmal. I am currently exhausting all methods of trying to get in touch with a human being that works at eBay and lives in Australia.
titipeo
·1 year agoThe claim came in 60 days after delivery, this should void eBay's MBG and they will side with seller had buyer filed claim, unless cards are different. But, once buyer go to payment source, eBay can not do anything. @auctionmike23 you should become familiarized with eBays MBG.
funfactorychannel
·1 year agoAt this stage its very little recourse.
If you have a good liquidity, and if the person buying is a real person you can sue in Australian court. Toss the court win into collections.
But most sellers dont have the time or liquidity to handle all that but the amount is large enough to take action.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agohe made up a story .... and tried to return it.
The buyer then opened a payment dispute with their bank, and eBay froze $9,000 of my funds
The buyer was never required to return the card.
Did you personally and manually add a demand for the return of the unwanted card to the Dispute?
Or did you leave it all in eBay's hands?
eBay told me to deny the return and assured me there was nothing else the buyer could do.
Did you contact customer support through the social media where actual eBay employees are assigned?
Or did you believe a subcontracted phone clerk in Utah?
bonjourami
·1 year agoThe buyer opened the Ebay case sixty days after arrival, obviously Ebay couldnt do anything,and rightly told the seller to deny the return. Then the buyer went to his cc.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@auctionmike23
I'm so sorry eBay advised you wrong on this one.
bonjourami
·1 year agoIm sorry for you, Ebay withdraws from the case once the buyer has filed a chargeback with their bank,they are not going to help you.The bank chargeback never includes the buyer returning the item to the seller.