Just had this recently happen to me but with trading cards. I shipped out 5 SEALED boxes but the buyer claimed they were "dented". At that point the buyer could have sent it back SEALED and DENTED but he opened all the trading cards and combed through it. He then started a return process and eBay just recently sided with him. I've appealed the case but I don't think it will do anything as eBay usually sides with the buyer for some reason even though its blatantly obvious the buyer is committing fraud.
Well, it appears that my last message to the buyer to return the broken hippo for a refund did the trick. Heard nothing or received a return request and now we’re well past the 30-days. Perhaps she realized she was made. How sad.
I was wondering what happened with this one @pls-consignments and figured the buyer moved on as she already said she would not be returning. You may say "how sad" but it would have been sadder if she pulled a swap and returned a different item. Block buyer list and forget about it.
Just file an insurance claim. Get the money from the insurance and be DONE. I always insure to protect from real or phony damage claims. Use their pictures of their “damage†. Should get approved by USPS if that’s what you’re used. Life’s too short to be dickering around.
Can you upload the actual pic of the buyer's broken hippo instead of that tiny screenshot @pls-consignments ? As you can see below, when we compare that screenshot of the buyer's pic it's much lower res and makes it harder to demonstrate the difference in paint pattern.
I'm in the camp the buyer is trying to pull a swap and/or get a refund without return.
It's clear to me the paint spatter is drastically different on OP's listing and buyer's photo.
Pic of hippo butt should be ignored because buyer is holding up the unbroken item from OP (no glue marks or damage) along with a few shards from their broken hippo.
I'd bet the buyer broke their personal item, found a match on eBay, and is trying to scam the seller.
Please keep us posted PLS and let us know if the buyer ever gets back to you after their 10 day trip or if they simply go away since you told them to return instead of volunteering a refund as I'm sure they hoped you would.
Buyer already said they threw it out in eBay messages - make sure you save/screenshot that.
Always ask them to start a return through eBay, end of story and once you receive your item back, you'll know... Usually, if it's a scam, they drop it once asked to return it or will ask for a partial at which point you again ask them to start a return.
Always ask them to start a return through eBay, end of story and once you receive your item back, you'll know... Usually, if it's a scam, they drop it once asked to return it or will ask for a partial at which point you again ask them to start a return.
I went ahead and politely asked her to return the item for a refund, even though she said her husband took out the trash before they left for their trip. Looking forward to seeing how this will play out. 🙄
Sad , it happened to another seller. This is a norm here.
"she said her husband took out the trash before they left for their trip"
It clearly shows her intentions to never return it. It seems like this buyer knows what she's doing.
"took out the trash and went on a trip"
It simply means " Oh well the waste people took the trash meanwhile and now the return that should have been sent back to you is now in an irretrievable pile of garbage.
I don't think she will take the Ebay MBG route, because she knows she can't return it or don't want to return it. If she take MBG route , Ebay most likely side with her. She might try to send you empty box , something else , maybe junk, send it to someone else address .Even if she lose through MBG , she can easily go through chargeback, her next definite step.
However, if she has done her homework which most of the scammers here do before playing their game , she would go through the chargeback route.
Wise scammers play these tricks after 4 months, when the tracking becomes obsolete, even on global package tracking website, since USPS mostly keep tracking information upto 3 months.
INAD /SNAD chargeback most probably, since they are always very easy to win.
If chargeback is filed, make sure you include shipping tracking number no matter what , include pictures of item sent and the one she claimed for pointing out differences between item sent vs claimed. At this point if you lose , you have to appeal and deal with Ebay.
Hope this was not an expensive item, if you still have few on your store, make sure to take them down before someone else plays this trick with you. Goodluck.
I will say, after 25 years and nearly 17K transactions, I'm not surprised to see these type of things become more and more problematic for Sellers. Sure, its easy to point fingers at eBay for creating the environment that cultivates these kinds of problems. That's the deal that they and many corporations make with the devil.
But the reality is, we live in a different world now where ethics, morality and human consideration are becoming things of the past. People have changed, and have become more and more like animals, driven by self preservation at the expense of others.
You need to look at the last photo where they are holding the hippo with the broken pieces. The rear no longer has a broken triangle out of it.
And I don't see the two bubble defects on the first "broken" image, nor do the spot's paint patterns match.
But again. Good luck proving it, and getting anything done about it. Confronting them about it will not work. As I said, Ebay tends to side with the buyer, even if you are right and they are pulling one on you.
I'll be the oddball here, as I think the pictures are of the same hippo. I see the glaze marks in your photos, too... imagine them at the angle photographed.
From my seat, they don't appear to be the same item. But I don't know if there is anything you can do about it. Ebay tends to side on the buyer far more easily than the seller, even when there is proof.
I can clearly see the difference in the photo. More likely, they are trying to replace one that broke and want to send you back the broken one. But to confront them probably wouldn't be smart. I would be more inclined to contact Ebay directly and provide the same evidence before doing anything.
I take pictures of everything I ship, as its shipped, and even message that to the buyer. So far, it has been received positively. But that doesn't mean that I won't eventually hit a buyer that will try something shady.
I would like to think that having a thorough listing, excellent documentation of the item would help, but after reading so many threads about people that lost out to a shady buyer, I doubt any of those things would help me much.
Should I confront them now, or should I wait until the buyer starts a return? 
I wouldn't go "confronting" anyone at this point. I agree that the photos don't definitively show the item you shipped, although wrinkles in the box do show crushing damage, and, in general, I'm having a hard time imagining that the buyer already had a broken example of the very same item.
Maybe you can ask them for a right-side rear view that would show at least some of the triangular hole as well as that very large, very distinctive rusty-red blotch in the white spot that's most visible in your listing photo #6.
That aside, if they file a Not As Described claim due to shipping damage, it's up to you as to whether you want the damaged item back. I'm sure that if you ask for it to be sent back first, before refunding, you will indeed receive the broken example showing in the photos. You'll have to refund at that point, though you will at least have made the scam swapper (if it does turn out to be a different example) work for their free replacement.
Should I confront them now, or should I wait until the buyer starts a return? 
Maybe you can ask them for a right-side rear view that would show at least some of the triangular hole as well as that very large, very distinctive rusty-red blotch in the white spot that's most visible in your listing photo #6.
I did ask for additional photos of the breakage. This was the buyer's response...
"Morning, I sent all the photos I took. I believe it is clear that the hippo is broken. In the last photo, there are pieces of the broken hippo mouth in my hand. There are photos of both sides of the box and you can see the top. The package didn’t look damaged before opening. We are out of town for 10 days meeting family for my Dad’s 97th birthday. My husband took the trash out before we left so I won’t be able to take more photos when we get back...."
I feel her resistance is starting to confirm my suspicion.
Personally their resistance sounds more Iike annoyance that you are questioning them so much over a low dollar item. Their communication doesn’t sound to me like a scammer. I’d be reluctant to confront anyone over this, especially when the lighting and different photo angles can be difficult to compare.
Personally their resistance sounds more Iike annoyance that you are questioning them so much over a low dollar item. Their communication doesn’t sound to me like a scammer. I’d be reluctant to confront anyone over this, especially when the lighting and different photo angles can be difficult to compare.
How would you confront someone over this?
Really? You think holding two broken pieces in their hand while showing a suddenly "unbroken" rear after showing it broken is a "lighting" issue? To me, their effort to disguise the truth is clear. Whether or not it's a low value item is not the point.
Personally their resistance sounds more Iike annoyance that you are questioning them so much over a low dollar item. Their communication doesn’t sound to me like a scammer. I’d be reluctant to confront anyone over this, especially when the lighting and different photo angles can be difficult to compare.
How would you confront someone over this?
Really? You think holding two broken pieces in their hand while showing a suddenly "unbroken" rear after showing it broken is a "lighting" issue? To me, their effort to disguise the truth is clear. Whether or not it's a low value item is not the point.
If you compare that photo of the hippo's butt to your photo of the back side---they look pretty much the same, especially the discoloration up the center and the dark spot on the left foot. The buyer said they placed the broken piece back in the hole & was thinking of gluing, so that explains why it looks not broken. Do you really think they would send a photo of breakage that showed it not broken? I still don't know how you can confront a buyer with your suspensions without it going terribly wrong.
Some posters here may remember a long thread from a year or so ago over an expensive purse. Some items are more susceptible to fraud than others and this one sure looked bad for the OP. She was convinced the photos the buyer sent were of another, actually counterfeit purse and she was going to get the swapped one back. The buyer insisted there was damage, but we all looked at the photos, compared the pattern and stitching and it sure didn't seem to be the same purse. In the end, the OP took it back and returned to the thread to confirm it was actually her purse with damage she got back.
A couple posters insisted that the photos were of the same purse--just slightly different angles than the photos in the listing, but most of us disagreed wholeheartedly. We were all wrong.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years ago
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.104View listings
@fern*wood wrote:
@pls-consignments wrote:
@fern*wood wrote:
Personally their resistance sounds more Iike annoyance that you are questioning them so much over a low dollar item. Their communication doesn’t sound to me like a scammer. I’d be reluctant to confront anyone over this, especially when the lighting and different photo angles can be difficult to compare.
How would you confront someone over this?
Really? You think holding two broken pieces in their hand while showing a suddenly "unbroken" rear after showing it broken is a "lighting" issue? To me, their effort to disguise the truth is clear. Whether or not it's a low value item is not the point.
If you compare that photo of the hippo's butt to your photo of the back side---they look pretty much the same, especially the discoloration up the center and the dark spot on the left foot. The buyer said they placed the broken piece back in the hole & was thinking of gluing, so that explains why it looks not broken. Do you really think they would send a photo of breakage that showed it not broken? I still don't know how you can confront a buyer with your suspensions without it going terribly wrong.
Some posters here may remember a long thread from a year or so ago over an expensive purse. Some items are more susceptible to fraud than others and this one sure looked bad for the OP. She was convinced the photos the buyer sent were of another, actually counterfeit purse and she was going to get the swapped one back. The buyer insisted there was damage, but we all looked at the photos, compared the pattern and stitching and it sure didn't seem to be the same purse. In the end, the OP took it back and returned to the thread to confirm it was actually her purse with damage she got back.
A couple posters insisted that the photos were of the same purse--just slightly different angles than the photos in the listing, but most of us disagreed wholeheartedly. We were all wrong.
I remember that thread about the Goyard pouch. I believe I responded to it at the time. And yes, it did turn out to be the same item.
However in this case, I'm convinced that the broken hippo is NOT the same one as sent by the seller @pls-consignments .
@fern*wood , your statement of "If you compare that photo of the hippo's butt to your photo of the back side---they look pretty much the same, especially the discoloration up the center and the dark spot on the left foot" is because in that picture, the scammy buyer IS showing the intact and unbroken item that she received. The broken piece that she's holding is above the piece and if it were indeed the broken butt, the buyer would have shown it at an angle that also showed the breakage.
I have no doubt that if the buyer does file NAD and sends it back, it'll be a switcheroo.
Compare - note that the spotting is different and the dimple is missing from the OP's item:
In this comparison, the buyer is showing the back of the OP's item but holding a broken piece from a different hippo. (Notice how her finger is against the intact seller's item.)
Compare these two pictures from the buyer. Notice how the broken piece is missing further toward the back nearer the hippo's butt, unlike the picture shown with the broken piece in the buyer's hand.
That's it -- the Goyard pouch thread!! I get what you and others are pointing out. I still think photos can fool, but more than that I guess I want to believe there aren't people out there willing to go to so much trouble to cheat someone over a low dollar green spotted ceramic hippo for their 97 year old father. I'm just a common country girl that wants to believe in the good in people.
I remember the Goyard thread and I am one who thought those were photos of a different item, too! Now... I'm questioning my initial reaction, @pls-consignments. Posters like these two and @wastingtime101 usually beat me hands down. Hmmm...
We are out of town for 10 days meeting family for my Dad’s 97th birthday. My husband took the trash out before we left so I won’t be able to take more photos when we get back...."
To me, the paint spatter on your listing and her broken photos looks vastly different. I'd be suspicious of buyer pulling a swap.
Because she said they threw the item out, if she files a SNAD return you can try to use her inability to return anything to appeal to eBay.
robho8240
·2 years agoJust had this recently happen to me but with trading cards. I shipped out 5 SEALED boxes but the buyer claimed they were "dented". At that point the buyer could have sent it back SEALED and DENTED but he opened all the trading cards and combed through it. He then started a return process and eBay just recently sided with him. I've appealed the case but I don't think it will do anything as eBay usually sides with the buyer for some reason even though its blatantly obvious the buyer is committing fraud.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoUpdate!
Well, it appears that my last message to the buyer to return the broken hippo for a refund did the trick. Heard nothing or received a return request and now we’re well past the 30-days. Perhaps she realized she was made. How sad.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoI was wondering what happened with this one @pls-consignments and figured the buyer moved on as she already said she would not be returning. You may say "how sad" but it would have been sadder if she pulled a swap and returned a different item. Block buyer list and forget about it.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoJust file an insurance claim. Get the money from the insurance and be DONE. I always insure to protect from real or phony damage claims. Use their pictures of their “damage†. Should get approved by USPS if that’s what you’re used. Life’s too short to be dickering around.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoCan you upload the actual pic of the buyer's broken hippo instead of that tiny screenshot @pls-consignments ? As you can see below, when we compare that screenshot of the buyer's pic it's much lower res and makes it harder to demonstrate the difference in paint pattern.
I'm in the camp the buyer is trying to pull a swap and/or get a refund without return.
It's clear to me the paint spatter is drastically different on OP's listing and buyer's photo.
Pic of hippo butt should be ignored because buyer is holding up the unbroken item from OP (no glue marks or damage) along with a few shards from their broken hippo.
I'd bet the buyer broke their personal item, found a match on eBay, and is trying to scam the seller.
Please keep us posted PLS and let us know if the buyer ever gets back to you after their 10 day trip or if they simply go away since you told them to return instead of volunteering a refund as I'm sure they hoped you would.
Buyer already said they threw it out in eBay messages - make sure you save/screenshot that.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoI will. Haven't heard anything yet.
Someone just pointed out another anomaly in the hippo butt photo, which I didn't catch earlier.
 
jashermanco2
·2 years agoAlways ask them to start a return through eBay, end of story and once you receive your item back, you'll know... Usually, if it's a scam, they drop it once asked to return it or will ask for a partial at which point you again ask them to start a return.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoI went ahead and politely asked her to return the item for a refund, even though she said her husband took out the trash before they left for their trip. Looking forward to seeing how this will play out. 🙄
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoMaybe it was just the packaging that went in the trash?
Although it wouldn't surprise me to learn they threw the hippo out as well thinking you'd just issue a refund after their photos.
champuchinonu1
·2 years ago@pls-consignments
Sad , it happened to another seller. This is a norm here.
"she said her husband took out the trash before they left for their trip"
It clearly shows her intentions to never return it. It seems like this buyer knows what she's doing.
"took out the trash and went on a trip"
It simply means " Oh well the waste people took the trash meanwhile and now the return that should have been sent back to you is now in an irretrievable pile of garbage.
I don't think she will take the Ebay MBG route, because she knows she can't return it or don't want to return it. If she take MBG route , Ebay most likely side with her. She might try to send you empty box , something else , maybe junk, send it to someone else address .Even if she lose through MBG , she can easily go through chargeback, her next definite step.
However, if she has done her homework which most of the scammers here do before playing their game , she would go through the chargeback route.
Wise scammers play these tricks after 4 months, when the tracking becomes obsolete, even on global package tracking website, since USPS mostly keep tracking information upto 3 months.
Paypal allows chargeback upto 180 days, few banks upto 1 year.
INAD /SNAD chargeback most probably, since they are always very easy to win.
If chargeback is filed, make sure you include shipping tracking number no matter what , include pictures of item sent and the one she claimed for pointing out differences between item sent vs claimed. At this point if you lose , you have to appeal and deal with Ebay.
Hope this was not an expensive item, if you still have few on your store, make sure to take them down before someone else plays this trick with you. Goodluck.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoThank you all for your guidance here.
I will say, after 25 years and nearly 17K transactions, I'm not surprised to see these type of things become more and more problematic for Sellers. Sure, its easy to point fingers at eBay for creating the environment that cultivates these kinds of problems. That's the deal that they and many corporations make with the devil.
But the reality is, we live in a different world now where ethics, morality and human consideration are becoming things of the past. People have changed, and have become more and more like animals, driven by self preservation at the expense of others.
gator08041971
·2 years agoas I think the pictures are of the same hippo.
You need to look at the last photo where they are holding the hippo with the broken pieces. The rear no longer has a broken triangle out of it.
And I don't see the two bubble defects on the first "broken" image, nor do the spot's paint patterns match.
But again. Good luck proving it, and getting anything done about it. Confronting them about it will not work. As I said, Ebay tends to side with the buyer, even if you are right and they are pulling one on you.
mtgraves7984
·2 years ago@pls-consignments
I'll be the oddball here, as I think the pictures are of the same hippo. I see the glaze marks in your photos, too... imagine them at the angle photographed.
gator08041971
·2 years agoespecially when the lighting and different photo angles can be difficult to compare.
I don't see how you don't see the differences clear as day. I certainly can. I have no doubt the item is different based on the photos provided.
But if it is a low cost item, not sure there is going to be much you can do about it, but eat it, learn that some buyers are a holes and move on.
gator08041971
·2 years agoFrom my seat, they don't appear to be the same item. But I don't know if there is anything you can do about it. Ebay tends to side on the buyer far more easily than the seller, even when there is proof.
I can clearly see the difference in the photo. More likely, they are trying to replace one that broke and want to send you back the broken one. But to confront them probably wouldn't be smart. I would be more inclined to contact Ebay directly and provide the same evidence before doing anything.
I take pictures of everything I ship, as its shipped, and even message that to the buyer. So far, it has been received positively. But that doesn't mean that I won't eventually hit a buyer that will try something shady.
I would like to think that having a thorough listing, excellent documentation of the item would help, but after reading so many threads about people that lost out to a shady buyer, I doubt any of those things would help me much.
Still, good luck.
a_c_green
·2 years agoI wouldn't go "confronting" anyone at this point. I agree that the photos don't definitively show the item you shipped, although wrinkles in the box do show crushing damage, and, in general, I'm having a hard time imagining that the buyer already had a broken example of the very same item.
Maybe you can ask them for a right-side rear view that would show at least some of the triangular hole as well as that very large, very distinctive rusty-red blotch in the white spot that's most visible in your listing photo #6.
That aside, if they file a Not As Described claim due to shipping damage, it's up to you as to whether you want the damaged item back. I'm sure that if you ask for it to be sent back first, before refunding, you will indeed receive the broken example showing in the photos. You'll have to refund at that point, though you will at least have made the scam swapper (if it does turn out to be a different example) work for their free replacement.
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoI did ask for additional photos of the breakage. This was the buyer's response...
"Morning, I sent all the photos I took. I believe it is clear that the hippo is broken. In the last photo, there are pieces of the broken hippo mouth in my hand.
There are photos of both sides of the box and you can see the top. The package didn’t look damaged before opening.
We are out of town for 10 days meeting family for my Dad’s 97th birthday. My husband took the trash out before we left so I won’t be able to take more photos when we get back...."
I feel her resistance is starting to confirm my suspicion.
fern*wood
·2 years agoPersonally their resistance sounds more Iike annoyance that you are questioning them so much over a low dollar item. Their communication doesn’t sound to me like a scammer. I’d be reluctant to confront anyone over this, especially when the lighting and different photo angles can be difficult to compare.
How would you confront someone over this?
coastaltechsolution
·2 years agoDon't confront
Politely ask them to return
Never ends well when getting attitude with a buyer
pls-consignments
OP2 years agoReally? You think holding two broken pieces in their hand while showing a suddenly "unbroken" rear after showing it broken is a "lighting" issue? To me, their effort to disguise the truth is clear. Whether or not it's a low value item is not the point.
coastaltechsolution
·2 years agoAnd how is being anything but courteous going to help?
Is eBay going to just accept that the seller is correct?
Really there is never a time to be a jerk to a buyer even if they are wrong
fern*wood
·2 years agoSo how do you plan on confronting them?
fern*wood
·2 years agoIf you compare that photo of the hippo's butt to your photo of the back side---they look pretty much the same, especially the discoloration up the center and the dark spot on the left foot. The buyer said they placed the broken piece back in the hole & was thinking of gluing, so that explains why it looks not broken. Do you really think they would send a photo of breakage that showed it not broken? I still don't know how you can confront a buyer with your suspensions without it going terribly wrong.
Some posters here may remember a long thread from a year or so ago over an expensive purse. Some items are more susceptible to fraud than others and this one sure looked bad for the OP. She was convinced the photos the buyer sent were of another, actually counterfeit purse and she was going to get the swapped one back. The buyer insisted there was damage, but we all looked at the photos, compared the pattern and stitching and it sure didn't seem to be the same purse. In the end, the OP took it back and returned to the thread to confirm it was actually her purse with damage she got back.
A couple posters insisted that the photos were of the same purse--just slightly different angles than the photos in the listing, but most of us disagreed wholeheartedly. We were all wrong.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoI remember that thread about the Goyard pouch. I believe I responded to it at the time. And yes, it did turn out to be the same item.
However in this case, I'm convinced that the broken hippo is NOT the same one as sent by the seller @pls-consignments .
@fern*wood , your statement of "If you compare that photo of the hippo's butt to your photo of the back side---they look pretty much the same, especially the discoloration up the center and the dark spot on the left foot" is because in that picture, the scammy buyer IS showing the intact and unbroken item that she received. The broken piece that she's holding is above the piece and if it were indeed the broken butt, the buyer would have shown it at an angle that also showed the breakage.
I have no doubt that if the buyer does file NAD and sends it back, it'll be a switcheroo.
Compare - note that the spotting is different and the dimple is missing from the OP's item:
In this comparison, the buyer is showing the back of the OP's item but holding a broken piece from a different hippo. (Notice how her finger is against the intact seller's item.)
Compare these two pictures from the buyer. Notice how the broken piece is missing further toward the back nearer the hippo's butt, unlike the picture shown with the broken piece in the buyer's hand.
These pictures are NOT from the same hippo!
fern*wood
·2 years agoThat's it -- the Goyard pouch thread!! I get what you and others are pointing out. I still think photos can fool, but more than that I guess I want to believe there aren't people out there willing to go to so much trouble to cheat someone over a low dollar green spotted ceramic hippo for their 97 year old father. I'm just a common country girl that wants to believe in the good in people.
mtgraves7984
·2 years ago@albertabrightalberta, @fern*wood
I remember the Goyard thread and I am one who thought those were photos of a different item, too! Now... I'm questioning my initial reaction, @pls-consignments. Posters like these two and @wastingtime101 usually beat me hands down. Hmmm...
wastingtime101
·2 years agoTo me, the paint spatter on your listing and her broken photos looks vastly different. I'd be suspicious of buyer pulling a swap.
Because she said they threw the item out, if she files a SNAD return you can try to use her inability to return anything to appeal to eBay.
coastaltechsolution
·2 years agoWait and see what the buyer does
Could be a INAD or a CC chargeback, hard to say
Just wait and let the buyer make the first move , if they do