Buyer Scammed Me Out of $1,000, and eBay Isn’t Doing Anything
Summary: A discussion on eBay's platform revolves around an incident where dimach_68 was scammed by a buyer out of $1,000. dimach_68 expresses frustration over eBay's lack of action in resolving this issue, seeking advice or support from other participants. Various contributors join in, presumably sharing insights or experiences with similar situations, though the specific details of their responses are not detailed in the available content.
Hi everyone, I wanted to share my story with you. Three weeks ago, I sold 2 boxes of new expensive vacuum tubes to a buyer. After that, he wrote to me saying that half of them were not working and started demanding a 50% discount on the items. And I, foolishly, agreed. In the end, he didn’t accept a partial return and put the case on hold.
For a week, I contacted customer support every day because there was no longer an available button for a full refund, while the buyer ignored dozens of my messages throughout the week. As a result, eBay made a decision: the buyer keeps both the items and 100% of the money.
The funniest part is that I received $808 for the sold items, but eBay demanded back $1,000 plus payment for 2 shipments.
broto_64
·3 months agoI understand the pain is far greater with larger sums of money, but to ebay $10 or $1000 is all the same.
dimach_68
OP3 months agoThat's it, my account has been permanently suspended because of this buyer 🙂
kibble-net
·5 months agoYou weren't scammed, you simply didn't do the return properly. Should have made the buyer return the item before you refunded anything.
Personal responsibility.
chapeau-noir
·3 months agoI know this phrase keeps being repeated, but the OP was given bad advice by CS. And they WERE trying to be responsible for the transaction, even if they didn't realise they were doing it wrong.
It's just simple bitter experience.
dimach_68
OP3 months agoThe funniest part is that a month ago I called customer support about this case because I was worried about my BBE rating, and they told me that my account would not be suspended as long as there were no issues with subsequent sales. After that, I had two successful sales with excellent feedback, and they still misled me again. I have a recording of that phone conversation.
ccomic
·5 months agoJust going by what you said, it doesn’t sound like you were scammed. Here is a possible buyer experience:
- Buyer buys a bunch of old tubes and half of them don’t work (did you test them?)
- Buyer requests a NAD return
- You offer 50% refund and buyer refuses
- You ghost the buyer until time limit is reached, never sending a return label
Not saying this is what happened but saying it might be taken this way. What should eBay and/or the buyer have done differently?
bonanza125
·5 months ago"How could I have processed a full return if the seller was deliberately holding the partial refund open?"
Buyer didn't agree to a partial refund upfront so you made the mistake of sending a partial refund for them to accept. Yes it would be pending because you send a pending partial refund which the buyer appealed and won the case. By winning the case they get a full refund and keep the item. You now know what to do when you get a "item not described" case. Don't offer partial refunds. Accept the return and move on.
luckythewinner
·5 months agoFor a week, I contacted customer support every day because there was no longer an available button for a full refund
It's unfortunate that you did not come here for advice before you acted. Here is how a "not as described" dispute generally works on eBay:
If the seller does anything else, IMHO they are asking for trouble.
The funniest part is that I received $808 for the sold items, but eBay demanded back $1,000 plus payment for 2 shipments
On eBay, every transaction carries the risk of fraud and a buyer can steal almost any item by filing a fraudulent SNAD dispute.
The seller always loses the cost of shipping in a SNAD dispute. And if the seller does not accept and resolve the dispute, the seller also loses the selling fees.
meme6253
·5 months agoI have to agree with kalyoth on this one, You did not proceed correctly with how you should refund & it has come back to bite you & falling that far down on your bad buyer experience is going to be a Major hole to dig yourself out of., Wish there were better news, Expensive lesson to learn!
kalyoth
·5 months agoebay did do something. They refunded the buyer. You have one choice to make when you sell merchandise: yes or no to returns. Each has consequence. Apparently, based on what you have stated, you never accepted a return. ebay took that as inaction on your part & inaction is automatic in favor of the other party. Doesn't matter if you are messaging back & forth. You had one decision to make - a yes or no choice on the return. You chose poorly & now have the consequence. It's an expensive one - you will just have to absorb it across your other sales until you recover it like we all do when it happens to us.
Just for your information - There is no such thing as a partial return. You return whatever the listing defined as the full unit, on a per unit basis in the case of multiple units purchased. It is the cleanest method of transacting business & that is why ebay declared it the process.
dimach_68
OP5 months agoI’ll repeat myself: as soon as the buyer pointed out the problem, I immediately offered two options — a partial refund or a full return of the item. How could I have processed a full return if the seller was deliberately holding the partial refund open? He wasn’t accepting it, just keeping it pending, and I couldn’t click the button to return the item. And in the chat, he was simply ignoring me — what was I supposed to do?
vintage-camerastuff
·5 months agoI never heard of a partial return. He has to return it all or nothing. You only give a refund after everything has been returned. Sounds like you confused the process and in turn lost it all.
dimach_68
OP5 months agoAnd one more thing: I lost the item, I lost the money, and now because of these two packages my Bad Buyer Experience rating has dropped to 28.6%. It seems like the platform is doing everything possible to push me out.
dimach_68
OP5 months agoDid the buyer file a "not as described" return? - That's correct. In the claim, he stated that half of the items are not working. Please deduct them from the total cost and send me the offer—I will accept it.
Did you deny the return? - I sent the offer with a discount as requested by the buyer, but he did not accept it, and it was on hold for several days.
If you gave the buyer a partial refund, of course you can't give him a full refund after that. - I didn’t know that; I’ve only encountered this once before.
How does the buyer keep "100%" of the money if you only partially refunded him? - He didn’t accept the partial refund. When I contacted eBay support about this, they told me to just wait a few more days until the seller’s time to accept the partial refund expired. But after a few days, they closed the case and refunded him the full amount.
Why did ebay take back $1,000 for a $808 sale? - The eBay support team literally told me: 'You agreed to refund the full amount, so we charged you for the full refund to the buyer and the eBay fees, as well as the cost of the shipped items.
christworks
·5 months agoOy.
You are the seller. Are you saying that eBay told you to give it a few days until the seller's time to accept has expired?
dimach_68
OP5 months agoThat’s correct, I have all the correspondence saved. I sent more than 20 different messages through various communication channels — emails, chats, complaints — with a detailed description of the situation before the decision was made. Even if something was misunderstood due to English not being my native language, I left a sufficient informational trail to make my situation clear.
inhawaii
·5 months agoVery confusing and you're missing a lot of info.
Did the buyer file a "not as described" return?
Did you accept the return?
Did you deny the return?
If you gave the buyer a partial refund, of course you can't give him a full refund after that.
That would mean he would get back MORE than what he paid.
How does the buyer keep "100%" of the money if you only partially refunded him?
Why did ebay take back $1,000 for a $808 sale?
luckythewinner
·5 months agoWhy did ebay take back $1,000 for a $808 sale?
I assume it was $1000 sale, but the seller only received $808 because eBay tooks its fees and the seller had to pay for shipping labels.
bonanza125
·5 months agoThat's what most likely what happened.