Coins
I recently sold 3 American Silver Eagles, 2014. After receipt, the buyer claimed they were fake and wanted a refund. For proof, they posted a picture of, supposedly, my 3 coins on top of a metal analyzer. The readout showed 99.99% Silver. Plus, the 3 coins? One was a 2011, another was a 2014, and the last was a 2016. They bought 3 2014s off me; 2 definitely were not mine. Ebay said i must pay return shipping and give a refund. On top of that, the buyer left a nasty feedback accusing me of selling counterfeit coins on ebay and advised other to steer clear of me. My coins are not fakes, and they absolutely received genuines. What can I do? I already sent the return label and I regret it. I am being scammed for some reason and ebay stands behind the buyer. Call me lost and despondent.
mudshark61369
·5 months ago@collectors_world63 ,
Make sure you save a copy of your listing, save your original photos, and the one you received. Once you receive the return take it to your local P.O. with your documentation, and open it in front of the Post Master explaining you want them as a witness to a postal fraud. If you get back the coins in the buyer's photos ask them to help you open a Postal Fraud case with the Postal inspectors (they can do that no matter what service was used (UPS FredEx ...) ask them to write a note on USPS stationary as well as more proof for the P.I's. Then message your buyer again telling them what you have done and to expect a visit from the Feds. Add the case number to the message as well. let them know you will be reporting them to ebay with the USPS case number, if you do not hear back from them.
That may well get the buyer to respond probably saying they made a mistake and returned the wrong coins to the wrong seller etc.
Offer them a way out return your coins, along with funds for you to send theirs back and ask them to respond to the Feedback revision request within 10 days. If they do close the P.I. case if you want.
You can also use the link below to report the buyer but wait until you file the Mail Fraud claim. When you file the report in the text box state that you have proof of the false return and have filed a claim with the postal inspectors, post the case number and tell them you can send your proof if requested. I do not think there is a place in the report to upload documents/photos, but you may get an email or ebay message you can upload images to.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084
I've only had to deal with two returns of different items than the ones sent, in 20+ years of selling on ebay and the above advice was given to me by a very experienced seller and my P.O's. postmaster. It worked both times.
meme6253
·5 months agoSeems to be an ongoing problem lately with sellers getting scammed for their coins, It seems the best thing to do is not sell them online anymore, I have some but I am skeptical to sell them online.
annadryl
·5 months agoI just had this happen Monday. The buyer kept the baseball cards and returned a cheap trinket. I contested the refund (with a pic) that a different item was returned. I won that case but ebay still gave the buyer a courtesy refund. They might not do that more than once, this was my first time. Definitely report them and include a clear pic of the different coins (or whatever). Good luck, fingers crossed... let us know.
broto_64
·5 months agoI have been scammed in the past, the buyer did not send back what I sent... In fact they sent back an empty envelope, stranger still was the return "from" address didn't match the address I sent the item to originally but that was neither here nor there.
That buyer also left negative feedback.
Side note, it really takes a different kind of individual to pull off not just the scam but to actually berate the seller as if I had done something horribly wrong.
All I could do was report the buyer and issue the refund, Ebay does nothing with that.
However in my case it took a day or two and the buyer was NARU'd.
Their negative feedback disappeared.
Enough reports and ebay will act.
So report that buyer (to be fair you should wait until you receive back the items, it is still possible the buyer will send the correct coins back and they only lied to get free shipping for INAD), also if you wait until about the last hour it is possible ebay will NARU the buyer because of the report and you won't be liable for the refund - if you issue the refund immediately you will not be able to recoup that money. Don't wait too long though, if the case times out you'll catch a huge defect for ebay having to step in.
inhawaii
·5 months agoBuyers can make false claims and ebay will always side with the buyers.
You will lose any dispute so don't fight it.
Just accept the returns and refund when you get the item back.
About the feedback...
Remember that your feedback will be read by future potential buyers.
Keep that in mind when replying to a negative feedback.
Your reply for the Washington quarter should have been:
"I apologize for the error. Please return for a full refund."
Your reply for the American Eagles should be:
"Everything I sell is genuine. If you are not 100% satisfied, please return for a full refund."
Short, sweet, to the point, without emotion.
collectors_world63
OP5 months agoThank you. Yes, the washington quarter I messed up on by putting another's 'thank you' in that spot. I couldn't change. I did overly make up to the buyer so I don't know. Back to the other. I firmly believe I will not get my coins back since he said they were fakes. Ebay said they will refund me on that but I ain't counting on it. It's almost impossible to talk to a customer service rep. In the end, Thank you so much for the reply.