Ebay don't protect sellers
Summary: surplus-md shared an experience of selling a soundbar system on eBay, dealing with a buyer who claimed not to have received all components, and subsequently had a return case ruled against them by eBay. Several participants offered advice, suggesting improvements in handling situations like ignoring initial post-delivery follow-ups with buyers, reporting scams properly, and better communicating with eBay. Others acknowledged the difficulties faced by sellers due to existing eBay policies. Multiple responses discussed the limitations of seller protection and shared personal experiences with eBay disputes.
Hello everyone,
Something has happened that I can't just accept and move past, so I'm sharing it here. On June 30th, 2026, I sold a JBL Cinema SB580 3.1 soundbar system on eBay. The buyer initially offered $150, which I declined, and we settled on my counteroffer of $160. I shipped the item via FedEx Home Delivery from Maryland to California, and it was delivered on July 8th, 2026.
I take customer service seriously and follow up on every sale. When I received the delivery notification, I reached out to the buyer to confirm the item had arrived undamaged. I also make a point of letting customers know that even though my listings don't accept returns, I will always make an exception if an order arrives damaged or if something else goes wrong outside anyone's control. This buyer completely ignored my message.
Then, on July 13th, 2026—five days after delivery—the buyer opened a return request through eBay without any prior communication, citing "item not as described." I had sent this buyer a 100% brand new, complete product, yet the return request read: "Hi, I received only the soundbar. The wireless subwoofer, remote, power accessories, and other included items are missing. The listing title and photos show a complete JBL Cinema SB580 system and the description says it is new and sealed. Since I did not receive the complete product, I'd like either the missing components sent to me or a full refund."
I messaged the buyer and asked why they were claiming they hadn't received the entire order. Instead of backing down, they doubled down and sent me a photo of a small box—one I never shipped—asking how the full system could possibly have fit inside it. I told them that was not the box I sent, and I pulled up the FedEx delivery photo showing the actual package, which was nearly the size of their front door. I asked them directly: why are you trying to scam me?
I also pointed out that FedEx weighed the package at 23.23 lbs. According to the official JBL Cinema SB580 spec sheet, the soundbar alone weighs 5.7 lbs (2.6 kg), the wireless subwoofer weighs 12.6 lbs (5.7 kg), and the complete retail box has a total packaging weight of 22.9 lbs (10.4 kg). How could anything be missing—especially the subwoofer—when my shipment weighed 23.23 lbs?
At that point, I was furious with this dishonest person. I told them plainly that I would not accept a partial return when I had shipped the complete product, and that eBay would protect me from scammers like them. Their exact response was: "ebay will always side with the buyer, buyer protection duh." I blocked them and waited for eBay to handle the case.
Today, eBay decided in the buyer's favor. They are allowing the return and refunding the buyer with my money.
Why doesn't eBay look at the evidence before deciding what to do with a seller's money? I earned that money fairly by sending a complete product to someone who wanted to buy it. My guess is that the buyer already owned this system, blew out their subwoofer, and figured they could scam a seller on eBay into providing a free replacement. Is there really nothing I can do about this?
christworks
·4 days agoBuyers will a no return policy always seem to make things more difficult for themselves. If you do not want to accept a returns, don't accept them. Why the heck are you bothering the buyer? You've already told them your policy in the listing and they certainly can always file an INAD. The garbage you tell them in a message isn't needed, and they certainly do not have to respond.
psfhobbies
·6 days agoyep thats what the did or doing just happened to us with a cell phone scammers are everywhere have another attempt right now person getting mad at us because we didnt ship on SUNDAY!! want a full refund because I took 1 day to ship...
mam98031
·6 days agoThere has to be more to it. If Ebay forced you to refund the buyer, they would not have done that for merely not shipping on a Sunday. And if you only took 1 day to ship, clearly you were within your handling time. So what info are we missing?
kariannescollection
·1 week agoI just got jacked by eBay as well. Buyer sent photos and admitted that they completely obliterated my product and threatened me. And eBay gave them the return...wrong
mam98031
·6 days ago@kariannescollection
Please give more details. It is possible one of us may be able to give you some information that may help you appeal the decision by Ebay. But we need the details of what happened without giving us any of your buyer's information.
kariannescollection
·3 days ago · EditedThe buyer sent me an offer of $150 for a 330g chunk of gold ore listed in specimens collectables .I sent 3 lbs in the first box . Apparently the wrong box -so I let them keep thr first batch and sent the correct box with an additional 3 lbs. Nowhere in the description did it say there was any visible gold. They sent photos and claimed that they crushed the rock and found no visible gold. Now with gold ore it can take up to a ton to get one ounce of gold. So I'm not sure what they thought they were going to get out of 330g. But they were angry and started threatening to sick ebay on me if I didn't refund the full amount. However they completely obliterated 6 pounds of my product that was not listed for gold recovery but for show pieces or collectibles. Also there was no refunds on this item.Buyer asked zero questions prior to making me an offer which was substantialy less than the list price .Now they have started a case and I don't think it's right to refund someone with little to no knowledge in gold recovery who has smashed to item to bits ( he even sent pictures lol).
mam98031
·2 days ago@kariannescollection I can see why the buyer was a bit confused on this transaction. IMHO you shouldn't be advertising this as "gold ore" because it isn't. It is Quartz that may possibly have some gold in it.
Gold is at a very high price per oz right now, so there is likely a lot of people looking for gold they can get at a good price. So I understand why this transaction went the way it did.
With that said, Ebay allows buyers to file a claim whenever they want to. Ebay doesn't screen them to see if they have a good enough reason to open one, that is between the buyer and the seller. After that if someone asks Ebay to step in, they will. Also filing a claim doesn't mean Ebay has automatically approved the return and/or a refund. Again, the buyer and seller must work through this first.
You No Return policy means nothing if a buyer files a claim for Not As Described or damaged in transit, or arrived damaged, etc.
The return policies options are as follows.
1. No Returns
2. 30 day returns w/ buyer pays shipping
3. 60 day returns w/ buyer pays shipping
4. 30 day returns w/ seller pays shipping, AKA Free Returns
5. 60 day returns w/ seller pays shipping. AKA Free Returns
6. 14 Day returns in certain categories
With option number 1, No Returns the seller can completely deny taking a return for a Buyer's Remorse Return Request, if the buyer properly filed the claim. Or if they want to they can accept the return and have the buyer pay the return shipping. If the seller so chooses they can withhold the original shipping if it was separately stated on the listing [not free shipping] when it is time to refund the buyer.
On options 2 & 3 the buyer is responsible for the return shipping on a Buyer's Remorse Return. Plus if the seller so chooses they can withhold the original shipping if it was separately stated on the listing [not free shipping] when it is time to refund the buyer. As of October 1st 2019, sellers that are TRS have some additional protections as well as they can issue partial refunds if they options 2 or 3 as their return policy.
On options 4 & 5 above, they are also known as Free Returns. If a seller that has either of those policies they will pay the return shipping even on a buyer's remorse return. A seller can withhold the original shipping value from the refund if the shipping was separately stated in the listing [not free shipping]. Also Seller’s offering options 4 or 5 have the ability to do partial refunds in certain cases if the item arrives back damaged, missing something or in a condition less than what it was sent to the buyer in, see the policy for more details, the link is below. In the cases where a deduction in the refund is taken due to damage or other authorized reasons for a partial refund, Ebay will protect the seller from negative or neutral feedback.
ALL OPTIONS [1, 2, 3, 4 and 5] are required to process SNAD claims without exception. Even if they are improperly filed and should have been a Buyer’s Remorse claim.
All return policies by sellers must meet or exceed what is stated in the Money Back Guarantee Policy!
14 day return policies are allowed in certain categories: Camera Drones, Camera lenses, Collectibles & Art, Digital Cameras, Jewelry and Medical & Mobility.
For those with Free Return and/or TRS members with 30 day return policies, there are some added protection benefits, one of which is the ability to do a discounted refund under certain conditions.
kariannescollection
·8 hours ago · EditedIt is gold ore. It has gold in it. However it can take a whole ton of material to get an ounce of gold even in a high grade lode. And the description was accurate for the 330g piece that was purchased . I don't know what the buyer was thinking they were getting gold wise out of a piece that size. They never for any reason should have completely crushed the product . If there was an issue they should have sent it back in original form.
jollyroger14
·1 week agoBest course of action and only course of action...is get the return back. Depending what you get back..ie a box full of water bottles to mask weight..or a broken item, send in a appeal with eBay saying you didn't get your item back in the same sent condition. Its the only recourse. Next step is a ic3 report with the feds and a police report, which usually go nowhere. You need to treat eBay as a gamble. Not a sure bet. Buyer always wins. No mater what... Even better expensive items you cant afford to lose on, sell locally or through your own store like Square....
stainlessenginecovers
·1 week agoMaybe I missed it but I didn't see anyone mention the 'up to 50% deduction' that can be made if an item is returned in 'less than' condition?
THAT was the compromise that ebay made with Sellers.
But, you have to offer returns.
When you don't, it does 2 things:
1.) Force buyers into doing 'false' 'not as described' returns, forcing a refund anyway
2.) Can't do the 'up to 50% deduction' thing.
Some can live with getting screwed out of $20, but if you sell expensive things, it's worth rethinking.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi have read feedbacks by buyers who got shabby packaged items that were damaged during shipping and when they returned,,, that was what happened to them...the seller took advantage, when they were the root cause of the problem....i believe after a time or two of that, i could see a buyer decide to do it different... and i have read where buyers sent back in same exact packaging items were sent to them,that were still good to start and got damaged on the way back because of the shabby packaging and got the raw deal on the refund..again seller was the root cause..at least to me seeing it that way
stainlessenginecovers
·1 week ago@roy2468 so a buyer ships it back just as shabbily as they got it, which would make it even worse?? Brilliant! Then they got what they deserved.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedcould be, possibly in some cases..but almost ever item i get is packed bad ..they all think it is good(both sellers and buyers)..filmsy bubblemailers and filmsy thin plastic bag envelopes.i just had a seller complain to me for giving him a neutral for shipping a breakable item in a bubblemailer.. they said everything ships that way and other buyers didnt complain..they just cant understand that all shippers handle all packages rough all the time ...i worked in shipping for 32 years...i just read a comment by a retired postal worker who use to also sell on ebay....he said the exact same thing about all shippers rough handling and bad packing and shipping containers.
funfactorychannel
·1 week agoHow did you explain to ebay?
Via the case open? via phone call?
was the fedex package image uploaded as well as the buyer image sent to you?
Also for scammers approaching them directly only just helps your emotions not solve the issue. Key is trick them into revealing more information that goes against them in a case or filing a police report.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedthat is the second reason i am not inrterested in scamming...i have no desire to be messed with by the police and all the bonds, and lawyers and courts . 1st reason is i dont want it done to me.
msjames
·1 week agoThis happened to me too. I'm thinking about filing a police report. This is theft. Ebay offers no protection. I am getting the run around from ebay. You have my complete sympathy. After googling this, its a scam. Lots of advice about how to buy off ebay and get your purchase for free.
albertabrightalberta
·1 week ago@msjames
Would you really resort to such dishonest and immoral actions? You do realize that even suggesting it could end you up on sellers' BBLs and unable to make purchases. And if you pull the stunt enough times, you'll find yourself kicked off ebay.
msjames
·1 week agoPlease, you misunderstood my post. I am also a victim. I had a dishonest buyer that scammed me. I was googleing what to do and found those disgusting posts.
luckythewinner
·1 week ago · EditedBuyers are not obligated to respond to you on your timetable.
eBay was not there to verify what you sent or what the buyer received. It is a "You said/they said" situation, and eBay generally sides with the buyer.
Your buyer knows you are bluffing when you say that. And it might even give him an added incentive to prove you wrong (a.k.a. "teach you a lesson").
mam98031
·1 week ago@surplus-md
" I take customer service seriously and follow up on every sale. When I received the delivery notification, I reached out to the buyer to confirm the item had arrived undamaged. I also make a point of letting customers know that even though my listings don't accept returns, I will always make an exception if an order arrives damaged or if something else goes wrong outside anyone's control. This buyer completely ignored my message."
This is what many of us refer to as Poking a Sleeping Bear. Simply unnecessary and you are likely inviting issues. There are other ways of offering good CS without putting yourself in harms way, which is what you are doing each and every time you do this. Leave your buyer's alone. If they contact you, then shift into gear and work with them to resolve any issue that may come up.
I've been selling full time on Ebay for almost 30 years. I give great CS, but I would never do as you do above.
Feeding the fire is NEVER a good approach either. Asking a buyer why they are trying to scam you is only adding fuel to the fire. It is in your best interest to ALWAYS stay polite and professional. No need to share everything. Gather information that you can use with Ebay to fight any claim they may file. You can't do that if you tell them everything and try picking fights with them which is exactly what you are doing when you accuse them of trying to scam you.
Fedex takes a photo of the item when and where they deliver it to. That is a piece of information to keep. That will help you with any claim the buyer may file using the fake photo. You are also correct about the weight, but again you are trying to be the boss here and you are only increasing the fuel on the fire. This is NOT A PERSONAL transaction. It is a business transaction and needs to be treated as such. Check your emotions at the door. I'm not trying to be mean or harsh. I'm just explaining that there are dos and don't when dealing with transactions on the internet.
Whenever a buyer askes for a partial refund, the answer is simple. Tell them to return it for refund. It is as simple as that. Those that are fishing for a partial refund usually have no desire to return the item and if you stick to that statement, it is likely after a couple of rounds of emails, the buyer will simply stop contacting you and going away.
Instead of picking a fight with them, which whether you agree or not is exactly what you did, your simple response should have been something like this: I understand you feel there is a problem with the item you purchases. Please feel free to return the item and once I receive and inspect it I will process the refund.
There is no need to say anything else. FYI, the buyer is incorrect. Ebay does NOT EVER force a seller to do a partial refund. That is a bully tactic and nothing more. They are trying to force you into agreeing to do what they want you to do. Your ONLY response should be the one I suggested above.
I'm unsure as to why you are taking the buyer's word for what Ebay would do when you know they are lying about the item they received. You allowed yourself to get all worked up over this and you need to learn not to do that.
Has the buyer filed a return request? If so when? What reason did they select? Let us know as we can help you further with this.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi thought a buyer could not ask for a partial refund...i wish fedex or ups would show me a photo.. when the fake shipping number scammers say item delivered.. even when sellers pretend in their listing that they will ship..then next day amazon shows up (i do get that picture, which would be useless if amazon messed up..seller would just say that is not the package they sent ) with item from amazon, then next day i get message from ebay that usps fedex ups, etc is bringing the item..give tracking number number, in later days says delivered to ME, but it is really delivered somewhere else..told ebay, what if amazon were to deliver to the wrong address? would i get cheated..they did not care..i guess they want to protect seller, where they get their income
mam98031
·1 week agoA buyer can ask for anything they want to, but it doesn't mean the seller has to comply.
I agree, it is a very hard thing to fight when sellers are using this type of method to steal from others. I too have experienced it, luckily on a very cheap item.
roy2468
·1 week agoand " i believe "it was all the stuff that many sellers did and will still do that caused ebay to have to invent buyers moneyback guarantee and curb sellers bogus feedback about buyers. and keep it being used daily...
infografx_enterprises
·4 days agoTotally agree. I just purchased a new cell phone from a 99.4% approval seller. They sent me not only a different phone, but it was used, the screen was defective, and the phone wouldn't boot up. It was a trash phone. Even the "new" box it came in was falling apart and had been taped back together! I took several pictures, sent them to the seller, and arranged to have the phone returned. The seller ask me to say as the reason for the return that "I had changed my mind." Instead, I documented that I received the wrong item. In the end, the seller, when they received the phone, said I had damaged it and would only refund half. I found out this is a scam tactic that has been used by other sellers before. Ebay did refund me with the other half of my purchase price (buyer's money back guarantee). I can only hope that ebay goes after the seller. But unless ebay shuts down the seller, they have a money making scheme that's working. A person pays for a 'new' phone, they send a trashed phone (probably used over and over again), refund only half because I supposedly damaged it, and walk off with 50% of my purchase price. Ebay did pay the other half, but does ebay go after these seller? If they don't, then they have a scam racket that's making them a couple hundred dollars a pop with a recycled phone. Not a bad deal. And how can they have a 99.4% approval, if this scam is going on? Can a seller manipulate this figure? Frustrating. This makes it hard on honest sellers as well.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi do not know if true, but i read a lot of feedbacks where buyer had a correct reason to need to return ,,,do the return and then get cheated on the refund after seller gave some bogus reason about the return..
mam98031
·1 week ago@roy2468
There are good reasons why buyers may need to return an item to a seller sometimes. Just because a buyer files for a return doesn't mean they are doing something wrong at all. Each return has to be looked at on a case by case basis.
Same goes for refunds. Just because a seller doesn't fully refund a buyer doesn't mean the seller has done something wrong. The buyer may have used the item or forgot to return something in the package or many other reasons why a seller may reduce the refund. When the seller doesn't get the item back in the same condition it was when the seller shipped it [except for damaged in shipment], there may be a good reason to reduce the refund to the buyer.
Or the buyer may be misbehaving or the seller may be misbehaving. It is a two way street. None of us are right all the time. But without ALL the details of the transaction, you can't accurately tell what happened from just reading feedback. You can get a general idea. It is important however to remember that it is highly likely there is more to the story.
louiserb2
·1 week agoI've been selling for nearly 26 years and only had to deal with 3 buyers who took advantage of eBays "buyer protection" policies to fleece me. To be honest, as some others have commented, just let it go, don't waste your time and effort, eBay is not your friend and not your attorney. These sort of situations as you described come with the territory; you'e get nowhere hoping eBay will side with you.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedthat is a bad deal,,.but i guess ebay has not forgot what is was like before buyers moneyback guarantee and curbing sellers feedback about buyers ...back before that sellers would do just what that buyer claimed, often, or worse, nothing..happened to me many times. no item, money lost, get negative feedback just for asking why no item yet. some still do it . they just find new ways..and they still give bad feedback they just have to call it positive..and ebay has never removed any i reported...they just told me the feedback was ok...but if i do not write the feedback for the seller right (just the truth) ebay removes it ....online buying is just too risky ..in store is better ..
roy2468
·1 week agofeedback still the truth, just fewer details
grann-4629
·1 week agoFeedback is not necessarily the 'truth' ... it's just an opinion of an experience by an eBay member.
It would be interesting if eBay allowed members to post a Second Feedback after a certain amount of time has passed since the first one. I believe many nasty feedbacks are made at the spur of the moment and would probably be less nasty after a cooling down period.
roy2468
·1 week agoi dont understand why there couldn't be truth in feedback.. and i suppose a buyer could message a seller now days they changed their mind and if seller sends feedback revision request they will change it.
grann-4629
·1 week agoThe truth is only known by the person posting the feedback ... whatever s/he decides to say in feedback is just an opinion to everyone else who reads it.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi dont understand why a seller couldnt know what they shipped to the buyer and know that what the buyer is saying in the fb is the truth..but here runs into a problem..with 99 percent of sellers i have bought from using skimpy poor packing and shipping container choices that are going to allow the item to get broken or cause to not work, because all shippers handle all packages all the time rough
all buyer can know for certain is that they have a broken or not working item.
grann-4629
·1 week agoIf 99% of the stuff I bought was poorly packaged, I would go to the mall instead.
mam98031
·1 week ago · Edited@roy2468 Because Buyers can ONLY get positive feedback. If a seller leaves negative comments on positive feedback, the buyer can report the seller for breaching the rules. This is causing many sellers to not even bother with leaving feedback for a buyer. So no, buyer feedback is often not representative of the actual transaction. I see you have your feedback set to Private. Honestly not necessary for buyers. Sellers don't have this option, it is only available to buyers.
FYI Sellers have a limited number of Feedback Revision forms available to them, so if this is how you handle feedback, you may hurt a seller when it simply isn't necessary. Write your seller BEFORE leaving feedback and try to work out any issue you may have. Most sellers will be work with a buyer on resolving issues as long as the buyer is also operating in good faith.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedyes.. this is the first account i did the private setting...want to see how it goes that way..so far, good. and now that ebay has did that bad idea of automated postive feedbacks i have to leave neutrals that use to not leave.
mam98031
·1 week ago@roy2468
So you are taking something Ebay imposed on ALL sellers and blaming the seller by posting a neutral feedback. That is ridiculous. Absolutely unfair and totally ridiculous.
Auto feedback for sellers only happens after a period of time and the buyer did not leave feedback. Even though Ebay does this it does NOT prevent the buyer from leaving feedback. If the buyer wants to leave feedback, they still can within 60 days of the transaction. The auto feedback will disappear and the buyer's feedback will replace it. No harm no foul.
I think you might be over reacting to sellers getting some auto feedback. The reason Ebay started this is because the feedback system is very unfair to sellers. The statics and percentages of how well a seller is doing is ONLY based on about 33% of buyers that actually leave feedback. NOT the 100% of that seller's transactions, ONLY the feedback that actually gets left by the few buyers that will leave it. Sellers should be evaluated on ALL their transactions, not the MINORITY of transactions.
albertabrightalberta
·1 week ago · Edited@roy2468
Please clarify my understanding.
Are you saying you leave neutral feedback for sellers because you dislike that ebay gives sellers auto feedback when buyers don't leave a comment?
roy2468
·1 week agoi tried that many times, did not work very good ..so sellers number of fb revision requests is for the life of their account? i also reported and ebay said the mean and nasty stuff they wrote(under a postive fb) was ok..and i was commenting on buyer changing their mind later on about a fb they left.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 week agoFeedback Revision Requests are available based on your number of sales. If you go to your own feedback page and click the little i next to the number of Feedback Revision Request you have available, it says "You are eligible for 5 feedback revision requests per 1,000 feedback received in the past 12 months." (Not sure if that's ever different, that's what it shows for the account I sell on, where we currently have 45 available since we almost never use them.)
mam98031
·1 week agoFeedback revision forms can NOT be used for Positive feedback with a negative comment.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi remember back in the past when i would buy an item that was never shipped at all...i would contact seller and ask why i hadnt got the item yet..they just call me liar, give me negative feedback saying i was lying and trying to cheat them..happened too much..they would also ship items that didnt work, but say they did, and then just tell us , sorry about that, talk to shipper since they broke it...happened too much...and many times after contacting the seller just get silence back...leave negative fb and would get one back saying were liars .. many i have dealt with now still want to do that stuff if they can find a way to do it.
mam98031
·1 week ago@roy2468 OMG that was about 18 years ago. So many things have changed since then. Sellers haven't been able to leave negative FB on a buyer since 2008. Time to get past this problem as it hasn't existed for almost 2 decades.
kennys-kollectibles
·1 week agoI don't have the time to sort out your misinformation but sellers don't bother leaving feedback anymore for a completely different reason. Back in the day, you could leave mass feedbacks all at once. then they changed it to where you could leave multiple feedbacks. Now it's very very time consuming to leave just one feedback. so, I have stopped altogether. For speed and efficiancy, this website has reversed by about 25 years. And feedback is so lopsided it no longer means anything anymore. I was lucky to gain most of my feedback during the great years.
mam98031
·6 days ago@kennys-kollectibles
You can set your feedback to post automatically. There are a couple of different settings you can choose from. So then the only time you spend on it is the time to initially set it up.
https://www.ebay.com/uas/selling-pref
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week ago · Edited"John Doe" SOLD 30 items when he created an account and didnt send out 1 item. after 50 transactions they still had 100% seller feedback!
please tell me how feedback is still the truth.
FAR FROM IT.
Please share real world facts.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedhow did you do it? that is quite a feat.. i bet those 30 are unhappy with you if they didnt get something by email or text or someway. plese share with us how you did it...
grann-4629
·1 week ago@roy2468
He didn't ... he's unhappy about something and just messing with your brain. Enjoy the fun 😎
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week ago · EditedI said how they did it.
Story goes, They had listed 30 different items over the course of 2 weeks. Shortly after making their first sale, they did some calculations and realized that it wasnt worth the time nor effort to package and ship the item, even when the item was free. So over the next few weeks items sold and well they forgot to log in for a few weeks so it quickly added up to 30 sales. Not only did they get no negative feedback, 2 people actually left positive reviews. Then after the 30 or so sales, i heard that they decided to sell some more high value items to make it worth the time and effort. At this point, the slacking shipping habits continued and after 50 sales finally someone bought an item on 2 seperate occasions and both times they got canceled. 'id' assume this was the line not to cross. Plenty of people wrote messages but never wrote negative feedback.
But this was of no benefit to the seller.
i heard he still has 95% seller rating now days..Pathetic for this community's standards.
Anyone can do this with their freshly made ebay account.
New Ebay accounts have more lives than cats.
grann-4629
·1 week agoIf Mr 5-star, er, Mr Doe's plan actually worked, I doubt if his 'instructions' post would still be here 😎
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedsure you didnt change it from you to john doe? doesnt matter now thet we know how it was done..i know plenty of sellers, especially those not living in usa .go through disgusting amazon..and they never actually personally do the shipping, but they do get the feedback they dont like when amazon burns both the buyer and seller.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi remember one time back then, when i bought a small electronic device from a seller i had bought from several times and went good..on this one the item was double boxed. there was 15 inches of very good cushioning material surrounding item in all six sides..it did not work when listing said it did when i told seller all i got was sorry, to bad shipper broke it,(only one knows for sure,, packageing was not damaged).. and some sellers now days will try to still do it to me, but i could do something different now if i choose to......the other items i bought from this seller were the same electronic item but none of them were packed as good as the one that didnt work...and the protective cushioning material was soft and and cushsy...now days many of the sellers i have bought from look for ways to still do the same and get away with it.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 week agoMany sellers share a common misperception that Ebay or someone else will protect them from buyer fraud or theft.
There is no one who will do anything to prevent all losses due to criminal behavior.
When you sell online, you need to recognize that any online marketplace does not have the power to protect you unless they are paying the buyer's refund with their own money instead of yours. Large marketplaces are far less likely to spend their money to protect you than small marketplaces.
The marketplace is not the final authority on buyer-seller disputes. The buyer has the ability to involve his credit card issuer who reads the consumer protection laws in a manner that protects their customer, your buyer. It has a merchant agreement which you, as a seller, are subject to. That agreement had protections for the buyer and the credit card issuer.
When you sell online, it is essential that your pricing and your volume of sales are high enough that you can absorb some level of product loss due to fraud.
Short of involving the legal system, you have no remedies.
Contrary to the opinions of many sellers, there is skill required to sell online, and the skills require include planning for losses.
grann-4629
·1 week ago@tobaccocardyahoo Absolutely 100% correct! Thanks for posting this. Although I am not a seller and never will be again on eBay, the advice you are giving here to help sellers makes sense to me ... like common sense should.
Thanks again on behalf of those sellers who have been
ripped offtaken advantage of by a bad buyer 😎thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week agoSo if you go to a dentist office that is a nationwide company and the dentist ends up pulling teeth that didnt need to be pulled. Who are you going to be mad at ? Who is going to ultimately be held responsible. You can get mad at the dentist all you want but ultimately the business is to blame for hiring the bad dentist.
Same with Ebay. The only thing different is they wont stand behind the services they provide. If you provide a platform and facilitate a transaction, you're the one holding the money, then they should stand behind finding the seller a buyer that can uphold their end of the transaction, if not, mission failure.
If EBAY did their due diligence with new user account creation far less fraud would be occurring. But since they turn a blind eye to fraud and speak of it as nonexistent, fraud will run wild.
If you cant give the same type of support for items over XXX amount of dollars, dont offer the service to innocent soon to be victims. If your system is flawed, admit it and take action in fixing the vulnerabilities instead of exploiting them yourself by way of profit.
No skill is required to take a picture, post that picture, let AI create your ad and pricing, ship item to customer. No SKILL required. ANYONE can do it. And there is NO skill in coming up with a profit to loss ratio that can be acceptable. No analytical data is provided on such topic so there is no possilble analyzation of any data nor any skill ever needed.
luckythewinner
·1 week agoHow far back does "ultimate responsibility" go? You could argue it was the state licensing board that allowed him to practice. You could argue it was the school that gave him a diploma. You could argue it was the school that gave him a diploma. Or his high school for not educating him well. Or his parents for not raising him well. Or his granparents for raising the parents that failed to raise him.
IMHO the ultimate responsibility lies with the dentist who did it.
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week agoPlease tell me what skill strenghts you acquired while selling on ebay that you will list on your next job application?
Patience, Customer Service, How to do refunds, How to follow rules, how to accept being stolen from, cool headed, Top rated ebay seller ?
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 week agoI am never gojng to have a next job application.
I brought to Ebay more than 50 years of skills in business and needed to learn nothing other than mechanics.
An Ebay seller needs, whether he likes it or not.
Merchandise selection skills
Storage skills
Fulfillment skills
Time Management Skills
Packaging Skills
Marketing and advertising skills
Copywriting skills
Photographic skills
Accounting skills
and Customer Service Skills.
And you may need management skills if you rely on others to supplement your skills and the execution of the related tasks.
If one has them, Ebay policies are far less burdensome. Venting is less frequent and you can find a strategy to deal with every problem that being a retailer who sells on Ebay encounters. And you can make the amount of money your strategy is capable of making, and know when the time has come to find other sources of income.
bolensparts-360
·1 week agoIts always been bad for sellers here but now that Ebay is run by mostly AI you can bet they probably are programmed to side with buyers. You will have to keep hounding the phones to hopefully find someone competent to understand your case.
smartcommercexltd
·1 week agoI think if you contact with ebay cutomer chat and let them know the complete issue and also tell them your item eaxct weight so they easilly understand the case and close it yo you favour...........because you just wait for ebay automated boot decesion ebay boot will alwase take side of buyer.
if you face this thing again I I'll prefer you to contat ebay support and give them complete poof.
chapeau-noir
·1 week agoWut?
grann-4629
·1 week agoGive them some poof from me too ... they deserve it ...
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·2 weeks ago · EditedLets be honest here. The seller could not have done anything to prevent the scammer from the scamming and taking advantage of the ebay seller, no matter 1 day old or 127 years old.
All the advice in the world would have changed nothing. It would have been the same outcome even if you make a 25,000 Power point presentation.
All that wonderfully crafted, management approved advice yet in the end, NO ONE can do anything but eat their lunch on a item returned not as described. This is ebays founding father and will IMO , well ill save it. Any scammer , if just put on Earth today, can come to this site, type in scam and read 500 topics on this subject and see that the outcome is inevitable. Then its 0-100 from 1 package to repackage to no need to ever ship any package bc you're making more buying than the sellers selling....
ryry-jj
·3 weeks ago1st...in todays eBay, don't follow up with customers. In the past, ok, but not today..if the item shows delivered, be done. Plus, never expect the buyer to reply.
2nd... The weight could be DM, not actual weight
3rd...and most important....if they file for INAD, accept the return, get the item back. If you qualify, and they don't return the item as you shipped, deduct 50% from the return. Anything else is the risk /costs of doing business on eBay, its all part of the deal.
kibble-net
·3 weeks agoYou can take the buyer to small claims court.
Is it worth it? That's up to you to decide.
Ebay can't protect you from all the ills in the world.
christworks
·3 weeks ago@surplus-md You made the choice to have a no returns policy. It sounds like by having that you are creating a lot more work for yourself. I cannot imagine contacting every buyer after they got the order and telling them all of that nonsense.
Buyers have absolutely no obligation to read or respond to your messages. Buyers also do not need to contact you prior to opening a return. eBay does not require that, and you cannot require that of a buyer.
Your actions before the sale and after the sale opened the door to this. That does not make it right on the buyer's part. As a seller, you have to understand you are going to deal with all types of people. We can all get emotional about things, but you have to keep things in perspective. No one sale causes you to lose your business. If it does, then you never had a business. It is understandable why you would be upset when the return got opened, especially after reading the reason. Nothing good ever happens when you respond out of emotion. If you can't keep your emotions in check, you need to walk away and come back to it. That's not because cussing out the buyer won't make you feel better. (I'm not implying you did that.) It will. But it won't do a single thing to help you defuse the situation.
When the buyer opened the return, they would have needed to upload a photo of the problem. I assume this is the photo fo the small box you referenced. Here is exactly how I would have handled your buyer.
"Dear Buyer,
We received your return request, in which you stated that you are returning the item because it arrived not as described. We assure you that we sent the exact item you ordered, and the box shown in the photo you provided when opening the return is not the box we shipped to you. We reviewed the FedEx tracking information, and the delivery photo taken by your FedEx driver shows the actual box we sent. Viewing the address you provided, we used street maps to confirm the door shown in the FedEx photo matches the door of your residence. We are attaching the FedEx photo and a screen shot of the street view for your review.
We have no issue accepting your return, and we are providing you with a free return label so that you can ship back what you received. You can download the label by viewing the return request.
Because you are alleging that some type of fraud occurred, we, eBay, and our shipping partners take this matter very seriously. Once we are notified that you have shipped the package back to us, we will notify FedEx’s Criminal Fraud Investigations Division.
We have your phone number listed as XXX-XXX-XXXX. Please be aware that we will provide the FedEx investigators with your name, address, and phone number. An investigator may contact you by phone or in person to conduct an interview. They may also ask to review any available security-camera footage, since it would appear that someone swapped the package after it was delivered but before you retrieved it from your porch.
Should you realize you've made a mistake, you may close out the return and no action will be taken on our end.
Sincerely,
Bob at Surplus-MD"
That's how you handle a scammer. I can tell you with about 99.9% certainty had you sent a message similar to that, your buyer would have raced to close the return and you would not have heard from them again. They probably would not have even closed it. They would have simply vanished from eBay for a while and never sent anything back.
Here is the thing with most scammers you’ll encounter on eBay or any reselling platform: Most of them are not convicted criminals. They’ve never been charged with a crime. They’ve probably never even shoplifted. They don’t see what they are doing as wrong. They see themselves as simply exploiting the rules for their own benefit. At least, that is how they rationalize it to themselves.
They don’t see you as another human being trying to run a small business or support a family. To them, there is no victim. They might see the seller as dumb or as someone who does not know the rules—the latter of which is often true. They may even mistakenly believe that eBay is the one refunding them and that, because eBay is a large company, it somehow makes what they are doing okay.
No matter what type of scammer you encounter, they all have one thing in common: They want an easy mark. They want a quick refund, and they want to move on ASAP. They certainly do not want any heat. That’s why, when you respond without emotion and logically explain what must have happened, why you must notify the carrier’s fraud department, and how investigators may conduct interviews, these people about do you-know-what in their pants. They want nothing to do with you.
I offer free returns on everything. My would-be scammers rarely get as far as opening a return because they know I am not going to put up any resistance to accepting it. Instead, the ones I deal with send a message and hee-haw around, hinting at a partial refund without ever directly asking for one.
When I tell you I don't play games with these people, I mean it. Those people are quick to stop the nonsense and go try it on someone else. I’m not even playing with them.
surplus-md
OP3 weeks ago@christworks I absolutely love your post. Literally taught me a huge lesson on how to handle these situations and might have saved me from leaving Ebay. I will be using your words as a template (hopefully no copyright) ;) I believe this is exactly what to say and would work 99% of the time. Thank you!
christworks
·1 week ago@surplus-md Just seeing this but I'm glad it helped. I hope everything works out and be encourged.
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·2 weeks agoIf anything your response made me want to scam you, IF i was a scammer.
surplus-md
OP2 weeks agoThese replies are the exact reason why most of the time I choose not to share. You throw some information out on the wild web hoping for help, while you do receive some help, there's always the comments that offer nothing, waste data and makes one imagine some 16 year old kid in there mothers basement trolling message boards with the sole purpose of chaos - to normalize it everywhere to hide their own short falls in life.
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week agoMe doing ebay a favor.
christworks
·1 week ago@surplus-md I'll be the first to admit I can give a harsh response to posters needing help. I view it as firm, not harsh, but others disagree. I'm glad you didn't take my other post as such.
Don't let anybody - me or anybody else - scare you from posting. I'm about to start pushing hard for a mute button to this board so we can hide the posts from people we don't want to see. It helped a lot on another message board I'm part of and eventually the mentally deranged leave when nobody responds to them anymore.
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week agoclick
christworks
·1 week ago@5star_general_seller The fact you would even mention scamming someone yourself should alert every seller and buyer here about you.
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 week agoLOOKOUT
chapeau-noir
·1 week agoI would considerably shorten that, though.
inhawaii
·1 week agoI love your post ... and you're not even a girl.
grann-4629
·1 week agoYou are one tough mama! -If I received that bloviated response, I would forward it to the local police ... it appears to be a threat.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedii imagine i will be told i am full of stinky stuff because this doesnt fit here on this one..i am just a buyer. i just buy very low priced items online..#1 poor packing and shipping container choices and #2 items not as described...i just accept loss, no returns, leave feedback and move on.... my other big problem is fake shipping number scam..ebay makes it easy for sellers to use it and hard for buyers to prove they did not get item.(,at least for me or i just dont no what to do). i have been called a scammer that they and ebay and shipper would investigate and destroy my scam.. i have told them i have nothing to hide, bring it on and we will see who the real scammer is...i am still waiting.. seems to me in all my bad transactions caused by sellers ebay did all they could to protect the seller
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedi just want an accurate listing..then i pay like i have to or nothing gets shipped..then i want seller to pack the right item in properly packed proper shipping container...the right item happens most of the time..the shipping part seldom does..afterward i have been threated often by sellers that i was a liar and scammer and that they would have ebay kick me out..in the 25 years i been on and off ebay, ebay has. never said a word to me about doing that. i did report a seller once over the fake shipping number scam that the post office helped me to prove that caused ebay to reluctantly give me a refund on appeal. that seller left ebay. but i do not know why..ebay never told me anything except that got my report.
roy2468
·1 week ago · Editedthere are more plesant ways for sellers to fix their mess ups..but they have to do it,,, buyers cant just tell them( i believe)..but anymore fewer do it, they just resort to threatening violence