High-Value Return Fraud: 40-Lb Weight Discrepancy Ignored & Unfair Negative Balance
Summary: mishstools4you shares their experience with a high-value return fraud case where eBay ignored a significant weight discrepancy, leading to a $6,000 negative balance. They requested advice from other sellers on handling similar situations. christworks responds, suggesting that legal action should involve law enforcement rather than eBay, and criticizes mishstools4you for listing high-value items and charging a high restocking fee. mishstools4you replies, expressing frustration at the lack of support. 5star_general_seller and adamcartwright sympathize and encourage further discussion, highlighting the platform's challenges and policies.
I am looking for advice or insight from other sellers who have dealt with high-value return fraud.
This customer service experience was completely unacceptable. I was left with an unfair negative balance of $6,000 because eBay completely ignored a documented 40-pound weight discrepancy on a fraudulent return. I shipped 78 lbs of high-value industrial inventory, and the buyer manipulated the return to send back a fraction of that weight. Instead of investigating actual mail fraud and grand larceny, support hid behind automated delivery scans and dismissed an official federal IC3 cybercrime report as 'having nothing to do with eBay.' Offering a tiny fee credit while sticking a seller with thousands in losses due to platform-enabled fraud is disgraceful.
Has anyone else successfully fought a negative balance when carriers and tracking data proved a massive weight shortage? Any advice on next steps would be greatly appreciated.
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 month agoCLASSIC EXAMPLE OF BELITTLING and shaming, what a great outlet to help other members feel like family.
adamcartwright
·1 month agoStick around. I feel like I've heard people discuss this issue before, so maybe someone who's experienced this will chime in.
christworks
·1 month ago · EditedIt is not eBay's responsibility to investigate "mail fraud" nor "grand larceny." Those are crimes and they are investigated by law enforcement. eBay is not a law enforcement agency. While they do have investigators they are there to look into fraud against eBay, not individual sellers.
The carrier's investigators are who you need to speak with. Filing an IC3 does not prove a crime happened. It just shows you reported what happened.
Selling on any platform comes with a risk. That's just how it is. If you can't afford to lose it, don't sell it. Other than a vehicle, I would never sell something that cost thousands of dollars on here. Never. It doesn't mean it is wrong. Many people sell high value stuff all the time and never have a problem. They also have margins that can cover when they get screwed over.
One might look at your "50% restocking fee" you announce you charge as a type of fraud considering it directly violates eBay policy. When you boast nonsense like that it shows you do not know eBay policies, and you invite yourself to get screwed.
mishstools4you
OP1 month agoI was asking for help and advice not to put down as a seller. You should keep your negativity to yourself. If you have nothing useful or helpful to say then why bother with a comment. Thanks for your non-sense reply though!
thief_in_the_night_100_rating_seller
·1 month agoIf you cant supply a safe place to do business, or if a threshold becomes too risky, Why not mention this prior to someone having to find out on their own and take the loss while ebay takes the win and keeps the fees? I wonder how much of the 11.1 billion is made this way ??