Shipped per eBay's Instruction and Then Intercepted per eBay's Instruction, Which Cost Me $216
Now they don't want to reimburse me for this cost. I sold a camera lens at $830, and the buyer used an eBay discount of $813 and only paid $33. I thought it was fishy, but eBay told me to "Ship it now. This will not affect the funds you will receive - You can withdraw the full amount later". So I shipped it immediately. On the following day, eBay sent me an email with the subject "We canceled a sale for your security", and it said "it was because of an issue with the buyer’s account". It also told me to "If you already sent the item, contact the shipper to find out if you can stop the delivery and have the item returned to you.". So without talking with customer service(because it was a time-sensitive matter), I immediately went to USPS site and requested for package intercept, which cost me $216. Thereafter, I contacted the eBay Customer Service and asked how I will be able to get it reimbursed, they told me to go back and get it delivered to this buyer as they have received the payment. However, USPS says that package intercept request is irrevocable and uneditable. Why are they sending me a mixed message? How will I be able to trust them and do more business involving pricey items? What if it happens again? Now I'm very nervous. Has anyone here experienced anything like this before? If so, how did you cope with it?
redmodelt
·3 years agoI think this is out of our hands for the people that post here, other buyers and sellers. If you have not, you need to contact eBay for business on Facebook and send them all the information. Do not post it there, send as a PM.
Except for being able to see what you have sold and Feedback, we don't know what is going on with your account.
I tried that tracking number, didn't get any results, which I should have been able to. In fact, miss typed one number and came back as DHL, but still nothing.
Don't post your contact information on the community forums. I have asked the moderator to fix it.
deltilogical
·3 years agosome hinky stuff in this thread - when ebay tells us to ship, they need to make us whole - or they need to slow down and tell us to ship AFTER it is fully processed. I'm sure some lawyer covered it in the terms and conditions "from time to time Ebay will tell you to ship in error, you will not recover those funds from Ebay"
pasttreasures4sale
·3 years agoSo very sorry to hear of this happening to you.
I had a similar order where the buyer was getting my item for FREE due to Ebay discounts. But it was a brand new buyer with only a few reviews so it seemed very fishy to me. However, when I contacted the customer service at Ebay, she said to ship it because the buyer was using Ebay gift cards not really a credit. I questioned this because the order specifically said credit not payment. The order was for an international shipment via an address in Oregon then forwarded to China. I don't ship items internationally even through this type of forwarding service. But was assured several times after 2-3 phone calls to different reps, to go ahead and ship the item. When I said I really don't want to ship internationally, they said I could cancel due to a problem with the address but I was concerned that the buyer would leave terrible feedback on my profile for not shipping. So I waited and thought about it since it was also an expensive item. About 12 hours later I was emailed by Ebay that the buyer's account was shut down by Ebay due to fraudulent activity and to NOT ship the item and to cancel the order. This was after being told a few times to go ahead and ship it because it was a legitimate order. Hopefully you can get your funds from ebay and don't have this happen to you again.
titipeo
·3 years agoThere are several things going on here.
1) discount of $813, no eBay coupon exist that will discount 97% of item cost
2) package intercept is high, however I presume that original shipping had signature due to being >$750, maybe that has something to do
3) eBay cancels order for your security, but then tells you to deliver to this customer since they received the money, who is the customer, the same one or a new one?
How have you been communicating with eBay?
carteblanc72
OP3 years ago3) Actually, I received another fishy email via eBay message from someone who I didn't recognize, saying that he was the one who bought this lens from me(but closed his account after the purchase) asking me to change the shipping address and stuff, but eBay said this was a different person so I ignored it.
Anyways, I'm still communicating with eBay. They said this is a fairly new kind of glitch(?) that started happening about a month ago with multiple sellers. They said they are working on it.
redmodelt
·3 years agoI didn't see anything sold on this account in the past 90 days, with or without a discount that reflects the dollar amount in the first post. If there was a discount used, the sold items would still show the full amount of the item. If best offer was used, it would show the full price with line through the price and notation that offer was accepted.
If sold on different account or over 90 days, we would not be able to see the item.
Almost sounds like something was done outside of the platform or through messaging instead of official channels. None of the $ amounts or that huge of a discount make any sense.
kalyoth
·3 years agoSooo explain more on the Discount upon the item. What kind of discount was there for 813 dollars?
iamalwaysright
·3 years agoAnd where can I get one for myself?
That "discount" sounds super fishy to me. I'd have to see screenshots to verify this,
carteblanc72
OP3 years agoThis is the current screenshot of this order.
pjcdn2005
·3 years agoI haven’t received any type of eBay coupon since Managed Payments started but under ‘you earned’ I’m sure that it should say the full amount of the sale rather than the after discounted amount. Plus it should show that you paid fvf on the full amount, not on the discounted amount. It seems to be showing it as if it you were the one to issue the coupon, not a third party. It’s very confusing.
carteblanc72
OP3 years agoUpdate as of 7/4/23:
As I was afraid of, eBay sent me only $28.89. Phoned them and spent 1 hour 21 minutes, and then they said they will email me the result later..
carteblanc72
OP3 years agoUpdate as of 7/3/23:
The $216 charge was not actual but an estimate if the intercept were to be successful, which thankfully was not the case. It was delivered! Luckily I got to save $216, but I have yet to see if eBay would pay me the full price of $830. I'd like to trust them for now.. and it is still a mystery how USPS came up with such an outrageous fee.
I thank all of you guys for your kind and heartfelt advises on this matter.
albertabrightalberta
·3 years agoI'm confused.
Normally, if the buyer makes payment and you receive a "ship now" message, once you've shipped, even if there's a problem with the buyer, you're protected.
How is it that the item was delivered (to the scammer or not) and you don't receive payment, less fees?
agemelee
·3 years agoThis thread doesn’t make sense. Skipping over the weird intercept cost.
There is no discount. If I purchase something with Ebay gift cards, the seller receives all the funds minus ebay’s 13.25% cut.
It almost sounds like this item was “purchased†but not paid for and the seller got a phishing email or message from the buyer stating to ship it by copying ebay’s format.
jbbowers12012
·3 years agoHi, That $216.00 seems waaaay too high to me. I would go to the P.O. & speak to someone of authority.......Good Luck.
rfmtm
·3 years agoUSPS Intercept costs $17., plus the cost of Priority Mail to return the package.
https://www.usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm
rfmtm
·3 years agoWhy did the intercept cost $216? Or did you mean $16., which is what a normal domestic intercept costs.
carteblanc72
OP3 years agoIf it's just $16, I wouldn't be this nervous as I can take that much of expense dozens of times. However, USPS charged me $216. It's weight is about 2-3 lbs, and dimension is 12x8x8.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoThat price is absurd for a small package. I would go to the post office with the documentation that you paid that and speak with a supervisor.
rfmtm
·3 years ago$216. is ridiculous, something is seriously wrong here. You need to call USPS and find out what is going on.
monica-sells
·3 years agoI seem to recall that the 'surcharge' (above the 17.00) is determined by the final status of where the package is redirected to....(and 'maybe' the declared value)
I don't remember if the intercept is returned to your post office or return to sender having different charges....
check into that aspect
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·3 years agoThat sounds completely off...that should not cost more than like $20 or so
Unavailable member
·3 years agoeBay doesn't reimburse you for shipping charges. You should have just let the package get delivered. Lesson learned.
You can always write it off as a loss when you file your taxes.
carteblanc72
OP3 years agoYeah, I guess it's better to write off $216(the intercept cost) instead of losing the item which is $830.