99. 999... % Chance I just got scammed.

[shna]

I've be using ebay for of 20 years, so I'm not a noob. The seller 6 feedback and already sold 20 units with 2 left. The price definitely seemed too good to be true, but I have PayPal, Discover, and eBay layers of protection. So I acted in haste and bought 1. After I did, there were no more in stock. I then bought an adapter for my item, and checked the listing and suddenly there were 3 left. I've seen sellers slowly release quantities to control price and demand, I've done it myself when I cornered the market on an item. So I ordered a 2nd one, hay, who doesn't want a 3 monitor set up? He's changed the listing over 100 times in less than 72 hours. I checked his feedback, the 4 positives are .25cent items listed and sold in Poland by 2 users with zero feedback. Obviously I haven't a tracking number. I used my Samsung rewards to buy eBay gift cards to use in PayPal. Ugg, never did that crazy payment method before, so hopefully I'll be OK.l, though I'm unsure. I know the Bestbuy cards through Samsung pay are 'all sales final' which is why I chose the eBay ones. Any advice would be great. 

[armyairforce4 · Accepted solution]

Yes the seller is registered in Poland and shipping from Neb.  They have now sold 136.  Just file an item not received when the time comes.  

[pburn]

@shna 

That listing doesn't sow up in a search. Can you still see the item listing in your Purchase History?

[nkmipgolf]

I agree you have been scammed from this person. 142 sold now,  eBay's MBG is a scammers best friend, as people take that chance. Goodluck

[pburn]

Double-posted. Sorry.

[pburn]

@shna 

Unfortunately, there were red flags all over this listing and the seller. There were all the typical hallmarks of a scam:

1. Price--less than half of the market price.
2. Seller/item location--seller registered in Poland shipping out of Nebraska.
3. Condition--stated as "New" but described as "Refurbished."
4. Low feedback seller--not a great idea for this type of item.
5. Actual feedback--four feedback comments as a buyer from over a year ago. Then, suddenly, four feedback comments from two zero-feedback buyers in the last month--and those transactions were for some kind of dog sweater pattern, and the title of the listings have no correlation with the listings' photos.

Frankly, there's not much about this listing or this seller that looks legit, IMO. This is the kind of research that should be performed before one makes a purchase, which, as a 20-year veteran of eBay, I'm sure you already know, right?

The seller's listings are already gone--pulled by eBay, as far as I can tell--so all you can do is wait for an email from eBay outlining what happened and what they suggest your next steps should be. You'll get your money back, but you sure could have saved yourself a lot of hassle by doing just a little homework.

Good luck.