Scammed by fake seller

[stda1982]

I ordered two laptops from the same seller. I should have known 25.00 and 29.00 for a new HP was too good to be true. ( I know I am an idiot)  Well I sent the payments through Paypal. it said the transactions was pending. Meanwhile I check a few moments later and it appears ebay pulled listings. Also recieved aan email saying that I had contacted a compromised account.  Said that if payment had been sent the sale would go through normally.  Not taking any chances I opend a dispute on both items.  Why do I have a feeling ebay will NOT refund my payment and I hate the whole resolution dispute process.  I also notified my credit card company, who said the charges were pending and could "drop off" Paypal showed that it had been completed.  Please tell me I am not the only idiot who fell pray to such a listing 😞 

[linamoon09]

Don't see how that applies here. OP made a purchase in good faith and doesn't have enough experience to understand she WILL get her refund. What has she done wrong?

[bundyman]

I saw the same computer listings that you did.  I've been an Ebayer since 1999, and I'm pretty smart about how the system is supposed to work.  However, this particular scammer was fairly shrewd, so don't feel too bad.  I checked the seller's record on Ebay, and it showed he had a 14 year account with excellent feedback.  Pretty impressive.  I actually came "this close" to hitting the send payment button for a $29.00 computer.  Then I decided to just use the "make offer" option and offered $25.00 for the $29.00 laptop.  This way, I was creating a dialogue with the seller without committing my PayPal funds.  Sure enough, the listing disappeared from eBay only minutes later.

I live by the following rule:  "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is."  Hope you get your money back.

[fossil_diver]

You will get your money back but there is a process that has to be followed and it takes a little while. Unfortunatelly there is no way to fast track a refund. Ebay and paypal have to follow protocal and do everything by the book.Have patience and dont worry, you will get your money back. Ebay may be messed up in a lot of dufferent ways but theur buyer protection is excellent. I wish I could say the same for their seller protection 😞

Since this thread is a couplevweeks old I wouldnt be surprised if you already got your refund. Come back and let us know how it went.

[dcd45914]

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@buyfeybelle wrote:

It will do a lot of good. eBay actually has fantastic buyer protection.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

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Of course, the best buyer protection is getting rid of scammers and fake sellers quickly. Ebay is not so good there, especially with the ones from China.

[fatninja23]

I got scammed on a PS4 I think. After buying it, the seller was now unregistered and the item was removed, and the seller isn't replying

[black*star*vintage]

It's an HP which I've seen go on sale for pennies on the dollar so who knows...you may receive exactly what you ordered.  I've received much better deals on ebay...its the luck of the draw on this venue.

[msha3839]

".. I know I am an idiot.."

I respect humble  individuals ...

 "...Please tell me I am not the only idiot .."

To make you feel better, NO.

[madniteowl]

I can relate! Seller of my item disappeared,is not listed on ebay anymore. Can not contact by phone or email. Have had positive experiences on ebay up until this one time. If,this ever gets resolved, I am done with ebay. Feel like I am getting the runaround from ebay CS.  8-15  Out some $$$$!

Take measures to protect yourself!  Be Wary!

[alorentsen]

I'm sorry for you what you are going through, unfortunately eBay is well known for attracting two-bit hustlers. Hence, why eBay continues to tighten their rules and will continue to do so. Like any large company, eBay is a slow moving mahcine.

But don't worry, eBay will refund your money. While eBay cannot stop every scammer, eBay has improved their buyer protection considerably over the years. 

[savanna.dance]

@madniteowl use the help/contact link at the bottom of the eBay homepage to get a phone and pin. If they have the "callback"feature enabled, use that, so you don't have to be on hold.

Explain to the CS rep what happened and they woill be able to open a case for you manually.

If that fails then go to PayPal.

[fuzzyfurball]

"I ordered two laptops from the same seller. I should have known 25.00 and 29.00 for a new HP was too good to be true. ( I know I am an idiot) " 

Many of us who have bought online have been idiots.  I told myself I wouldn't fall for the too-good-to-be-true ads on ebay again, but a few years later, I see a "deal" for a $100 laptop with wi-fi which was a 3rd party business ad on amazon leading to the "business'" private website.  I pay my $100 and it takes forever arriving and I bug the seller and he says it will come.  It arrives but it's pretty non-functional, having been made in china, with a keyboard that barely holds one hand, let alone two, and the "wi-fi" has pretty much SO LOW a range that it does NOT work. 😞   It happens to all of us.  You get back on your feet and learn from it.

"Well I sent the payments through Paypal."

Now you can thank yourself for paying the correct way and you just have to relax and wait for your refund.

My footer may be a help in avoiding/looking out for certain scams.

I do NOT buy anything on ebay that MUST function like appliances, electronics, computers, printers, cell phones, etc.

Ama*on and Walm*rt are better sources.  (On Ama*on, I  usually try to only buy from Ama*on itself and not its 3rd party sellers that sell items in various used or "like new" conditions, but I've bought from them also sometimes and still have gotten exact as descr items.)  

I've learned that no matter how good the ebay seller's feedback, you'll usually end up on the wrong end of the stick, especially when the items have no warranties that  can be given to you directly from the manufacturer which is the general rule on ebay.  You could buy an item that works when you get it but conks out  1 month later.  No warranty?  Oh well,.... too bad! 

In addition, i try not to spend too much on ebay also.  I'm by no means an expert on all the ebay scams and would rather shop "real" companies and pay a little more for the privilege of not always have to figue out if I'm going to get ripped off.  I only spend as much $$'s based on the seller's FB as you can see from my footer's "guidelines" as a way to deter/remind me how to bid on ebay.  

I still buy on ebay but not as much as I did years ago when I was a newbie.  I usually spend my time these days on Ama*on or Go*gle Expr*ss.  Go*gle Expr*ss gives me my groceries by personal delivery from different shops like C*stco, Petsm*rt, Wh*ole Fo*ods, Sm*rt & F*nal, T*rget, C*le's H*ardware, T*ysRUs, etc. without me having to go to those stores and carry all those heavy items.  Also, since I'm more interested in items that function that I need everyday, I like surfing/buying on Ama*on since their many product reviews from people who have bought the same items really help.

[kathiec]

This thread dates back to June. The OP is long gone.

[kuma_inu]

I'm sorry, don't mean to be harsh, but if you thought buying brand new HP laptops for $25 and $29 was legitimate, then you deserved to be scammed.  😄

[forreal92481]

Same thing happened to me not once, but 3 times now in one month. Bought an iPad Pro from a fake seller. I even emailed them asking why the iPad was so cheap. His response was immediate and while odd, I accepted his answer. The following day my money was refunded in 3 various transactions. I emailed him and asked what happened. He claimed his partner said he sold the iPad too cheap. Now this was a contract and eBay did nothing. Itretty sad when anyone can list items and then after payment retract their sale. Second fake sale was for a set of aerobic disks stated to be in Maine. I get a tracking number claiming they are being shipped from China. I wouldn't care except my search was restricted to the US. That was March 16th. I've yet to get anything and eBay refuses to refund my money until an additional week goes by. It's now April 4th. A second attempt to find an iPad Pro resulted in an iPad mini being shipped by the seller with no appology, explanation, or an offer to send the actual item. All I got was a credit card charge for the money and a shipping return label. Now you'd think no big issue, but there was no shipping slip included and I did a search and found that the item was never available in the first place. So rather than cancel the sale, they figured they'd just send me a cheap iPad mini and I'd accept it. I fed up with all this anymore. Ebay does nothing to monitor these scumbags. 

[forreal92481]

Yea, no eBay refuses to do anything until another week goes by. This is why the scam seller claims it's coming from China. This is a new tactic that scam sellers are implementing to give them time to get your money and collect interest on it before it gets refunded. Even though the seller stated item location as being Maine, eBay still refuses to help.