Received item I did not purchase

[donfannuci]

I received an item I did not purchase, but can't figure out how to use ebay's help page to return it. There is no record in my purchase history, so I can't start a return. What now?

[wastingtime101]

The first thing you should do is check the tracking number against your recent eBay purchases to see if a seller shipped you the wrong item in error. Come back and tell us what you find @donfannuci .

[albertabrightalberta]

You've made several recent purchases so it could be a seller who sent you something to have tracking showing delivery or it could have been an error. 

I'd suggest you hold on to it, wait for all your other purchases to arrive and if one is missing, there's a chance that the item you received was sent instead of the one you didn't get. 

If that's the case, when it happens, do NOT open INR (item not received) because there will be tracking showing delivery and you'll lose the case. Instead, open NAD (not as described) because the item you received doesn't match what you purchased. 

Another suggestion: 
Go to your orders and see if the tracking number on the unknown item you received matches any of the tracking numbers of an item you purchased. 

[kensgiftshop]

Check the tracking number to see if it matches any order your waiting for?

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

You've made several recent purchases so it could be a seller who sent you something to have tracking showing delivery or it could have been an error. 

I'd suggest you hold on to it, wait for all your other purchases to arrive and if one is missing, there's a chance that the item you received was sent instead of the one you didn't get. 

If that's the case, when it happens, do NOT open INR (item not received) because there will be tracking showing delivery and you'll lose the case. Instead, open NAD (not as described) because the item you received doesn't match what you purchased. 

Another suggestion: 
Go to your orders and see the tracking number on the unknown item you received matches any of the tracking numbers of an item you purchased. 

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@donfannuci 

Good advice above ☝️

[donfannuci]

The item does not appear in my purchase history, nor have I ever purchased anything from this seller.

[moretreasures4you]

Is it an expensive item? Is it possible someone sent it as a gift? You can contact the seller by asking a question through one of their listings.

[wastingtime101]

Don't get rid of the item yet. Follow the advice posted above by Alberta. If this is a situation where fraud is involved, you'll need to hold on to everything to deal with it later.

Also keep in mind: we're in the midst of holiday. I've had people return stuff to me (based on return address on my shipping labels) with notes saying "I never bought this" because someone had a gift shipped directly to them that they weren't expecting. Those people were being honest by returning, but failed to consider somebody was doing something nice for them.

No idea what you received, so it's hard to offer more specific advice about whether this might be a legit shipment, an error, or if fraud is involved.

Is the seller located in China?

[donfannuci]

No, inexpensive. I’ve never purchased anything from this seller.

[krazzykats]

It's possible that you made a purchase from a different site, and the items were drop-shipped to you.

I recently received two sets of towels from Walmart, which I don't remember ordering. However, I'm assuming it was me since I've been planning to buy new towels, and I do forget things...lol!

But it's also very unusual as I never buy towels from Walmart; so, it's odd that I don't recall these purchases....😁

[albertabrightalberta]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Is the seller located in China?

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LOL! When I started writing my reply above, I made that suggestion then revised it before posting so I'd appear less biased toward scams from sellers in other countries. I also didn't want to give the impression that domestic sellers wouldn't do such a thing.  

[albertabrightalberta]

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@donfannuci wrote:

The item does not appear in my purchase history, nor have I ever purchased anything from this seller.

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It's not the item you're looking for in your purchase history. It's the tracking number that @wastingtime101 is asking about that's associated with any of your purchases. 

[wastingtime101]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Is the seller located in China?

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LOL! When I started writing my reply above, I made that suggestion then revised it before posting so I'd appear less biased toward scams from sellers in other countries. I also didn't want to give the impression that domestic sellers wouldn't do such a thing.  

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Asking about a common scenario does not express bias (depending how it's worded). It can be frustrating when people come for help but provide minimal details, and we have to ask a lot of questions and present a lot of "if this, then that" scenarios to help, rather than just getting to the meat of the matter.

For example, if someone came here and said, "I received an item I did not purchase. It's a $2 junk trinket from China. What do I do?"

That's a lot easier and quicker to answer than trying to guess at the details as it narrows things down to:

- scam seller sent junk instead of actual item ordered - tracking needs to be checked and return filed

- seller in China using this person's address for returns

- seller is committing fraud against someone else and using this person's address to do it

[simba6]

Are you waiting for an item?  If so the seller could have mixed them up. Contact the seller your waiting on.   If it's a low value item, it could be part of the fake tracking number scam.  A package sent to the same zip code as the buyer's is good enough for eBay to rule it's delivered.

[grand-and-glorious-purpose]

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@donfannuci wrote:

The item does not appear in my purchase history, nor have I ever purchased anything from this seller.

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then what are we talking about here?

Just go on with your life.