About to get scammed by buyer, need help with policy!

[orchardresale]

I am a reletively new seller with little experience( 84 ratings and 100% good feedback) and I think I am about to be scammed. I need help from experts like retrose1 , as I do not know policy well enough to protect myself from people who prey on new sellers and abuse eBay policy in order to rob them. This transaction is worth more than I earn of eBay in a month.

The buyers feedback is 100%, but they have 2-3 transactions with a single seller over and over. This makes me suspicious that this might be a scam account, accumulating fake feedback through shell acounts and transactions.

I sold a preorder for an EXTREMELY LIMITED convention exclusive action figure set for $275 with free shipping in June. The item would be released in August. I updated the buyer on the items shipping status and offered to cancel the item if the buyer did not want to wait. As soon as I recieved the set from the convention on August, I shipped the item out, even packing in an extra accessory or two for the buyers patience. 

Here's where it gets sketchy. On August 28th, after my package had arrived the buyer stated that they got a package at their parents house but didn't know if it was from me or not. They stated they were not there to open it and they were going to have their prother open it to "make sure everything is ok and no damage or anything". He then asked for the tracking number, which I gladly provided. I then sent a message to the buyer to let me know when they'd gone over everything/checked the package and that I packaged everything with extreme care.

I got no response until October 17th, when the buyer messaged that they just opened the package and found the packaging with a knife mark as well as sticker residue on the side of the packaging. The buyer inquired if I had cut the shipper box open with a knife when opening it and left a sticker residue. The buyer provided pictures that did indicate a ling scratch on the side as well as the residue. The thing is, I didn't use a knife when opening the manufactuers shipper and the set actually slide out from the top of the box and not the side, where the damage was. Furthermore, it came packaged completely in bubble wrap, leaving no chance that the item would have any superficial damage, let alone one on the side. Since this was an inspensive item, I inspected the collector set throughly before I shipped it and I took pictures of the surface. No scratches or residue to be found. 

I am afraid of losing a case and having to either recieve the damaged item(it's value plummeting due to the damage) or being scammed by the return. I need help from experts, please help! I have yet to respond to the buyer. 

[missjen831]

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@orchardresale wrote:
I will definitely wait on listing expensive items until I know eBay policy and how to protect myself better. In the meantime, how should I respond to the damage claim? Offer a partial refund? Or just ignore it and wait and see if the buyer opens a case through PayPal?

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@orchardresale ignore it and wait until he opens a PayPal claim. For all you know, he didn’t even use his PP account to pay so a PP dispute may not be possible for him.

[myescape]

jfyi in future

Are there any presale items that I can't list?

Yes. Any items that can't be sent to the buyer within 30 days of purchase aren't allowed.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/presale-listings-policy?id=4252&st=2&pos=1&query...

[myescape]

Does he state thru messages he had it forwarded which voids buyer protection on ebay?If not and If he had you send it to their parents intially that is not against the rules as long as that address was on the order so does not void buyer proection

What was the estimated delivery date?

[sam9876]

Ignore. 

[missjen831]

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@myescape wrote:

Does he state thru messages he had it forwarded which voids buyer protection on ebay?If not and If he had you send it to their parents intially that is not against the rules as long as that address was on the order so does not void buyer proection

What was the estimated delivery date?

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It doesn’t matter what he admitted. The sale occurred in June so he’s outside the MBG window anyway 🙂

[orchardresale]

He explicitly said that he had moved and his mom send him the package from her house(allegedly the PayPal address).

[sam9876]

In this case, the buyer protection has expired.

[sam9876]

"He explicitly said that he had moved and his mom send him the package from her house(allegedly the PayPal address)."

Not relevant.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@orchardresale wrote:
He explicitly said that he had moved and his mom send him the package from her house(allegedly the PayPal address).

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If there were a problem with the contents of the package in August, why did he wait weeks to bring it to your attention in October? It’s been reshipped and gone thru multiple hands. The damage could have happened once at the buyer’s destination. Or when they forwarded it.

Those points may or may not be of consequence if the buyer opens a PayPal dispute, but save all your messages just in case. I would also suggest familiarizing yourself with the PP Buyer Protection Policy, see link below. (Note that reshipping does not void PP protection.)

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/paypal-safety-and-security

[orchardresale]

I plan to message the buyer that the item was in perfect condition when I shipped it, and send him pictures as proof. Unfortunately, since there is no way an unopened package could have received a knife mark during shipping, I fear the buyer purposely damaged it to scam me.

I have never experienced fraud before and have used eBay and paypal for years to make desperately needed cash. I would never purposely damage an item between photographing it and sending it, it makes no sense. I hope eBay and Paypal can recognize that my record shows I am an honest and genuine seller. If not, all my small profit selling through both these platforms will be negated by this huge loss. I am a small seller, and while larger eBay stores may be able to absorb the cost, I can't. It would crush me.

I don't want to ignore the buyer though, as I feel it is my responsibility as an honest and morally upstanding seller to at least address their concerns(no matter if they be falsified). I will show them proof that the item was in perfect condition beforehand and let them know that I packed it with care. The tiny blemish is no need for a return or even a partial refund in my opinion, and if it is, I don't think it should fall upon me to pay for an item that was clearly damaged by a force outside of shipping. If the package had blunt trauma damage it would be reasonable to believe that it had been damaged in shipping and I could dispute the case with the shipper. But the fact that the damage was a clean knife cut and some residue that didn't exist prior to shipping is proof that something less than honest is happening.

I plan to message the seller with proof but I do not know how they will respond. I will need to learn how to protect myself through PayPal's policies. Quickly.

I have always seen Paypal as a fair system but I am terrified that I will lose a case even with a plethora of proof simply because I am a seller and "the customer is always right".

[frasm22]

Don't do it!
If you must write them back with anything tell them that unfortunately your return period has expired

[dtexley3]

Don't get into an exchange of messages about whether or not the item was in good shape.  Simply state that you have a 30 day return policy and this item is outside that timeframe and that reshipping the item voids eBay's coverage as well.

Sending pics will just escalate.

[vintagecraze50]

Do what others have said. They are outside the window for an Ebay return at this point. If they go to Pay Pal you can argue your case with them and call them with all the details so they can document that. You can send screen shots to PP of the messages here. Many here say that cases cannot be won on PP , but personally I had two that I did win with the right documentation and responses. 

[orchardresale]

I will likely go down this path, but the buyer has not asked for a return yet. They simply stated that the newfound damage was present and included pictures. How should I address this respectfully without an unnecessarily accusatory tone? I do not want to accuse the buyer of wanting a return if they had not asked for one.

[vintagecraze50]

The advise you got about just replying return for refund is excellent. You can say "we offer __ days for return on our items. Ebay policy is --- days. We will still honor your return request. Please return the item to us for a refund". Thanks for your purchase. In other word you are not being antagonistic or accussing and you are even extending the time when this person can return it even if they have exceeded your and ebay's time frame. If they are scamming for a partial refund they will stop messaging and it's over. If they really want to work on the scam they will go to pay pal. Then you can proceed there.