After 22+ years I'm out. Sellers have no protection

[binar_warehouse]

Last month I sold a camera lens , that was returned to me just a shell with all the insides ( motor) taken out. I took it as a cost of doing business and moved on

1 week ago I got a return request on an item listed " for parts" "not working" with plenty of pictures listed

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145286954231

Reason for return being the buyer cant find additional parts needed to install the product so they claimed "Reason Missing parts or pieces".  Parts that were never promised, implied  or listed. If the parts wouldve been included that wouldve been a $400 auction

Contacted ebay Twitter team and was told to accept the return no matter what

"Even if a buyer chooses a wrong return reason, they have options to get their money back.  ~Jessica"

There's no seller protection at all. Scammers can claim whatever they want and they get away with it.

I'm probably done selling and I'll either close my account or use it just for buying

The above is clearly a buyer remorse, buyer believed they can source extra parts, and when they could not they misused the returns. Shipping one way was $55.

[many_mopars68]

But when the buyer is caught in a lie, eBay still sides with them. I had a buyer claim an item was broken in shipping, which there was no way it could have due to how it was packed. I asked him for more pictures and after realizing he was looking for a refund and to keep the item (he never asked me for a return only wanted a refund) I sent him a shipping label through eBay and he closed the return. He then lied and said I never sent the return shipping and posted a bad review saying I refused to offer him a return. Even after eBay saw that I sent the return shipping label prior to him dropping the request, they refused to remove the review. It isn’t worth messing with both scammers and the incompetence of eBay to make extra money. I don’t sell a lot, nor do I make big profits. I sell because it allows me to fund my hobby and give me something to do. eBay doesn’t care about the sellers, and never have. I am closing my account after 17 years of both buying and selling. It is a lot cheaper and easier to sell locally than to mess with eBay. 

[adkhighker]

That really sucks that it happened to you like that.  eBay has been giving buyers the green light on everything for so many years that the site has become a magnet for any professional thief to come here to make some easy bucks, all at the expense of the sellers.  It's no small wonder that so many sellers are opting to consign their items to one of the many hundreds of ma and pa online auction houses that sprung up across the country during the pandemic.  It's so much easier and safer, and they're getting the same online exposure for their items as on eBay, maybe even better, without any of the hassle involved with selling here.

[many_mopars68]

No it doesn’t. Besides, you cannot list an item without choosing either new or used. If a person doesn’t read the description carefully, that should be on them not the seller. I had a person complain because they thought a Hot Wheel I sold them was too small. Even though I listed it as 1:64th and as a Hot Wheel, he thought the car should have been bigger, or cost less. In that case, eBay actually sided with me and removed his negative review. If you cannot understand what “as is” or “for parts only”, you shouldn’t be shopping online. eBay is going down the drain and they will rip off the sellers as much as they can until it happens. 

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

Its not just a problem here its a problem everywhere.  Target is closing nine stores announced just last week due to theft, that is their reason cited.  Online, big retail, 48 billion this year in fraud perpetuated upon them by consumers stating they expect double that in 2024 unless something done.  People driving cars in retail stores and looting them.  Pawn places accepting stolen goods then manipulating said goods to try flip online.

Just the other day someone posted a link to an business that deals with such matters and there was interesting graph that showed from Boomers through Gen Z I believe and statistics of generations perpetuating frauds.  Latest Gen's being top the list by far.

How can eBay let them get away with that?

How can Best Buy let the get away with that?

Big conundrum on commerce that is simply growing and growing... It's not only buyers but sellers too.  Even though let's say Joe/sephine Q. Seller has stellar FB and Metrics the fact they run across a Lionel Train Engine that can sell for $1500 lets say and they know it's not "That" they take advantage of it.  No, not saying that's the case here but that can and likely does happen.  Trying determine who's right and who's wrong is a big problem even in retail, online its even more the problem because of chain of custody.

Here are something off the top of what used to be my head (its now an egg crate):

1.  Credit Card Issuers and Processors need have secondary authorizations.  You buy, you get a code, you have enter that code at you're online bank or in person to authenticate the transaction.  This puts dent in stolen cards and the "unauthorized" transaction.

Online big retail wont like this much, they like smooth as silk.  It can be however sold to consumers as mechanisms of identity/card theft protections.

2. Chargebacks need to have some form of watermark on consumers.  If a consumer has "n" chargebacks within short terms of time the ability to use ANY CARD PROCESSOR for online usage get declined.  That has to be at card processor level so no matter if it happens with Visa/MC/Amex/Discover, Diners Club whatever  too many and ALL cards cannot be used in online transacting.

Said consumers are either 1. Making continually poor buying decisions with bad vendors, 2. Are scammers.  Either way, removing their ability to use online payment mechanisms helps solve both.

3. All transactions of hard goods shipped should have transcript of sale issued to the actual carrier be that FedEx, USPS, UPS.  This way things like insurance are properly covered to sale amount.  Scammer sellers, sellers of counterfeits etc now have more to fear via strengthening associated laws and opportunity to catch midstream versus handfuls of entities trying work together and by that time perp's are long gone and damage done.

4. Marketplaces need try strengthen ties with manufacture and rights holders.  If Joe/Sephine care sell a Coach purse then it should get to Coach FIRST to authenticate and Coach make some money in process.  Help strengthen their brand for example.

There's more... But there is no singular solution, solutions take multiple stakeholders and it'd be QUITE the task to get all those stakeholders on the same page not to mention its global!

[inhawaii]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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@binar_warehouse wrote:

what's frustrating is listing an item "for parts", "not working" and having a return request for parts that were not even included with the auction. And ebay telling you just refund , buyers always find ways to circumvent the system

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You might have put for parts in the listing, but under condition, it listed as used, which means it should work as intended.

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True, technically the description was used and should be working. BUT, selling anything that is not working and/or missing parts is risky business even if the listing condition is "not working, for parts only". And just for the reasons the OP stated. Buyer thought they could make it work..... 

I had to quit listing anything that did not work years ago, just for those reasons. Not worth the hassle and the hits on Seller Metrics.  As a matter in fact, when eBay  implemented Seller Metrics,  that is when I quit listing them.

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I agree.

Anyone buying an item that is not working is thinking that  they will somehow get it to work,

and when they can't/don't, guess what?  They'll  want to return it. 

[redlinear]

Prove it wasn't broken in shipping.   

[redlinear]

If I know somebody is lying, I'll not answer them until I figure out a way to let them have their lie, AND me not lose everything.

[binar_warehouse]

ya..and how would you approach this when ebay wants me to pay because buyer cant find extra parts ? Buyer has no issue with my item, just wants extra parts

[futuremarine2011]

would not matter, ebay would still make him refund

[futuremarine2011]

and thats because it is not ebays money.

[reallynicestamps]

statistics of generations perpetuating frauds. Latest Gen's being top the list by far.

No change there.

The "criminal demographic" for  decades has been male between 15 and 35.

Target is closing nine stores announced just last week due to theft, that is their reason cited.

As opposed to rising rents, online shopping, difficulty finding staff for the wages offered?

But again that 15-35 age group is larger just now than we Boomers were in the 70s

I agree with most of your numbered suggestions.

Credit Card Issuers and Processors need have secondary authorizations.

This is one of the reasons we see so many cries of pain from long time members trying to qualify for Managed Payments. EBay has made it tougher to be in the payment processing program. With fingers crossed, perhaps this will stop or slow the selling account hijacking that was prevalent pre-Covid/pre-MP.

If a consumer has "n" chargebacks within short terms of time the ability to use ANY CARD PROCESSOR for online usage get declined.

A few caveats for stolen cards but yes.

All transactions of hard goods shipped should have transcript of sale issued to the actual carrier

Not quite sure what you mean here.

I mostly ship without tracking, up to about $100 because I sell to very honest demographics (my customers both read and like to follow instructions) and because unlike US carriers, tracking here is very very expensive, starting at $12 for local tracked shipping.

But if you mean we can have our outgoing shipments recorded (and barcoded) for less than say 50cents, that seems reasonable.

It doesn't help if we can't prove delivery though.

Marketplaces need try strengthen ties with manufacture and rights holders.

We collectibles sellers would have difficulty with that.   I sell stamps from countries /colonies that have not existed in 80 years. I sell on another account sewing patterns that were sold through newspapers that no longer exist.

And I'm not clear on the advantage to the manufacturer to be  authenticating their products, sold many years ago. Expertise is expensive.

Maybe an agreement to step back on "vintage" items like purses from the 1998 collection?

[lilyswan2]

not...buyers have a huge upper hand and virtually always win all cases even when they are clearly in wrong...

[lilyswan2]

difference is buyers have protection and win virtually all disputes, even when wrong...sellers don't and can't even get ebay to look at any proofs they have buyer is wrong or lying or misread...

[binar_warehouse]

why do we pay %13+ in fees then?

[lakefor94]

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@binar_warehouse wrote:

why do we pay %13+ in fees then?

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I can say that the 13% does not include being a referee in a hundred thousand daily, he said, she said, disputes.

That is why they automate returns in every way possible because deciding cases about a stained shirt, non-working computer, scratched item etc etc etc, is not feasible in any stretch of the imagination.