Buyer received $2000 item, disputed with bank, and eBay ruled in buyer’s favor.

[blueridgetoys]

Hello all,

I am at a complete loss of what to do, so I apologize for any sporadic wording. 

As the title says, I am a pickle. Earlier this month I sold an item in the amount of $2000 to a buyer. It was a collectible action figure vehicle. I packed it up very carefully, and it arrived two days later in perfect condition. The buyer even made sure to leave me positive feedback. Two days after that, they submitted a payment dispute with their bank. 

I have never dealt with a dispute before, so I submitted the shipping confirmation on the dispute page. 

In addition to the tracking number, with the signature confirmation, I also have an extensive conversation over eBay messages with the buyer. The conversation details my packaging of the item, the shipment, its arrival and even assembly. Many of those message had pictures attached. One of those pictures was the package on my front porch, another was the same package in the buyer’s house. 

Between the messages, photos and delivery information, it seems like a pretty open and shut case. As you really experienced buyers are all well aware, eBay ruled in the buyer’s favor. I am completely at a loss as to what to do. The item doesn’t show up on my disputes page, and there is no way to contact eBay. They just happily let me know that I am on the hook for $2000 plus a $20 fee. Oh, and the buyer just gets to keep the item. 

At that dollar amount, the buyer has committed a felony and willingly defrauded their financial institution. What recourse do I have? I have spoken to my bank and have considered disputing that charge, and letting them handle it. My checking account balance for that account is $0 anyway. Is a police report my only course of action left?

I apologize for any rambling. I just have no idea of what to do. If you have any helpful insight, I would love to hear it. Thank you so much. 

-blueridgetoys (Jason)

[us-mamic]

I had 2 credit card disputes, $ 200 and $ 300, both won by Paypal.

[bigdeals.etc]

Ugh. I feel for you OP. What a mess. I notice your listing says Local Pickup only. DO you mind sharing why you chose to ship it to the buyer still? What did the buyer say to convince you to ship? I'm only asking not to dig into any wounds, but for knowledge and hopefully at least your ordeal can help others here if they are ever caught in a same situation.

I don't have much experience in this area given it's high price and I didn't read all the of the replies, so what I'm saying here might be useless. But I wonder is there any benefit to fire off a last message to the buyer (despite them ignoring you)? The idea would be to send a nicely worded, respectful and polite message explaining your confusion as to what is going on and your intentions to filing and pursuing the appropriate authorities into this matter. Basically playing dumb that you are onto the buyer, but rather claiming some unknown party seems to be defrauding you. "Ask" the buyer for help as his address is the only one you know to link this purchase to with the authorities and their investigations. Like if he notices any other unknown purchases in his CC. But what you are really trying to do is put the fear of the investigations into the buyer.

Who knows, after all that the buyer might totally get scared and reply with an excuse like "Sorry I was on vacation and oh NOW I recognize it, or my mom's filed the dispute but I straightened her out, or my cat ordered that kickazz barge (It is pretty sweet) and I scolded him for it." and ends up paying you back for it or returning the item. I've done this tactic before on much cheaper items and it's worked before.

[blueridgetoys]

So I had a deal with a different buyer in place. I raised the price of the listing by $500 to keep it on hold, more or less. We had agreed on $1500, so when he showed up, that’s the price he would pay. When the time approached for our pickup, he went radio silent. 

I never took the price back down. About a month later, the new buyer said he would pay the price listed, which was still more than I had originally wanted for it. He as knowledgeable about the item and very communicative. 

When I bought the shipping materials, he reimbursed me via PayPal immediately. When I paid for the shipping, he reimbursed me immediately. It was around $350 or so for all of that. It’s curious, because he isn’t disputing any of that with PayPal. 

[anglbear123]

I absolutely refuse to sell anything expensive on this platform.  It is an absolute "den of thieves" as far as buyers go.  If you sell an expensive item, be prepared to lose both the item and the money.  Cross your fingers that the buyer is not a thief.  If they are, eBay will do their best to help the buyer and not you.

[popblox]

What was the reason eBay gave for not covering you under seller protection?

[d-k_treasures]

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

Ugh. I feel for you OP. What a mess. I notice your listing says Local Pickup only. DO you mind sharing why you chose to ship it to the buyer still? What did the buyer say to convince you to ship? I'm only asking not to dig into any wounds, but for knowledge and hopefully at least your ordeal can help others here if they are ever caught in a same situation.

---

That might be the part that hurt the OP's case. The listing is for LP, but was shipped outside of the ebay transaction. Ebay doesn't have the tracking number, and since it's LP, there isn't any place to put it in the ebay order. Nor is there a way to scan/enter in the LP QR pickup barcode. So there s no proof ON EBAY that the buyer received it. And we know they wouldn't read the messages anyway, if there was a chance they would have to pay out.

I wonder if the buyer was NARU'ed due to too many chargebacks filed or if they actually did use a stolen/unauthorized credit card. In either case, ebay sent them packing, so they KNOW that something is up with this buyer.

A real company would stand up for the seller in this situation. 

[meme6253]

Yes Get A Police Report, & Advise your Bank to the situation, I have had similar situations, but nothing for that dollar amount, But I got screwed over by one of EBAY'S own sellers & they sided with him, EBAY is out of Touch & out of their minds recently, Be Aware of other sellers as well, Instead of an Ebay Community It's more like a GHETTO, Good Luck To You!

[katzrul15]

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@blueridgetoys wrote:

So I had a deal with a different buyer in place. I raised the price of the listing by $500 to keep it on hold, more or less. We had agreed on $1500, so when he showed up, that’s the price he would pay. When the time approached for our pickup, he went radio silent. 

I never took the price back down. About a month later, the new buyer said he would pay the price listed, which was still more than I had originally wanted for it. He as knowledgeable about the item and very communicative. 

When I bought the shipping materials, he reimbursed me via PayPal immediately. When I paid for the shipping, he reimbursed me immediately. It was around $350 or so for all of that. It’s curious, because he isn’t disputing any of that with PayPal. 

---

This information above and documentation of same is what you need to go to E-Bay armed with.

If you have not reported this Buyer to e-Bay for fraud, do that first.

Assemble all your docs into 1 scanned PDF.

Summarize a recap sheet with bullet points, exact dates.  Include his payment verifications and the tracking showing you did ship it.  Go to eBay facebook for business and message them and include summary data.

You likely lost if listing shows pickup and Buyer states he did not pickup.   Changing your delivery terms of sale after the sale is likely why this Buyer was able to prevail in the chargeback.  No idea if e-Bay will or can assist based on same.

Good luck to you.  We have prevailed on all 3 chargebacks this year.  2 said they did not recognize and we got them to withdraw.  E-Bay did a courtesy refund to another, but worked to protect.

Hate to be blunt, but never alter TOS post sale and do not use local pickup again until you truly understand all facets of how those sales deviate from regular sales.  Most sellers collect "cash" at the time of pickup.  They do not agree to ship the item. 

Good luck to you!

[dbfolks166mt]

Let him drag you into small claims court if he/she wishes you could have some fun with that. 

[sportsmansoutfitters]

This has happened to us with a customer in New Jersey. We contacted the local police precinct and an investigator called us back. He took all of the information, and went to the guys house. I'm not sure how he accomplished it without a warrant or court case, but we got our merchandise back that week. 

I'm not saying you'll get that same result, but I'd try it. 

[vintage-car-magazines]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

Ugh. I feel for you OP. What a mess. I notice your listing says Local Pickup only. DO you mind sharing why you chose to ship it to the buyer still? What did the buyer say to convince you to ship? I'm only asking not to dig into any wounds, but for knowledge and hopefully at least your ordeal can help others here if they are ever caught in a same situation.

---

That might be the part that hurt the OP's case. The listing is for LP, but was shipped outside of the ebay transaction. Ebay doesn't have the tracking number, and since it's LP, there isn't any place to put it in the ebay order. Nor is there a way to scan/enter in the LP QR pickup barcode. So there s no proof ON EBAY that the buyer received it. And we know they wouldn't read the messages anyway, if there was a chance they would have to pay out.

I wonder if the buyer was NARU'ed due to too many chargebacks filed or if they actually did use a stolen/unauthorized credit card. In either case, ebay sent them packing, so they KNOW that something is up with this buyer.

A real company would stand up for the seller in this situation. 

---

This is likely the reason for the non-coverage. Local pickup and the lack of a tracking number on the sale in eBay and....fee avoidance on the shipping paid through PayPal.

I think the OP may have backed himself into a corner or at least has made the road more difficult because there are anomalies that need to be explained now. 

[bigdeals.etc]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@bigdeals.etc wrote:

Ugh. I feel for you OP. What a mess. I notice your listing says Local Pickup only. DO you mind sharing why you chose to ship it to the buyer still? What did the buyer say to convince you to ship? I'm only asking not to dig into any wounds, but for knowledge and hopefully at least your ordeal can help others here if they are ever caught in a same situation.

---

That might be the part that hurt the OP's case. The listing is for LP, but was shipped outside of the ebay transaction. Ebay doesn't have the tracking number, and since it's LP, there isn't any place to put it in the ebay order. Nor is there a way to scan/enter in the LP QR pickup barcode. So there s no proof ON EBAY that the buyer received it. And we know they wouldn't read the messages anyway, if there was a chance they would have to pay out.

I wonder if the buyer was NARU'ed due to too many chargebacks filed or if they actually did use a stolen/unauthorized credit card. In either case, ebay sent them packing, so they KNOW that something is up with this buyer.

A real company would stand up for the seller in this situation. 

---

REAAAAALLLY now? I totally didn’t know that’s how local pickup only listings behave. No way to upload tracking huh. And this QR code business is a new thing for me as I haven’t done local pickup listings for over 15 years.

Makes me wonder are there scammers out there looking out for local pickup listings specifically for this reason trying to get the jump on these sellers. Thanks for the info.

[katzrul15]

Buyer is also given a code they can give to the Seller at time of pickup.  Ours did at the Holidays - the QR code did not work for ours.  The code e-bay sent the Buyer did.

[glasser]

There is a weekly community chat today at 1pm PST. Might drop you post in there are see what they have to say. Not sure anything will happen but you never know.

[buytodayshipnextday]

DO NOT GIVE UP. YOU are your only defense

Copy & paste everything neatly into a file if that means screen shots do that.

CALL ebay again. you NEED to tell them they are being recorded & you must record them thru your speaker phone as you video record the conversation.

DO NOT BE COVERT. Be honest tell them it is being recorded for youtube, facebook, social media...

You have to clearly  explain your concerns

LET THEM SPEAK. If that person cannot do anything for you ask to be switched to someone who can& once that person is online you again must tell them what you're doing.

EBAY VERY MUCH DISLIKES ANTI EBAY VIDEOS

Post it every where it is legal to do so

contact ebay for business on facebook. forward the link. at the same time you should be seeking the advice of your bank as to how to best fight this.

DO NOT GIVE UP.