Buyers purchasing items to replace damaged/fake/different item they already own?

[tiesherpa]

I’m fairly new at selling on eBay (just a few months).  I’ve been reading up on potential scams to sellers  as well as the nightmare stories of sellers having to refund returned items that are either different from what they sold/sent or have been damaged by the buyer.

im thinking about how in a technologically and scientific age there MUST be a way around this.?    Why is Ebay not at the forefront of developing a method/system of putting a stop to this problem?  It’s not on elon musks to do list😂

For axample, a high tech, invisible marking made by the seller on the item that shows up in blue light...no marking on the  returned item, no refund.  The item somehow needs to have a unique ID attached so that it can’t be swapped out with another item.  Maybe all sales/returns are going to have to go through an eBay center where ebays own people check what is being sold/returned - that would help both seller and buyer?  Even Amazon won’t refund a return if you return something different from what you bought.  I’m thinking of scratching a unique marking somewhere on everything I sell....and including that mark in the description as part of the item....would that help me?

Also, if sellers have to practically refund everything, then why do I have the option to “not accept returns” on my listings?  What does that mean then?

[city*satins]

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@tiesherpa wrote:

I’m fairly new at selling on eBay (just a few months).  I’ve been reading up on potential scams to sellers  as well as the nightmare stories of sellers having to refund returned items that are either different from what they sold/sent or have been damaged by the buyer.

im thinking about how in a technologically and scientific age there MUST be a way around this.?    Why is Ebay not at the forefront of developing a method/system of putting a stop to this problem?  It’s not on elon musks to do list😂

For axample, a high tech, invisible marking made by the seller on the item that shows up in blue light...no marking on the  returned item, no refund.  The item somehow needs to have a unique ID attached so that it can’t be swapped out with another item.  Maybe all sales/returns are going to have to go through an eBay center where ebays own people check what is being sold/returned - that would help both seller and buyer?  Even Amazon won’t refund a return if you return something different from what you bought.  I’m thinking of scratching a unique marking somewhere on everything I sell....and including that mark in the description as part of the item....would that help me?

Also, if sellers have to practically refund everything, then why do I have the option to “not accept returns” on my listings?  What does that mean then?

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Some sellers have been doing this for a long time.  They report that having a notice in their listing to that effect, has reduced the risk of this type of return.  

Whether it really does, is not proven.  But here is the problem with your idea that returns go through an eBay center to verify the presence of the mark on the returned item.  

1. eBay would IMO never agree to this.  They a venue for other sellers.  Not participants in the sale itself beyond handling the processes of payment and return and claims. They do not handle the merchandise itself and are unlikely ever to want to - as soon as anyone tried to build a business case to justify it, it would break down - simply not cost-effective to eBay.

2. If an eBay center existed to open and scan returned items for a mark, there would have to have been some verification that a mark existed in the outgoing item.   The seller's word would not suffice.  Neither would a seller's picture.  There is no proof that the seller ever sent out an item with the supposed mark on it.  That means that eBay would also have to have a center to send the item.  

This might work at the River, but that's never been eBay's business model and it's unlikely ever to become their model.  eBay is not a warehouser and sender of merchandise.

As for doing it on your own, as some sellers do - when it comes to a claim - ebay will respond to a seller's complaint that the buyer returned a different item (with or without the seller having ever had a mark of any kind) that the seller can't prove that they ever sent such a marked item or received a different item back.

[clu3]

Kudos to the enterprising individual to develop and market a security system to put the online scammers out of business.  Likely there will be far more profits in that than actually selling things here. 🙂

[18704d]

"For axample, a high tech, invisible marking made by the seller on the item that shows up in blue light...no marking on the returned item, no refund. The item somehow needs to have a unique ID attached so that it can’t be swapped out with another item.

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Well, because that does not prove to anyone that the seller sent the proper item to the buyer, in the first place.

Lynn

[18704d]

"For axample, a high tech, invisible marking made by the seller on the item that shows up in blue light...no marking on the returned item, no refund. "

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And then again,

a bad seller could then falsely claim that the buyer didn't return the proper item wiht the correct mark (just to scam them out of their money)

.. when in fact, the buyer really Did return the proper one.

Lynn

[castlemagicmemories]

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@18704d wrote:

"For axample, a high tech, invisible marking made by the seller on the item that shows up in blue light...no marking on the returned item, no refund. "

-----------

And then again,

a bad seller could then falsely claim that the buyer didn't return the proper item wiht the correct mark (just to scam them out of their money)

.. when in fact, the buyer really Did return the proper one.

Lynn

Been there, done that, but mark not involved.  Absolutely returned the item received, only to have the seller dispute it as not his item.  Item was a legitimate SNAD.  Item was also such an extremely limited edition item as to be almost impossible to have had one to substitute, not that I would do that, anyway.  Seller demanded to know where his seller protection was.  

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[coolections]

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@tiesherpa wrote:

I’ve been reading up on potential scams to sellers  as well as the nightmare stories of sellers having to refund returned items that are either different from what they sold/sent or have been damaged by the buyer.

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Reading these boards can scare you to death. It is very very rare to have a purchase and a return for the sake of scamming a seller. In fact I have never had a return for that purpose in 20 years of part time selling. Remember for every post you read there are 100,000 that had no problems.

[findingfinds888]

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@coolections wrote:

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@tiesherpa wrote:

I’ve been reading up on potential scams to sellers  as well as the nightmare stories of sellers having to refund returned items that are either different from what they sold/sent or have been damaged by the buyer.

---

Reading these boards can scare you to death. It is very very rare to have a purchase and a return for the sake of scamming a seller. In fact I have never had a return for that purpose in 20 years of part time selling. Remember for every post you read there are 100,000 that had no problems.

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OP: please also keep in mind, their are 'scam magnets",. as in, items that atract scamers.  Items that run in the hundreds or thousands of dollars. It is best to not sell such items here. Even long time sellers can have problems with those. 

I've been selling for 15 years, and have never recevied a fake items back or an empty box. And that's over thousands of sales. But I would never list any items  over $200 on this site. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@tiesherpa wrote:

 Why is Ebay not at the forefront of developing a method/system of putting a stop to this problem?  It’s not on elon musks to do list😂

Also, if sellers have to practically refund everything, then why do I have the option to “not accept returns” on my listings?  What does that mean then?

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Ebay never see's the item that is shipped to the buyer, so they don't know what the buyer received.

Ebay never see's the item that a buyer returns, so they don't know if the right item was shipped back or not.

A seller can be selling for 20 years and a perfect record and a new buyer with no history, and Ebay will side with buyer.

No returns are for remorse returns only, If buyer changes their mind or doesn't like the item.

If seller has a no return policy, they can deny those type of returns.

Buyers know if seller has a no return policy, they can file an INAD to get their money back and there's not much a seller can do about it.

[luckythewinner]

A couple thoughts:

First, buyers are not just replacing a damaged/fake/different item they already own. They can just as easily steal items they don't already own. Or steal an item in addition to a perfectly good one they already own simply because they want another one.

Second, the invisible marker will only prove to YOU that the buyer did not return the same item. But it will not sway eBay in the least, because the seller can swap the item after the return just as easily as the buyer can swap the item before the return. eBay will still take the money from you whether or not you invest in a fancy marker.

The bottom line is:

Any buyer can steal any item from any seller at any time through a fraudulent SNAD claim. So you either accept this risk, or you don't sell here.

[mypostingid15]

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@tiesherpa wrote:

I’m fairly new at selling on eBay (just a few months).  I’ve been reading up on potential scams to sellers  as well as the nightmare stories of sellers having to refund returned items that are either different from what they sold/sent or have been damaged by the buyer.

im thinking about how in a technologically and scientific age there MUST be a way around this.?    Why is Ebay not at the forefront of developing a method/system of putting a stop to this problem?  It’s not on elon musks to do list😂

For axample, a high tech, invisible marking made by the seller on the item that shows up in blue light...no marking on the  returned item, no refund.  The item somehow needs to have a unique ID attached so that it can’t be swapped out with another item.  Maybe all sales/returns are going to have to go through an eBay center where ebays own people check what is being sold/returned - that would help both seller and buyer?  Even Amazon won’t refund a return if you return something different from what you bought.  I’m thinking of scratching a unique marking somewhere on everything I sell....and including that mark in the description as part of the item....would that help me?

Also, if sellers have to practically refund everything, then why do I have the option to “not accept returns” on my listings?  What does that mean then?

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This solution is worse than the problem, even if anything like that can be implemented, would be like asking ebay to spend a million to save a penny, and it's not even ebay's penny.

I have been selling on ebay for a long time and 99.99% of my transaction go with no issues.

[dbmm-media]

no seller has to accept returns.  you can deny every return.

but, no returns does not mean no refunds 

[liveluxe90210]

STOCKX and others have no problem doing it EBAY better catch up because I am dealing with this very situation and EBAY is siding with buyer even though I have been on EBAY since 2006 and only sell authentic items the new buyer since FEB 2019 says my item is counterfeit and wants a return , you , I and EBAY knows they are going to switch my item for a fake/counterfeit and they are making me accept the return I will never sell on EBAY again and will take legal action. I have a reciept from a merchant for my sold item and EBAY could careless and will not look at my proof of purchase. ALSO EBAY CALL CENTER IN INDIA IS FULL OF LIARS I HAVE SPENT OVER 3 HOURS BY PHONE WITH EBAY AND AM SO OVER IT!