eBay

caleatherto_0 · ‎01-14-2021

So I was selling an iPhone 11 and this buyer sent me the money immediately after asking about it and wanted me to ship it to his address he included in the dms, now keep in mind that I wasn't aware this was a scam but I was naive and tried to be a good person and sent the phone to the address he gave me. Now it's delivered and he's now opened a refund request and I would like to know if I have any of chance of winning this case. I am really sad and don't want to lose the 800 dollars as I need it desperately and I feel so distraught over this mistake.

vtgbeersigns · ‎01-14-2021

If you use different address than eBay has provided, I believe you both lose buyer and seller protection. Ebay always sides with the buyer , good luck.

pburn · ‎01-14-2021

@caleatherto_0

What kind of a case did the buyer open? Did s/he say the phone was not received at all? Or did s/he claim it was "not as described," as in broken or whatever?

If the buyer claims it was not received, and you did not ship it to the address the buyer used at checkout, there's a good chance you'll lose the case. It's possible you might be able to upload photos of your correspondence with the buyer asking you to change the address. eBay may side with you, but I'd say the chance is slim.

There are rules about NOT contacting members outside of the eBay messaging system. One reason for the rule is so all transactions stay on eBay, and they get their cut, but another reason is to protect both buyers and sellers from scams like the one it appears you've encountered. Never contact anyone--buyer or seller--via text, email, phone, or anything else other than eBay messaging.

Also, obviously, ship ONLY to the address the buyer supplies at checkout. If they've made a mistake in their address, cancel the transaction, relist the item, and let the buyer make the purchase again with the corrected address.

Sorry this happened to you.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎01-14-2021

Save all your communications/messages from the buyer if you can. You may not have a leg to stand on at this stage of the game, but you don’t have to take the fraud lying down either. There are things you can do including appealing the ruling to eBay, and filing fraud reports with the authorities.

First things first—what kind of case did he open, an official Item Not Received case? Or did he just request a return in messages? Did you verify the actual funds were in your account before shipping (not thru a link)? Was the person who requested the address change really the buyer, or just someone posing as the buyer?

Sorry for all the questions, just need a little bit of info to be able to help.

mtgraves7984 · ‎01-14-2021

There's no such thing as a "refund request". As @pburn mentions, there are two kinds of claim that could be opened. Whichever your ~~scammer~~ buyer has opened... respond to it.

Agreed that if it was an Item Not Received claim, you'll have no leverage; your phone is gone, due to the address snafu.

If it was a Not As Described claim that might be good news... approve it, send a return label and issue a full refund once your phone is returned to you.

I'm sorry this happened to you, too. Selling on eBay is a learning curve. Breathe...

coastaltechsolution · ‎01-14-2021

Yikes! 😞

If shipped to any other address then eBay gave you just consider the transaction a loss and keep the records for writing it off as shrink on your taxes

reallynicestamps · ‎01-14-2021

he included in the dms

Why would anyone except a scammer need anything but eBay Messages.

If you are dealing by text, you are being scammed.

Tell him to open an eBay Dispute.

There is some chance that he will refuse and continue to harrass you. Save those for the police and do not respond except for one more. "Please open an eBay Dispute so that we can keep the records straight and public."

Then file a police report with your local force and ask that it be forwarded to the police near him.

And talk to your postmaster about how to file a Mail Fraud case with the Postal Inspectors. Those guys are mean.

An American poster will probably have more exact information including links.

But the postmaster, try to talk in person. It's often more effective .

kensgiftshop · ‎01-14-2021

@caleatherto_0

If they filed an INR and you shipped to a different address, sorry, you don't have any chance of winning an INR case.

Have a great day.

caleatherto_0 · ‎01-14-2021

Hello, thread , so update. Yes the case was a not received case and I have realized something that will make me lose the case for sure. The buyer never messaged me on the account he bought it on, he used a alternate account to message me and I was stupid enough to not pay attention to the clear change in name. I honestly feel humiliation and I want to cry. I received payment and was excited to sell the product and the first dm came from who I thought to be the seller since he said , "hello, can you ship the product to my other address because of covid 19? Thank you very much. " and then he listed the address on a photo in the same ebay conversation. The worst part of this all is that I need the money for rent.

lamber9347 · ‎01-14-2021

@caleatherto_0 wrote:
Hello, thread , so update. Yes the case was a not received case and I have realized something that will make me lose the case for sure. The buyer never messaged me on the account he bought it on, he used a alternate account to message me and I was stupid enough to not pay attention to the clear change in name. I honestly feel humiliation and I want to cry. I received payment and was excited to sell the product and the first dm came from who I thought to be the seller since he said , "hello, can you ship the product to my other address because of covid 19? Thank you very much. " and then he listed the address on a photo in the same ebay conversation. The worst part of this all is that I need the money for rent.

I'm so sorry to read this. These people are grifters and very good at what they do. Sometimes our errors cost us a bit but that's how we learn to avoid any further of the same issues. As a new seller you are a magnet for scammers so you need to read up on how to spot them. Electronics and mobile phones are #1 objects for scammers as well. So that's two strikes against you from the start.

Again I'm so sorry this happened to you. Just keep telling yourself that you have learned from this. The cards weren't in your favor. Best of luck to you....

caleatherto_0 · ‎01-15-2021

Thank you so much for the kind words

vintagecraze50 · ‎01-15-2021

I Feel for you and this is a terrible thing that happens online. This is especially incredibly bad due to the time we are living in with this virus and opportunistic criminals taking advantage of someone who may desperately need to pay their bills so they sell things on here. NEVER EVER CHANGE AN ADDRESS FOR A CUSTOMER HERE unless they change that address on their Ebay and payment account.