Empty return packages

[bestdealsny]

Something is really weird. I received a few return requests from different buyers and this is over a period of a month. They are for different items where the buyer filled out the reason was: not as described. So essentially, I would need to pay for the return shipping back.  Sometimes I do not purchase the ebay return label right away as I know when the time is up, ebay will automatically purchase a return label on my behalf to the buyer. And I think that is what happened for most of the cases.

Fast forward and I am getting all these 6x9 poly mailer bags that have nothing in them. This is happened about like 8 times. The first 2 times this happened, I really think that the buyer did it on purpose. But after this has happened 8 times, this makes me question....is it because I did not purchase the ebay return shipping label? Is ebay "purchasing" a return label on my behalf and just shipping out an empty bag to me? None of this makes sense.  The return bag is always the same size and same thing. And these are from different buyer IDs.

[sanman8753]

I had the exact same thing happen to me, once in June and one yesterday and both were empty small kraft padded envelopes. Both buyer were new members with no buying or selling history which is a red flag and both never answered any messages. They make a false return reason knowing that they will most likely get to keep the item and get a refund initiated by ebay. The one in June Ebay said to report it and ignore issuing any refund, the refund time period elapsed and they got no money. 2 weeks later after this buyer was removed from ebay they opened up a case using their financial institution and the won that one but I was protected as a seller so I had no loss. This recent one is awaiting it's outcome. I believe this is a major problem which will only get worse unless ebay cracks down on fraudsters. They probably prefer to target sellers who offer free returns.

[meme6253]

I must agree with mam98031, on this one, You are letting eBay step in & do your job, So they are letting the customers keep your item & in return they are sending you empty packages, Why do you wait for eBay to step in??

[reallynicestamps]

Sometimes I do not purchase the ebay return label right away as I know when the time is up, ebay will automatically purchase a return label on my behalf to the buyer.

And you get dinged for not cooperating with the Claim.

This can be much worse for your account than the scam returns.

Hmmm- if all the scam returns use the same mailer, you may be dealing with  a single scammer. What eBay sends to unhappy buyers is a pdf label. The buyer provides the packaging.
Are you being hyperbolic or precise in your description?

What are the  addresses for the scammers? Do they match the addresses for the buyers?

[redlinear]

How many return requests?
How many returns did you receive (of poly bags)?
Are you certain those were "returns"?
Did you compare addresses of the buyers that are returning poly bags?
Did you compare their User ID's (names, amount of feedback, etc)
   Next time you get a return request, deny it or approve it.
Stop ignoring those.

[kh-adrian]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.