How to protect against buyer fraud?

[bkondo]

How do you protect yourself from buyers who make bogus claims to get their money back.

For example, a buyer claiming there was nothing in the box?

I havent come across a buyer like this yet but some of my friends have lost a case to these scumbags.

Does ebay keep tabs on these buyers who do this often? 

[otterseller2017_5]

that's true, and also "reporting" filing a complaint etc, won't do anything to the scamming buyer

[sg51]

The best protection from fraud is to avoid selling things which attract fraud.

There are two general types of fraudsters.

1. Kids or people in 3rd world countries who have no money, but want cool stuff.

2. Drug addicts looking for something they can sell for cash.

So the basic suggestion is to avoid selling cool stuff, and stuff easily converted to cash.

It works imperfectly, but will generally keep fraud down to an acceptable level.

Protecting yourself from cranky buyers, that's a different problem.

[used2save]

It happens to me all the time. I sell used flat screen tv parts and DIY`s claim parts are in not working
conditions. When in fact they are just guessing not troubleshooting, but Ebay automatically approve
returns.
It`s difficult to deal with

[coast_of_maine_antiques]

I have worked quite a bit on this issue. My suggestions are as follows and in no order as these are all equally important: 

Never give a buyer a "Partial Refund". It isn't worth it and only encourages bad buyers to pull that with the rest of the sellers. Politely request a return for full refund. 

Never give a refund until you have the item back in your hands and inspected.

Mark and photograph very tiny marks on items that can easily be switched in case a switched / broken item is returned. This helped me with a valuable Lladro that was returned "broken" years ago.  I had just started marking 3  tiny dots with a sharpie near the maker marks and the "broken one"  (which wasn't all that similar anyhow) had no marks.  I had a similar situatuon with expensive cambridge glasses.  Paper items take invisible  ink (blacklight) well. 

Obviously, you don't post these photos or damage the item with your marking. 

Take extra photographs especially of the final packing showing how well the item was packed. This is also usefull for insurance claims and claims that the item was not packed well. 

Do not ship to address other than on the shipping label - if the buyer wants to change it, have them change it on ebay.  You will lose your seller protection. 

If you get a "Please don't ship until..." Advise the buyer you need to ship right away by ebay policy (TRS) but you would be happy to add a "direct signature required" which may delay the delivery enough for the buyer. 

Never never never go out of the eBay platform to resolve an issue with a buyer. 

Don't let the worry of getting bad feedback influence your actions. If the buyer threatens it, report them. 

Always have a tracking number that matches the delivery address on file. 

If the fraud is large and serious enough, report it to the authorities in the buyer's city. 

I am retired law enforcement. Here is what I preached to new officers and it applies to ebay seller security as well... Watch out for those situations that are "Out Of The Ordinary". While these situations may have a good explanation the scam / fraud ones will always have an out of the ordinary component. 

[kh-stanley1]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the 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.

Thanks for understanding!