Yesterday, I listed a lot of old Pokemon cards which were purchased less than 2 hours later. The buyer then began to bombard me with messages asking questions about the listing (questions which were all answered in the description) and requesting additional photos after I had already packed them all up in the shipping box. I acquiesced, sent him more photos and answered all his questions, but he just kept going and going. I spent the entirety of Memorial Day trying to satisfy this customer. He eventually requested that I ship the most valuable cards in special sleeves that I don't possess, in an attempt to change the terms of the transaction AFTER the point of sale (again, the listing clearly stated how all the cards would be packaged and shipped).
I then noticed the seller was in a different country (Australia), and I do not ship internationally. He circumvented this by using a 3rd party shipper with a U.S. address. This, along with him waiting to ask questions and make requests AFTER the point of sale, made me very suspicious, and after consulting eBay's own policy, which clearly states that if a buyer attempts to change the terms of a transaction after the point of sale the seller has every right to cancel a transaction, I did just that. I relisted the item, and it was purchased again soon afterwards (more on that below).
The original purchaser left negative feedback on my account regarding the cancelled sale. That is extremely unfair. I did put in a request to have the buyer's negative feedback removed and outlined precisely what I've typed here, but within 30 minutes the request had been denied, despite the fact the buyer literally admits in his negative feedback that he waited until AFTER the purchase to ask any questions or make any requests, and despite the fact that his correspondence proves he attempted to change the terms of the transaction after the point of sale. This has really upset me, because I take pride in my reputation on this platform.
As stated above, I relisted the lot in question, and within hours I had received two messages about it...from Australians on low-feedback accounts. My store is very, very small and receives very, very little traffic, and it seems very suspicious that I would receive multiple inquires from the same foreign country on the same day regarding the same item that had just been relisted. Furthermore, it turns out the eventual buyer...wait for it...is an Australian using a 3rd party shipper with a U.S. address. I immediately messaged the buyer and flat-out asked if he was the same person on a sockpuppet account, and he said no, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and ship his purchase. I've done everything properly on my end from the start, yet here I am with a duly unjust negative feedback hit and a sneaking suspicion that I'm being scammed by a sociopath. It was crystal clear the original buyer was never going to be satisfied with the transaction no matter what I said or did or how many hoops I jumped through, and I cannot help but worry that the 2nd buyer is the same individual on another account planning to hit me with a 2nd negative feedback on the same box of merchandise. It really sucks that I don't have any further recourse here, and I'm seriously considering moving my business to a platform that actually looks out for its sellers, and does not turn a blind eye to manipulative and downright crooked buyers.
