I got scammed. What did I do wrong?

[chblai-23]

I listed my wife's old iPhone 12.   I noticed somebody had used the buy it now feature.  They had zero feedback.

They emailed me to ask me to ship to a different address.   I responded that I would not.  They said the official address was fine.

At this point I was suspicious, but I felt like it was too late because they had already won.  I contacted eBay to let them know of this suspicious event.  I think I filled out a form of some kind.

I sent the iPhone with tracking and insurance.

I checked my eBay account again and it said the buyer had initiated a return.   They claimed the phone was constantly shutting itself off.   Of course this is not true, this was my wife's every day phone, it was working perfectly.  But the return was already initiated.  By the way, it was "returned" from a completely different city than I sent it to.

I got a notice that the phone was delivered to my door.  I immediately looked, there was nothing at my house anywhere.

I immediately contacted eBay again.   They responded that they can see it was delivered, and to wait for the outcome.

The outcome was that they gave the buyer $700 from my PayPal account.

I have 2 more iPhones to sell.  What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

[a_c_green]

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@ckimodog wrote:

@chblai-23 

If you are using auction style listings, stop.  Use Buy it now, immediate payment required and NO best offers.

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While that does eliminate the fake-payment notification scammers, that would not help the seller in this case as the scammer did actually pay for the item. The seller was ripped off not in the sale but in the return, when the scammer appears to have sent a trinket to someplace else within the seller's City and ZIP, thus fooling eBay into enforcing a full refund as soon as the return tracking showed a Delivered status.

I agree with everyone else that eBay is no place to sell a smartphone, especially from a low-feedback account that marks the seller as a potential scam victim. Sorry...

[monica-sells]

a ton of good advice in this thread....(the answers are posted in some of them)

Depending on YOUR commitment, this can and should be adjudicated in your favor. I know I would pursue every legal (and otherwise) course of action. There is a paper trail.....find it.....

First, start with the Post Office GPS and go backwards from there....

IF this is a scammer, you deserve the satisfaction of a bust.....

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@chblai-23 

Good advice already and also call Apple and brick that phone so this buyer cannot use it, you'll need the Imei code.

ps: no more phones!!

[isaiah53-57]

The short of it is the site offers ABSOLUTELY NO PROTECTION against scams of this nature and many others - They used to, but the protections and benefits the site offers is being reduced as fast as the cost to sell here is being raised - Its a candle rapidly burning at both ends - I'm concerned it does not behoove them to fight these scammers due to the potential loss in sales and bad press that could come from just how rampant the fraud problem really is.

What you can do at this point is talk to your post office to get hard info about where the tracking shows that pkg was fraudulently delivered and where it came from. Using that information, you can file a police report with your local police and also from where the pkg was sent back from - After that, get on the ebay facebook page and use the reports to talk to someone about filing something to get the case overturned in your favor. Best of luck to you.

[isaiah53-57]

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@isaiah53-57 wrote:

The short of it is the site offers ABSOLUTELY NO PROTECTION against scams of this nature and many others - They used to, but the protections and benefits the site offers is being reduced as fast as the cost to sell here is being raised - Its a candle rapidly burning at both ends - I'm concerned it does not behoove them to fight these scammers due to the potential loss in sales and bad press that could come from just how rampant the fraud problem really is.

What you can do at this point is talk to your post office to get hard info about where the tracking shows that pkg was fraudulently delivered and where it came from. Using that information, you can file a police report with your local police and also from where the pkg was sent back from - After that, get on the ebay facebook page and use the reports to talk to someone about filing something to get the case overturned in your favor. Best of luck to you.

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I rescind the "ABSOLUTELY NO PROTECTION" statement in my original post as they do have an appeal process, as I touched on further down in my original post - That I would think is at least some form of protection, though I havent seen many posts here that say people have much success with the appeals.

[stainlessenginecovers]

You need to revert back  to   @soh.maryl post, post 9 on 1st page. 

Do what is stated, then contact ebay for business on facebook (the reps there are better than the phone/chat ones and may be able to reverse that refund. 

[iamalwaysright]

"What did I do wrong?"

You tried to sell an iPhone on ebay. Sorry.

[iamalwaysright]

I see so many of these smart phone scam posts that I wonder what's the actual success rate of legitimate completed sale vs scammed for phones on ebay. It'd be crazy if it was like 50/50.

I also wonder if the significant amount of scams are making it tougher for a legit buyer to get a smart phone off of ebay. If the scammers are "buying" out all the inventory, what's left for the real buyers?

[stephenmorgan]

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@gemarakop_trading wrote:

Ebay knows about this scam they do not warn sellers about it. A new seller will have no clue what happened. They should make clear guidelines about what to do in such a case. 

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Exactly!

[chblai-23]

Thanks, I had already accepted that the phone and money was gone, but sure.  I will try to find the  reps on ebay for business Facebook page.  Do you have a link?

[chblai-23]

Thanks, I will contact the post office.

[chblai-23]

I see.  So, if I choose Free Refunds, that means I am the one who prints the label.  I can't print it correctly, and also add signature required for example?

[chblai-23]

I will look in to this, thank you.

[stephenmorgan]

I think many of these Scams could be slowed down if eBay would allow more time for Seller or Buyer to gather necessary documents/reports to prove their case before issuing a refund.  

Sending or returning something to the wrong address is one of the easier claims to prove or disprove but it takes a little time to get the information and should not be a rushed decision. 

It would be in eBays favor to make the correct decision to start with. 

When eBay makes a wrong decision and then they reimburse the seller, does eBay get the money back from the buyer?  As a buyer does eBay have the same authority to take money from their account as they do with a seller?

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/appeal-ebay%E2%80%99s-decision-return-mis...

Information you may need when appealing

You'll need to provide new, additional information about your case. This can include things like:

• Tracking details showing the buyer received the item before the case was closed. If the order's total cost (total of item(s), shipping and tax) is $750 or more, signature confirmation is required
• Proof that a returned item was delivered to the wrong address or lost in the mail
• Documents showing the item matches the listing description
• Proof the buyer received a refund before the case was closed

Tip
You can appeal at any time within 30 calendar days of the case being closed.

[bonjourami]

Use the message link on the top right.

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/