My Situation

[moises305]

     So I recently sold a Roblox pet for my sister on ebay. Sold it, buyer who paid looked good, so I sold it to them instead of cancelling. Recorded the whole transaction, they messaged me to meetup in game, and it went well. Next thing you know few weeks later ebay says buyer filed a dispute with their bank. I look at their account, and boom flooded by reviews saying that they were a scammer after all. I Provided evidence, ebay claimed it didn’t matter since the buyer filed a chargeback with their payment institution, and my bank account was charged. So, I contacted my bank, signed a Written statement of Unauthorized ACH debit activity, showed my evidence, and signed a Stop Payment Authorization form. I was able to get my money back, but ebay emailed me again yesterday saying my bank account will be charged. Will it go through? Will my account be charged? Will I have my account closed if I don’t allow them to charge me? Idk kind of worried. When I contacted support and even spoke to a "supervisor" all they said they can do is give me a lousy coupon. I feel like ebay really doesn't care about my money and instead are willing to screw me over, possibly take back money that is rightfully mine, side with a scammer, possibly close my account until I pay them, or even worse send my debt to a debt collection agency. I just want to keep my money. Can you guys please help me? What can I do?

[bonjourami]

This was for a digital item? Ebay offers no seller protection for those items, or buyers either, since your buyer did a chargeback, he probably knew that. If Ebay cant collect the money from your bank acct, yes, they will close your account, and turn you over to collections to ruin your credit.

[duffy4444]

   You're willing to get your knickers in a twist and go thru all this hassle for a $50 item? I looked at your sales, and was expecting to see something for hundreds or thousands of dollars... but $50? 

   If the loss of $50 is that catastrophic to you (and it definitely could be), what you should be doing is looking at the buyer's feedback and what the buyer left for others, to make a judgment on whether selling an item to any particular buyer is a wise idea. This should be done before shipping it or handing the item over to the buyer. You can always cancel the sale and put the buyer on your BBL, as it just might be worth a performance demerit for doing so - it's up to you to make that value judgment.

   You're not the only one who's been burned by this; I daresay most sellers here have been confronted one time or another with scam attempts. Remember -- don't sell anything online that you and your business model are not prepared to lose, along with your payment for it on a scam, like a cc chargeback in this case. Chargebacks are one of the easiest and most successful frauds being perpetrated today, though just one of many. You've got to be wise as a serpent, and sometimes take it on the chin with some sales that go bad,  as an occasional cost of doing business online.

Cheers, Duffy 

[kensgiftshop]

@moises305 

First, neither you or your sister owned the digital product, and had no rights to sell it.

Have you been approved to sell digital items?

Yes, they can pull the funds from your checking account and it will go through.

Yes, they could close your account if it's not repaid.

You have another digital item listed and whats going to happen, if the same thing happens with it?

[donsdetour]

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/electronically-delivered-items-policy... 

[moises305]

I'm willing to go through a lot to get my hard earned money back since I bought that item on here, and now my sister doesn't want it so I sold it. I don't want to just "take it on the chin". If $50 is such a small amount then I'm sure you would be able to pay me the money that I'm losing on behalf of ebay. In economics this is called "there are no $20 bills on the sidewalk". Same applies to $50.  No stranger outside of ebay is gonna sit there and go you know what?  Here's your money. Same thing could apply IN ebay. When I sold the item they had nothing but good reviews. By the time the bad ones popped up, it was too late. There has to be someone on here like a higher up representative or something that I can speak to that can take away my negative balance. 

[moises305]

I understand what you mean but I've seen whole accounts sell these digital pets. I understand that ebay doesn't protect digital items, but how can it be that regardless of evidence ebay just doesn't care or even try to get my balance back to normal? 

[moises305]

I also want to add that in the dispute they claimed that they didn't recognize the transaction  yet  they messaged me twice after buying letting me know that they were ready to get the item. 

[mtgraves7984]

@moises305 

I don't sell digital items (heck, I don't hardly understand digital items), but I have a strong grasp on dollars. With that being said, I've never experienced a CC chargeback and dread the day that I do. There seems to be no way to fight them. 😑

And with that ^^^ being said... sometimes it's best to cut your losses. You're too invested (personally) in a no-win situation.

[bonjourami]

Just a typical digital scammer, pick your battles, you wont win this one, theres no protection for digital sellers.

[femmefan1946]

I'm not clear on the jargon here.

Sold it, buyer who paid looked good, so I sold it to them instead of cancelling. Recorded the whole transaction, they messaged me to meetup in game, and it went well.

It sounds as if the buyer actually paid Off eBay.

In that case, eBay could not refund, since from eBay's POV, the buyer did not pay. You could open an eBay Unpaid Item Dispute (UID) to get your fees back, although eBay does not provide support for digital sales.

I Provided evidence,... I contacted my bank, signed a Written statement of Unauthorized ACH debit activity, showed my evidence, and signed a Stop Payment Authorization form.

So with the help of your bank, you got the chargeback refused?

and even spoke to a "supervisor" all they said they can do is give me a lousy coupon

Take the coupon.

[femmefan1946]

I understand that ebay doesn't protect digital items, but how can it be that regardless of evidence

EBay cannot prove that you sent the item. EBay cannot prove that the buyer got the item.

[kensgiftshop]

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@moises305 wrote:

I understand what you mean but I've seen whole accounts sell these digital pets. I understand that ebay doesn't protect digital items, but how can it be that regardless of evidence ebay just doesn't care or even try to get my balance back to normal? 

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They have policies for a reason and when sellers violate those policies, they don't really do much to help.

The only evidence they accept that helps a seller is tracking that shows an item was delivered.

[mtgraves7984]

@femmefan1946 

I just laughed out loud, for real. I enjoyed (and am intrigued by) the entire read... and "Take the coupon" was just cream. 👍  Now I wonder if the "coupon" offer that @moises305 received was for a digital coupon. 😉

[kensgiftshop]

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@moises305 wrote:

I'm willing to go through a lot to get my hard earned money back since I bought that item on here, and now my sister doesn't want it so I sold it. I don't want to just "take it on the chin". If $50 is such a small amount then I'm sure you would be able to pay me the money that I'm losing on behalf of ebay. In economics this is called "there are no $20 bills on the sidewalk". Same applies to $50.  No stranger outside of ebay is gonna sit there and go you know what?  Here's your money. Same thing could apply IN ebay. When I sold the item they had nothing but good reviews. By the time the bad ones popped up, it was too late. There has to be someone on here like a higher up representative or something that I can speak to that can take away my negative balance. 

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Once they go to their payment source, it's pretty much over for the seller.

When the buyer wins their case, not only do you have to refund, they'll also charge you an extra $20.