eBay

reece74 · ‎07-09-2018

I sold an Iphone 8 on ebay a couple of weeks ago and advertised it with marking to the front and the back..... Phone sold and i shipped it next day guaranteed delivery... The buyer recieves the item and signed for it... 5 days later i get a return request from ebay, apperently the buyer claims the item was not as described!! i have sold a few mobiles on ebay and never had any come backs! ok,,, i give my statement to why i will not accept the item and sit and wait now for the outcome..... 9 or 10 days later i get a message from ebay saying they have decided the buyer should return the Iphone to me.... ok accepted... Today i recieve an unusual and scruffy package being delivered by royal mail.... i did not sign for the parcel... i knew the returned iphone was being delivered and i thought no way is this the item... i started to tear off the seloptape on the parcel and noticed a colour blue through the open bit of the box,,, i tearjust a little more and to my horror was a TUB of Vaseline (petrolium jelly)!! i opened the lid a little through the hole in the packaging and seems the tub is half empty.... i am fuming by this point so straight away i make a call to ebay and basically i have to appeal after 24hrs... i rang the local police and they give me a crime ref number to ring should i have no luck with ebay. I am peeed off to say the least and im 437 pound out of pocket 😞

anyone been through this and can offer some advice please.

seems this is an easy trick to get free items!!

the attached image is of the parcel. half opened!!

papermoneyforme · ‎07-09-2018

You are selling in the highest scam market on Ebay.

Ebay will do nada, zilch, goose egg, to help you other than refunding the scammer(buyer).

The only hope you have is to get the Luigi and Guido collection agency to help you.

ed8108 · ‎07-09-2018

Very sorry to learn this has happened.

A terrible experience.

Suggest if anything ever of value is returned to you in future, open it within your post office in front of a postal employee.

OR

At the very least film the package being opened, if needed the film can then be submitted to the police.

luckythewinner · ‎07-09-2018

Generally speaking, a fraudulent "Significantly Not As Described" claim will allow any buyer to steal any item from any seller at any time. It is unfortunate that you had to discover this with such an expensive item.

Many sellers have adopted the maxim that they will not sell anything that they cannot afford to lose outright (and pay to ship to the thief).

hyperrush · ‎07-09-2018

This is just sad...

One sale a day, tomorrow the entire Galaxy!

emerald40 · ‎07-09-2018

Where is our resident no returns poster who claims ebay can figure out a fraudulent return and will stop it.

Because unfortunately what this seller is going through is more like the rest of us are experiencing.

OP, this is the US board. You mention pounds - so maybe you should try on the european board to see how it works in your home counyry.

twnpopcards · ‎07-09-2018

Welcome to the new Ebay where the buyer is always right and he seller is always wrong, no matter if the Queen of England opened the package and said you were ripped off. They do not care and on top of it since it is a SNAD you will also probably be out the FVF on the item also as Ebay says this is your fault as you misrepresented what you were selling. Ebay will not pay attention to anything you provide to them and you will lose your appeal even if they know this buyer has that history as they count on that buyer then selling the same item on Ebay and Ebay making double the money. That is their new business model so they can at least show some growth.

The only possible way to beat this is to have the media step in and start giving Ebay some bad publicity about it. Then Ebay will step in and probably give you a one time courtesy refund to shut you up. Of course the odds are you will have to sign a non disclosure agreement about the entire situation as Ebay cannot handle much more bad publicity as their sales are already tanking and so is their stock price.

fabelous_records · ‎07-09-2018

I trust this is not the only product category you have in your store. Papermoneyforme is 100% correct in saying, this product (cellphones/smartphones) have the distinction of inviting the most rapacious buyers/scam operators dampening our joys and goodwill after the sale has been successfully concluded.

What I am about to say may not serve as consolation for what you had just experienced compliments of our most esteem eBay support line. I have stopped selling high-end items those in the $1,000.+ range. When I was still in that competition, knowing already of the dangers after having read news (very rare when I first began) of buyers bleeding you dry, I was very careful in accepting orders. I made sure I showed the buyer all the steps I've taken to remove whatever doubts they may have with regard to a very costly music component they've just purchased. Packaging using whatever necessary protective materials are photographed and recorded. I showed the buyer all of the systems in the amplifier/pre-amplifier etc. are all functioning and all bulbs are lighting up where it should. I send all the photographs before the final shipping. In that way, I am demonstrating to the buyer I am someone who will go the extra mile to avoid getting scammed. If you sell another smartphone, make sure you record every detail on your camera. If you can, show your buyer ahead of time, your smartphone is A1+ and everything is functioning. It may cost you extra but ship it with a signature requirement. Good Luck.

orangehound · ‎07-09-2018

@reece74 wrote:
seems this is an easy trick to get free items!!

It is not a trick ... it is just the way eBay wants to operate. eBay doesn't lose money when there's a theft like this , so they have no incentive to re-do policies that allow anyone to outright steal items.

There's not a thing that a seller can do to stop this theft ....

But the good news is that there are a limited number of thieves and a lot more items being sold on eBay ... so a smart sellers makes sure that they are selling only those things that theives don't typically want.

reece74 · ‎07-09-2018

Thanks mate, didnt realise it was a us board and thanks for all your comments

luckythewinner · ‎07-09-2018

@orangehound wrote:
@reece74 wrote:
seems this is an easy trick to get free items!!
It is not a trick ... it is just the way eBay wants to operate. eBay doesn't lose money when there's a theft like this , so they have no incentive to re-do policies that allow anyone to outright steal items.

Any change to the dispute system would require eBay to either abandon it's long-cherished "money back guarantee" or to start footing the bill for losses themselves. Neither of those seems likely.

And even if they did make changes, they still would have no clue who was lying and who wasn't. If making a legitmate claim becomes a game of russian roulette for the buyer, bad sellers will start driving good buyers away.

coffeebean832 · ‎07-09-2018

One of the worst things about this is the message the buyer sent with their choice of return item.

@reece74- In the US we have the ability to file postal fraud reports. Does Royal Mail have anything like that? The buyer did this at least once, so they may have done it before.

reece74 · ‎07-09-2018

the returned item was sent via ebay return slip (tracked) but anything could have been posted and in this case it was!! also i did not sign for this parcel. my girlfriend was there at the time when i part opened the parcel.

i always ship my itmes 1st class recorded or special delivery only!! where a signature is required.

dtexley3 · ‎07-09-2018

I'm sorry to see yet another seller ripped off this way. PLEASE file a police report. If your mail service has a mail fraud reporting system do that as well. Use those reports to try to get the phone disabled by the carrier as stolen. May or may not be successful, but if you are at least the scammer doesn't benefit either.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

carlmarxx · ‎07-09-2018

@reece74 wrote:
I sold an Iphone 8 on ebay a couple of weeks ago and advertised it with marking to the front and the back..... Phone sold and i shipped it next day guaranteed delivery... The buyer recieves the item and signed for it... 5 days later i get a return request from ebay, apperently the buyer claims the item was not as described!! i have sold a few mobiles on ebay and never had any come backs! ok,,, i give my statement to why i will not accept the item and sit and wait now for the outcome..... 9 or 10 days later i get a message from ebay saying they have decided the buyer should return the Iphone to me.... ok accepted... Today i recieve an unusual and scruffy package being delivered by royal mail.... i did not sign for the parcel... i knew the returned iphone was being delivered and i thought no way is this the item... i started to tear off the seloptape on the parcel and noticed a colour blue through the open bit of the box,,, i tearjust a little more and to my horror was a TUB of Vaseline (petrolium jelly)!! i opened the lid a little through the hole in the packaging and seems the tub is half empty.... i am fuming by this point so straight away i make a call to ebay and basically i have to appeal after 24hrs... i rang the local police and they give me a crime ref number to ring should i have no luck with ebay. I am peeed off to say the least and im 437 pound out of pocket 😞

anyone been through this and can offer some advice please.

seems this is an easy trick to get free items!!

the attached image is of the parcel. half opened!!

Sellers with feedack under 300+ should hold off from selling I high valued and risk items , because they are targeted by scam buyers . Once you get over the 300+ mark then maybe consider selling high valued items. .