Six months ago, I sold a box of used trading cards for $850. I do not ship internationally, but the Australian buyer circumvented this by having a 3rd party U.S. shipping address. After making the purchase, the buyer began to bombard me with questions about the condition of the cards, all questions that should have been asked prior to purchase, and requested an alternate method of packaging to that listed in the description, which he had also agreed to when he clicked "Buy It Now." I knew immediately I was dealing with a scammer, and after consulting with eBay customer service, I cancelled the sale per the buyer's attempt to alter the terms of the transaction, blocked the buyer and relisted the cards.
Less than 24 hours later, the cards were purchased again....by an Australian buyer with low feedback, using a 3rd party U.S. shipping address...clearly the same individual using an alternate account. I contacted eBay customer service again, and they assured me I was covered by "Seller Protection," so I shipped out the cards. Less than 24 hours after the cards had been delivered to the 3rd party shipping address, the buyer filed a "not as described" return claim. He never supplied any photos showing in what manner they were not as described (he had clearly never even seen them, because he was thousands of miles away from the package). I contacted eBay customer service once again, and unfortunately, that "Seller Protection" they had assured me of was no longer available, so I sent the buyer a return label.
I was then informed that my funds and payouts would remain frozen until the item was returned or until the deadline passed. I was unable to do business for the entire month of June as a result. The deadline passed, the buyer never returned the item, and eBay closed the return request and unfroze my assets. eBay customer service went on to apologize profusely for the inconvenience, remove the negative feedback left by the seller on both his accounts after confirming it was indeed the same person, and they even sent me a $20 eBay gift card for my troubles, with assurances that the matter was over and done with, and would no longer be an issue.
This morning, I awoke to discover that the buyer has filed a payment dispute through his bank, and once again my store, funds and payouts are being held hostage by this fraudster, this time for up to TWO MONTHS while his bank, whoever or wherever they may be, drags their feet on a resolution. I contacted eBay customer service, who advised me this is MY problem to deal with, not theirs, and who told me to challenge the dispute and supply proof that the item was as described upon shipment. Had I not had the foresight to take photos of me packaging up the cards and the box itself after the shipping label had been affixed, I would be dead in the water right now. Of course, I had to learn how to shrink photos to an extremely small file size, and the challenge form only allows up to 1.75 MB in photos (EVERY photo is larger than 1.75 MB, for God's sake). The eBay customer service representative did inform me that I qualify for "Seller Protection" in this matter, but I've seen firsthand how utterly meaningless and toothless "Seller Protection" actually is.
The bottom line is that he did not return the item back in June, so eBay closed the ticket. That should be the end of it, and as far as I'm concerned, I am under no obligation to accept a return 6 months after the point of sale. How is this MY problem now? Who determines whether I have to accept a return on an item eBay already resolved in my favor? What gives them the right to reach into my bank account and withdraw $850 well outside the 90-day return window?? This transaction has already cost me 4 weeks of stress and anxiety, and here it is again, potentially causing another EIGHT weeks of stress and anxiety while I cannot get paid for my business transactions on this platform. All because I was targeted by a scammer. Regardless of the outcome, I will be closing my store and canceling my account of 25 years. I'm not going through this again. I have lost all confidence and trust in eBay to protect their sellers from structured fraud.
And before any of you throw up your devils' advocate "you should have done this" or "you should have done that," eBay has claimed to be on my side throughout this entire affair and has stated multiple times that I did everything I was supposed to do in the correct manner....yet here I am, unable to do business on eBay once again. So don't start. I'm in no mood for it.
