Same Item Sold Multiple Times in One Day

[colony_usa]

Something happened today that's never ever happened before, one item sold 9 times to different buyers. There's nothing special about it, it's not on sale, it's not the cheapest on eBay. Has anyone had this happen before? I feel there's malice behind this because it comes one day after I had a customer harass me about a purchase he made and threatened me and called me a liar. He then filed a false return request for item not as described. I reported him to eBay for harassment and then the false return request. Ebay said that I was in no way at fault and I was covered under buyer protection. Any advise or idea what's going on?

[fashunu4eeuh]

Not certain i follow. So are these 9 buyers in different places? Different names and different addresses, etc? Which item was it?

[richard1rst]

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@colony_usa wrote:

Something happened today that's never ever happened before, one item sold 9 times to different buyers. There's nothing special about it, it's not on sale, it's not the cheapest on eBay. Has anyone had this happen before? I feel there's malice behind this because it comes one day after I had a customer harass me about a purchase he made and threatened me and called me a liar. He then filed a false return request for item not as described. I reported him to eBay for harassment and then the false return request. Ebay said that I was in no way at fault and I was covered under buyer protection. Any advise or idea what's going on?

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I have had times when an item sits for a long time and then suddenly I sell several the same day.

One suggestion made was that the one sale kicked my listing to a much higher position in subsequent searches making it suddenly more visible.

Another suggestion was that maybe the person who bought it knew someone else looking for it and sent them a note which prompted them to buy it as well.

Admittedly only a couple of guesses.

[fashunu4eeuh]

It could be your listing was picked up by a collector or related blogger, and got you some free advertising, causing a rash of sales.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Yes, I had it happen & it was very strange & concerning, but was all on the level.  Last year, an item I had 6 of, 5 sold in 1 night - actually in one 3-hour period, to 5 different buyers.  My items are normally one-offs & I don't usually make that many sales even in 1 day.  Also, this item had been for sale for over a year, not a new listing. 

I was super suspicious, as was my husband. Highest FB was 15, most were 0's & 1's.  I looked into every aspect of it being a scam of some sort, but everyone had paid & seemed unrelated to each other (which they were - all different states).  I finally contacted 1 buyer & thanked him for the purchase & just explained what had happened & he shared some details that helped, it had to do with a race that was that month & the race sponsor was not giving out jerseys that year.   Meanwhile, DH figured out with some searching that my items showed as #1 on Google, for this particular jersey.  Long story short, every one of them went through just fine, they were all legit & such is the power of being #1 on Google.   It will probably never happen again, but wow, it was one for the record books! 

[colony_usa]

What I'm afraid of is the note of which you speak may be a setup to multiple negative feedbacks from friends of the person who had an issue. I've been in business a long time, and eBay for 15 years and nothing like this has ever happened.......specifically a single item sale nine times within a few hours of each other. It's not a hot selling part either, nor a desired one. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@colony_usa wrote:

What I'm afraid of is the note of which you speak may be a setup to multiple negative feedbacks from friends of the person who had an issue. I've been in business a long time, and eBay for 15 years and nothing like this has ever happened.......specifically a single item sale nine times within a few hours of each other. It's not a hot selling part either, nor a desired one. 

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If it were the case, a conspiracy among friends to hurt your account, wouldn't they pick different items so as not to draw attention and/or suspicion? Not to mention the cost and inconvenience. And where would they find 9 people to all conspire in such a short time?

It is possible, but not probable.

[colony_usa]

LOL......I'd think so, but the guy that was an issue wasn't too bright, so I figure his friends wouldn't be either. He was upset because the packing card Colony used did not have the U.S. flag on it like my stock photo of the item. He claimed I was selling cheap Chinese counterfeits and repackaging them and he was going to report me for violating eBay selling policies for item not as described (even though I have Made in the USA in the description) and he was going to report me to Colony.........I've been friends with the owner of Colony for over 17 years and have sold 100's of thousands of Colony items during that time. He just wouldn't listen. Most of my images show the older cards without the U.S. flag.....I don't get people anymore....

[pburn]

So the item the buyer received didn't match the photo in your item listing?

[colony_usa]

The item was 100% correct. The package card was different, you know, the part you throw in the garbage 5 seconds after you get it. I don't take a pic of every item I sell, I use a stock photo of the item. 

[greatstuff80]

It can happen all too easily. Only difference between your story and ours, is our happened over several weeks and months. My spouse and I had an abusive relative do just that to us. Had their friends buy stuff, then not pay, leave negative feedback and other complaints for no reason. How do we know? We checked on the names and found out that some were relatives of neighbors! It does happen and there's not much you can do about it.  I'd just block them all. BTY We won all the disputes because they  didn't return the items, etc. Ebay didn't care and did nothing when we contacted them about it. 

[colony_usa]

That sucks, it really does. I have a question about Blocked Bidders (anyone can answer), over the past year or so, when I add a buyer to my Blocked Bidder list, I'm asked to refresh the list and I notice several names have been removed. Is eBay removing blocked bidders after a set amount of time and allowing them to purchase from me again? 

[pjcdn2005]

I just want to ask about one sentence in your first post. 

“EBay said that I was in no way at fault and I was covered under buyer protection.”

eBay customer phone service often tells sellers that they are not at fault and are covered but that is not necessarily true.   If the buyer filed a not as described return you know that you have to accept the return?

[theteamsetguy]

More and more people are doing their searches on google for their shopping needs. Almost 1/3 of views are external sight views now. Most of the external sight views are from google.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@colony_usa wrote:

That sucks, it really does. I have a question about Blocked Bidders (anyone can answer), over the past year or so, when I add a buyer to my Blocked Bidder list, I'm asked to refresh the list and I notice several names have been removed. Is eBay removing blocked bidders after a set amount of time and allowing them to purchase from me again? 

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The only ones they remove are ones where the people have left eBay or gone NARU - the ones that have a long string of characters & then say @deleted. 

In my story (post 5) where it happened to me, it was my 24th year on eBay & that was the first & only time it happened.