Scammed by eBay Buyer

[riptideshouse]

Hi All.  I sold a group / lot of PSA graded Pokemon Cards back in early May. One month later, I received a notification that the buyer has initiated a claim with his credit card company against me stating that the item was not as described.  The fact that the cards were in slabs and professionally graded pretty much removed any opinions that I may have had - as I only listed it with the information on the slabs. There is no way for me to misrepresent the graded card.   Either way, the buyer never reached out to me.  I have tried to connect with the buyer many times and he will not respond.  The credit card company ruled in favor of the buyer and has reimbursed the buyer and the buyer still has the cards in his possession.  eBay has frozen the funds in my account as a result... so I am out several hundred dollars.  I am told that this is a seller's condition that is not covered by their protection policy.  This is a crime that this buyer has committed and it seems there is no relief for me as a seller ?  Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.   

[vintagecraze50]

If you did not dispute the transaction and allowed for the buyer to return the merchandise, the CC company should make the buyer return the merchadise. If you fought the chargeback indicating you would not allow for the return of the merch the CC companies can just go ahead and let the buyer keep the item. So, how did you handle this when they submitted the request with the CC company here?

[riptideshouse]

Hi.. I provided my full address for the buyer to be able to return the merchandise.  There was no request for the buyer to return the goods for a full refund. I did respond with a question as to the details behind the dispute and provided a picture of the graded cards.  Essentially I listed the card with the info on the PSA Sticker.  eBay will not inform me who the financial institution is or the details behind their decision.  How can this be legal?  They get a full refund and keep the cards?  And I have to eat the full amount of the card lot?

[lamber9347]

@riptideshouse Since you said you are out several hundred dollars then you should consider pursuing this via the judicial system. There is nothing that you can do via eBay. The buyer opened the dispute through their CC company.

Small claims should be around $75 to file, but you will have to file in the jurisdiction of the buyer's home. Just realize it won't be a slam dunk, but you can pursue this and at a minimum cause turmoil for this buyer. Perhaps just filing and having them served will be enough to scare them into returning the cards to you. You won't know until you try. Best of luck to you....

[ittybitnot]

If you did not dispute the transaction and allowed for the buyer to return the merchandise, the CC company should make the buyer return the merchadise.

@vintagecraze50 

With a Payment Dispute, there is no option to request a return of the product.  A return is not required in order for the buyer to get a full refund and keep the product.   This is one of those "disputes" where the seller gets to upload a photo of their product,  with no place to provide any text.   The seller must rely on eBay to dispute the chargeback if eBay chooses to do so.  

Some sellers have said that they can "stitch together" a photo and a copy of the explaining text for the one JPG allowed.  Others, more recently, have stated they only get to pick one of the pre-selected pictures from their listing.   

With an eBay claim, the seller can select return for refund and provide a label.  There is no such option when the eBay system is bypassed and the buyer files directly with their payment provider. 99.999999999% of the time the sellers lose and get to pay the extra $20 fee associated with the loss. 

[caldreamer]

Sorry that happened to you...I can imagine how angry you must be.  Credit card reversals is just one method that scammers use to get free stuff.   EBAY has no control over what Credit Card Company does.

Be sure to add this person to your "block bidder" list so he doesn't try to scam you again.   

[riptideshouse]

Thank you for the information 

[riptideshouse]

I will add them to be blocked. I see that they changed their user name since they bought from me.

[reallynicestamps]

I would consider filing a police report in your town and asking that it be forwarded to the scammer's town.

I'm not sure if this is a civil or a criminal situation, but it is worth a try. All it will cost you is some time.

Hmmmm- These graded cards, does the grading company keep a record of them? With numbers that can be searched?

In philately, expert certificates are separate, but there have been a very few cases where an expert certificate on a stamp  that has been reported as stolen to the expertiser and/or the police have been noted in an auction and recovered from the auction house. Auction houses being more protective of their reputation than eBay.

[vintagecraze50]

This is absolutely ridiculous. The site should be working on better chargeback protection than it has currently if what you are saying is correct.

[vintagecraze50]

You need to ask for help from the MP team. If you are on managed payments. Call them and be very firm about how they are going to assist in fighting this chargeback. Let us know here what transpired after that. I am certain many folks on here want to know how this stuff is handled on here.

[vintagecraze50]

Yes, that would be one avenue, but the better avenue is to have some darn chargeback protection on this site.

[vintagecraze50]

Look, If I buy a 3,500.00 electric bike from amazon, and I file a chargeback 1 month after I received the merch, NO WAY is Amazon or the card issuer going to get away with letting me keep this bike and get paid for it as well.

[vintagecraze50]

They have temporarily frozen your funds until the chargeback is resolved.

[eunster1313]

@vintagecraze50 

(If you did not dispute the transaction and allowed for the buyer to return the merchandise, the CC company should make the buyer return the merchadise. If you fought the chargeback indicating you would not allow for the return of the merch the CC companies can just go ahead and let the buyer keep the item. So, how did you handle this when they submitted the request with the CC company here?)

Charge Backs are not contingent on nor do they require a buyer to return the item in question.