Sellers Need To Beware Of Scammy Buyers

[debappl34]

Please listen if you are an honest seller who is just wanting to dabble in selling.  This is a NEW age and time....if you think you are smart and savvy, you have a lot to learn.  You can't begin to realize the buyers who are plain out to get YOU.  They are street smart, they will come up with crazy scenarios to discredit you and your best efforts.   Think a long time before listing things of value that hungry, sleazy buyers are ready to pounce on.  I have been wronged and taken with no support from eBay as a seller.  I don't want you to experience the same injustice.

[debappl34]

Thx much for your sentiment.  I tend to trust too much, and often get bit in the butt.  I always feel like I'll make someone happy, like a collector who may be looking for my item and can maybe enjoy it down the road.  My bubble has been officially burst by a savvy antique dealer who buys and sells with no emotional attachment.  At 72 years old you could say I've grown up a little today.

[adamcartwright]

@debappl34 

Think of it this way -- you made it to 72 without being cynical and jaded. That's an achievement which has been great for your own mental and emotional health to this point.

[pickapaper]

@debappl-96 

How do you know the buyer isn't telling the truth?  The box could certainly have gotten bashed in during shipping and maybe one piece did fall out.  You state that the buyer is a long time antique dealer so I'm assuming that info is in their user name or their address or something.  Of course we can't see who the buyer it but It looks like they have over 6,000 feedback.  Usually when a person is out to scam someone out of something, especially of value, they will use a new account or an account less identifiable.  And they would pull a shenanigan so that they would get to keep both the item and the money.  But this buyer wants to send back the pieces they got?   

It just doesn't smell scammy to me.   It sounds like something that actually could have happened.

[harborauction]

Yeah I think the "scammer" tag is a bit overused and has become ebayspeak for any transaction that goes sideways for whatever reason.

If OP's buyer was a scammer they're one of the most inept I've read about here, pro scam artist could have received the shipment, filed NAD, sent back a bag of cat litter and been refunded in full

Also wondering if OP sent this with signature required at delivery, since they mentioned not insuring this $1800 order I have my doubts. If no signature confirmation buyer could just file INR and automatically been refunded and keep the stuff even if tracking shows delivered since ebay requires sig on anything over $750 as proof of delivery

Things happen, not everything is a scam (unless you read these boards)

[vintagecraze50]

---

@debappl34 wrote:

Thx much for your sentiment.  I tend to trust too much, and often get bit in the butt.  I always feel like I'll make someone happy, like a collector who may be looking for my item and can maybe enjoy it down the road.  My bubble has been officially burst by a savvy antique dealer who buys and sells with no emotional attachment.  At 72 years old you could say I've grown up a little today.

---

All I know is at ANY AGE, if some buyer on here ripped me off for over 1800 bucks I would darn sure be on their tail with a small claims court lawsuit and a few police officers with loaded guns at their doorstep. A word of caution to these kinds of ‘customers” on here is that if you play this way, I am going to play even harder.

[yuzuha]

---

@debappl34 wrote:

OK...thx much.  Shipped a five piece sterling silver tea set.  I wrapped it the best I knew how, each piece bubble wrapped, taped, and then wrapped again in packing paper.  Air pillows stuffed in large heavy duty shipping box.

---

They're probably telling the truth-- that packing was in no way adequate for that type of item. Air pillows are useless for anything heavy because they provide absolutely no protection against impact. They needed to be packed with packing peanuts at the very least, possibly double-boxed because I know that impact can cause certain types of metals to crack/break.

[mam98031]

---

@debappl34 wrote:

OK...thx much.  Shipped a five piece sterling silver tea set.  I wrapped it the best I knew how, each piece bubble wrapped, taped, and then wrapped again in packing paper.  Air pillows stuffed in large heavy duty shipping box.  I paid 100.00 to ship and just charged 25 like a jerk.  (First dumb mistake).  So buyer claims bashed box, opened and dented and missing one item.  How nice????  Anyway, I don't believe them and believe they want to sell the 'missing' bowl as they are antique dealers who buy and sell.  So I get stuck being the bad guy, taking the damaged set back (it was in near mint condition) and paying for their shipping.  I honestly think this was a ruse to get a free sterling silver bowl and cause me a huge headache along with a return of damaged goods.  Just sad.  I was only trying to realize a few extra bucks to supplement my social security.  Thx for listening.  eBay just has policies that don't take situations like this into account.  It's the little idiosyncracies that are just not heard or addressed.

---

I'm not defending anyone, but exactly how do you think Ebay could have helped you in this situation?  Unless Ebay inspected what you shipped before it was shipped and then they inspected it when you got it back, how does Ebay know?  I know if you take time to think about this logically, Ebay isn't in a position to help.

More policies simply could not prevent this from happening.  However if you have some ideas, please share.  Sometimes a fresh view sees different things.

You very well may be right.  This buyer may have been ready to scam you, or they may be telling the truth.  And if the package was damaged, maybe someone else took the bowl.  Who knows.

You did the right thing to accept the return.  I hope your future sales go much better.  

[mam98031]

---

@debappl34 wrote:

Refrain from selling!

---

Well that isn't the answer or a solution of any kind.  Ebay would not have over 19+ million active sellers if every transaction went badly like yours single transaction did.  The fact is the majority of transaction go off without a hitch at all, even many expensive ones.

[zakstreasuretrove]

IF you have any proof for your claim, for example, getting shipping weights from USPS to show the full weight was there and the return weight was different.   Call back eBay and when you finally get someone on the phone ask for a supervisor once they give you the run around.

Ask to be sent an affidavit to sign and return with your evidence.  Also pursue a mail fraud claim and follow up on it with the USPS.  Press charges with his local PD. If this guy has a business or an ebay store that you can access, look for your item being sold etc...

Don't expect any help along the way from those sworn to serve and protect and be prepared to do their jobs for them until there is enough for them to be actively interested.  But who knows, I've never fully had to go down this road, but close enough that I researched that I was only 99% powerless not 100%.

Probably will be ultimately fruitless, but maybe not and you didn't roll over and take an injustice laying down.