authenticity issue for Gucci shoes

[cswyman6]

Hoping you can help me!!!  I sold an authentic pair of Gucci shoes to someone and when he received them he claimed that they are not authentic because when he pulled up the insole there weren't any G'S under the insole and he knows from his other pairs that that means they are not authentic.  That is not true and they clearly have the serial number and the leather insole w Gucci imprint and all.  I have a no return policy and he never asked any questions or further pictures before purchasing.  He opened up a case and Ebay decided in his favor!!!  How can they do that ?  I followed all rules I have a 100% on my profile and I feel like Ebay always sides w the buyer.  Just because he thinks and says they aren't real then that's proof?   So now I'm punished for selling an authentic pair of shoes????

[a_c_green]

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@cswyman6 wrote:

Just because he thinks and says they aren't real then that's proof?   So now I'm punished for selling an authentic pair of shoes????

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No, it's more like: in the absence of proof (either way), eBay is simply going to roll back the whole transaction and give the buyer his money back. If he's filed a dispute and you haven't run out of time, you can still require him to send the shoes back first. You are going to end up refunding regardless, so it's best to cooperate and get the shoes back so that you can list them again.

[clearsphere]

If a buyer claims not as described-in this case not authentic-then the only option is to give them a shipping label and have them sent back to you. Otherwise the buyer could get a full refund and also keep the item when the case is found in their favor.

[ed8108]

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@cswyman6 wrote:  Just because he thinks and says they aren't real then that's proof?   So now I'm punished for selling an authentic pair of shoes????

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Unfortunately ebay deems buyer allegations as true and correct.

What the buyer says makes it so.

Accept the return, refund after you receive back your item.

[softersilk]

You have just encountered Liar Buyer Fraud.  If he uses the USPS to return them to you, file a postal fraud complaint.  Go to the police and file a theft report, which will help you document the loss on your taxes.  While you are doing this, ask the police to upload it to the eBay Law Enforcement Portal and also notify buyer's local PD.

This is a very well-known scam, by the book.  It's too bad you didn't read more before listing them.  Scammers rule when it comes to expensive designer items.

[bonjourami]

Those shoes are authentic, like all your high end items, and I hope you get back the same pair you sent.

[juststuffisell]

As noted below, if the item is considered SNAD or not authentic, you are best served to issue a return label. If you do not, and you lose the dispute, eBay will refund them using your funds and they will not be required to return the merchandise; and you will be out both the merchandise & the funds regardless of your return policy.

Depending upon the dollar amount, be prepared to pay for return shipping or just issue a full refund. Don't assume you will win a SNAD case.

A word of caution; Gucci, Coach, (heck, even NIKE shoes anymore) etc. high end brand items for clothing/handbags/shoes are mass produced in knock offs coming out of china. They come into smaller ports like out here in Wilmington NC. It is a high risk to sell those items on eBay. When I pick them up, even the real deal, I give them 1st to my wife, the rejects go to my daughter and then whatever is left goes to the extended family.

You can easily tell the real deal just by how well they wear. The quality is such that even after 5 years of high use, the bits are still in fabulous condition. The labels are meaningless as they are reproduced as well. The chinese **bleep** falls apart. Personally, I would not sell that stuff here. There are shops and online outlets that will buy the stuff from you for their retail shops and that is where I would recommend moving those higher end bits.

eBay buyers with any experience with the high end product lines know how to work the system and any indication it might not be authentic will result in a bad seller (and buyer) experience.

Hope things work out for you in this situation,

Cheers

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@bonjourami wrote:

Those shoes are authentic, like all your high end items, and I hope you get back the same pair you sent.

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@bonjourami

The OP said "He opened up a case and Ebay decided in his favor!!! "

I think that they won't be getting the shoes back, or anything back.

eBay has already closed the case in the buyer's favor ... and the OP did not mention anywhere that the shoes were actually being returned ... but they did mention that they have a No Returns policy 😞

Reading between the lines, it went something like this:

Buyer opens SNAD return

Seller denies or ignores Return Request

Buyer escalates.

eBay rules in buyers favor, closes the case with a strike and refunds the buyer without requiring a return.

Seller says "but I said no returns!"

[dbmm-media]

 on ebay a no return policy does not mean a no refund policy

[city*satins]

A short history of this issue:

In earlier versions of eBay's buyer protection policy, the onus was on the buyer to prove that an item was not authentic.  Providing forms of proof that eBay would accept was impractical and often impossible and eBay switched to putting the onus on the seller instead, who faced the same challenges - that design houses would not authenticate in writing and that things like store receipts were not acceptable to eBay who claimed to want the seller to be able to provide them but then would say "Yes, well that doesn't mean that THIS was the item that you sent to the buyer."

Then eBay added a 'good faith' clause to its money-back guarantee which said in essence that the buyer and seller who had a dispute over authenticity agreed to act in 'good faith' - the seller to convince the buyer that the item was the real deal, and the buyer to seriously consider the seller's attempt to get him to believe that the item was the real deal.

That lasted about a year and was a resounding failure.  Especially since nobody took the 'good faith' part seriously, including eBay and most sellers and buyers didn't even know that the policy said anything about it.  Those who did, didn't understand it or how it could practically be applied.  

Then eBay basically threw up its hands and said that if the buyer says it's fake or that he thinks it's fake, the seller must accept the return request and added that if eBay happens to agree that it's probably fake (based on criteria unspecified by eBay) then the buyer must dispose of the item either privately (and without proof) or via sending it to eBay for disposal (I never saw anybody describe this actually happening)    In a very very few instances, where the item was very high ticket, a senior Buyer Protection department eBay employee was authorized to do any of the following

1. require that the item be returned

2. require that the buyer prove the item fake

3. allow the seller to prove the item real

4. issue a no-fault refund to the buyer

5. deny the buyer's claim especially if the buyer had made several such previous claims

None of that can be found in eBay online policy.

Long and short of it is that if you sell an item that the buyer wants to return on the grounds that it's counterfeit, even without proof of any kind, your best option unless you're talking about >$5,000+ is to buckle, get the item back, and eat the loss.

[bubbleman2010]

Use to be on designer fake claims ebay had the items shipped to a warehouse in Texas to be destroyed,but that apple cart got upset about a year later.....

[missjen831]

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@softersilk wrote:

You have just encountered Liar Buyer Fraud.  If he uses the USPS to return them to you, file a postal fraud complaint.  Go to the police and file a theft report, which will help you document the loss on your taxes.  While you are doing this, ask the police to upload it to the eBay Law Enforcement Portal and also notify buyer's local PD.

This is a very well-known scam, by the book.  It's too bad you didn't read more before listing them.  Scammers rule when it comes to expensive designer items.

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Filing a false report is a crime as well. I hope you aren’t suggesting that because the buyer didn’t commit theft. And the police aren’t going to waste their time uploading anything to eBay.  

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

I'd call it theft if they accepted a refund without returning the item.

[missjen831]

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@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
I'd call it theft if they accepted a refund without returning the item.

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But the OP doesn’t say that happened and if it did, it would be a civil issue not a criminal issue. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@bubbleman2010 wrote:

Use to be on designer fake claims ebay had the items shipped to a warehouse in Texas to be destroyed,but that apple cart got upset about a year later.....

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The reason that fell apart is because it was found that the warehouse was reselling the returned items rather than destroying them. Additionally, many of the "fakes" that were supposed to have been destroyed weren't fake! 

@cswyman6 - You might go to the fashion board and have the resident shoes expert, @jsales0 look at your completed/sold listing. Sometimes she doesn't do sneakers but she might be able to give an opinion. 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fashion/bd-p/fashion?nobounce