03-29-2019 08:00 AM
Hello, first time posting. What has happened to me is so ludacris & unjust that I felt the need to post about it. Lots of details so try to follow me with all of this;
I sold a 21k gold bracelet on a best offer to buyer in Bulgaria back in January. The buyer asked me to lie on customs form & not write gold or value. I shipped registered mail & buyer receives package 10 days later & signs for package. A day later she contacts me to claim the bracelet wasn’t inside the box in the package, and how we could take care of this situation in a “friendly way”. Buyer refused to send me any photos of packaging, or answer any of my questions. The buyer then opens up a claim (through eBay.de/Germany) & after a couple of weeks, eBay Germany decided in buyers favor. All 400$ refunded to buyer by PayPal. In order to appeal, I have to try to fill out a form in (eBay)German, which I cannot do.
I knew the whole time this buyer was scamming me by the tone of her messages plus refusal to send photos etc. Apparently she submitted some kind of police report to eBay for proof of theft in her country. That’s all they needed to side in her favor.
I decide to look into her feedback & I contacted a few other sellers on ebay that have sold to her. There is another seller that has just been scammed by this SAME buyer. 500$ in gold was on its way to the buyer last week. I’ve been communicating with this other seller & the very day her 500$ worth of gold arrived in Bulgaria, delivered to this same buyer, she immediately opens up a item not received case with the other seller via PayPal. Didn’t even bother to message this other seller or eBay, went through PayPal. Paypal has now decided in her buyers favor. So this other seller is out 500$ now. We have both been scammed by the same buyer.
I have been on the phone with PayPal, eBay, ebay messenger through Facebook, eBay Germany messenger, and they literally keep telling me there’s nothing that can be done & good luck with future selling. The thing is, eBay knew this buyer was suspicious to begin with because they restricted this buyer’s account to only buying, no selling For awhile now. Before I even had any issues. PayPal the same. PayPal already had this buyer flagged for suspicious activity. So both eBay & PayPal have basically allowed this person to continue to rip off people, for a long time now. eBay just suspended the buyers account last week.
So I am out 400$ and the other seller is out 500$ and eBay & PayPal will not do anything. They just keep siding with the buyer. I’d be willing to bet there’s a lot more sellers out there that have been scammed by this buyer.
Wondering if if there’s anything else I can do? That money is rightfully ours. This whole thing has been so unfair.
03-29-2019 11:12 AM
Well, it really doesn't make much difference.
However, had you put what was in the package and the value, customs might have turned it around, back to you, or contacted her to get payment for fees and such, and if she hadn't paid, they may have returned it. Either way, you might have had proof that it arrived and what had happened to it and might not have had to refund. Maybe. Not everybody in every country is corrupt.
03-29-2019 11:44 AM
A confirmed address wouldn't have protected the seller and neither ebay or paypal have required confirmed addresses for years.
03-29-2019 11:55 AM
I was giving her the benefit of doubt at first, thinking just maybe she was stolen from by customs or confiscated. But now this other seller is ripped off 3 weeks later by same buyer...
I knew when she refused to send me any photos of packaging that she was lying.
Such a bummer!
03-29-2019 11:58 AM - edited 03-29-2019 11:59 AM
Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977) known professionally as Ludacris is an American rapper and actor.
03-29-2019 11:58 AM
03-29-2019 12:00 PM
03-29-2019 12:11 PM
@temptingauctions wrote:
Yes, she signed for the package but did not contact me for over a day to tell me the bracelet was missing! She definitely got it.
That wasn't the point of my post.
Customs would have, quite probably, verified whether or not something was in the package - because it was illegal to send in.
03-29-2019 01:13 PM
Yes, after I shipped the bracelet, I checked & gold is on prohibited list to Bulgaria.
I thought that she was asking me to falsify customs because SHE was scared that it would be stolen. Idk. Or something along those
lines. I’m so naive.
03-29-2019 01:47 PM
@temptingauctions wrote:
I did insure it. So hopefully the post office comes through.
Once it's delivered, the insurance for the package ends.
If the package was opened before delivery, they should have noted it somewhere, I know USPS will have it noted on the tracking sometimes.
03-29-2019 04:18 PM
03-29-2019 05:25 PM
03-29-2019 06:16 PM
@temptingauctions wrote:Yes, after I shipped the bracelet, I checked & gold is on prohibited list to Bulgaria.
I thought that she was asking me to falsify customs because SHE was scared that it would be stolen. Idk. Or something along those
lines. I’m so naive.
It WAS stolen, by her!!
03-30-2019 07:59 AM
03-30-2019 08:16 AM
says there was other Bulgaria accounts bidding on her gold.
It could be the same buyer or group with multiple accounts. Traditionally, however, it has been known that scammers will outbid each other simply for the opportunity to cheat the seller.
03-30-2019 08:36 AM