Am I getting scammed on Ebay?

foster1887

foster1887

Banned
I sold a copy of God of War III on Ebay for $25 back on December 21. The game was in great condition, I played and finished it, and didn't need it anymore. The guy that bought the game from me paid for it on December 22, I shipped it the 23rd and he received it the 27th. I have proof of delivery and he left positive feedback on the item the 30th.

I get a message the 16th of January saying "this game was working fine until we got to a certain point on it, the game freezes and won't let you get past this point, i cleaned it a number of times and it's just not working". I didn't see the message until the 17th but by then he started an Item not as Described case against me. I messaged the buyer back offering for him to send the game back and I will exchange it for him. Apparently this wasn't good enough for him and he escalated the claim to Ebay, and Ebay refunded him the $25 and giving me the bill for it. How does that make sense? He gets refunded the money that he spent on the auction even though he didn't send the item back to me???

Anyways, I got mad about it but I ended up messaging the buyer saying he got the refund and he needs to send the game back with delivery confirmation otherwise I will be contacting Ebay to get my $25 back. And this is what he said "so in other words you want me to pay for shipping and a tracking number for your defective game. Ebay decided to give me the refund you flat out refused, sorry but I'm not taking money out of my pocket to send back something that you sold in perfect working condition when in fact it wasn't.'

What should I do? Should I contact Ebay about this right away since he is refusing to return my item and try to get the $25 off my bill? I am a Power Seller on Ebay with 700+ positive feedback and offer free shipping on all my items. I already lost $2.50 on this deal for shipping alone and it's ridiculous that they refunded the buyer even though he didn't return the item. If he does return the item, should I go to the police station when I get the package and open the package in front of a cop just in case he sends a box of rocks? I am pissed about this and already moved my business to Amazon(even though they take a larger commission). Sorry for the name and any help on this would be appreciated.
 
Ahh...good old Ebay. Sorry to say it, but you're pretty much boned. You can contact Ebay but they really don't give a shit about sellers whatsoever.
 
Thats the thing about ebay they tend to give the benefit of the doubt to the buyer always ! Since this was escalated to a claim you should have told the buyer directly to ship you the game in order to get a refund. Since these chats are monitored.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
He probably beat the game and wanted his money back after. Some people are dicks. Sorry to say, but you are probably screwed. That is why I sell NOTHING on eBay. Only buy. Good luck!
 
[quote name='lmz00']You're a Power Seller, so I have a feeling eBay will try and work things out if you talk to them.[/QUOTE]

Doesn't matter. I'm a Power Seller and have been fucked over many times by scammers and Ebay will refuse to do anything but accommodate them. It's really kind of disgusting the way they treat the sellers.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I thought I was fucked as well going into this.

I ended up contacting Ebay about it. They told me that they found neither me nor the buyer at fault and they refunded the money to the buyer. This means that I won't be billed the $25 but the buyer doesn't have to return the game. I still get charged the fees and the money that I lost during shipping but better than losing the game and all the money. I did this all in the Ebay chat and made sure to save the conversation. Now to sell on Amazon from now on.

Should I do anything to the person's information?(good CL ads, spam their mailing address...etc?)
 
[quote name='foster1887']Should I do anything to the person's information?(good CL ads, spam their mailing address...etc?)[/QUOTE]

Pretty sure there's a blocked bidders list somewhere on the forums. Add his information to that list so other CAGs dont have to deal with him.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='foster1887']Thanks for the responses guys. I thought I was fucked as well going into this.

I ended up contacting Ebay about it. They told me that they found neither me nor the buyer at fault and they refunded the money to the buyer. This means that I won't be billed the $25 but the buyer doesn't have to return the game. I still get charged the fees and the money that I lost during shipping but better than losing the game and all the money. I did this all in the Ebay chat and made sure to save the conversation. Now to sell on Amazon from now on.

Should I do anything to the person's information?(good CL ads, spam their mailing address...etc?)[/QUOTE]

You probably should have made a bigger deal about it, especially if you threatened to never sell on eBay again and was going to only sell on Amazon.

You should really just call them up over the phone, instead of emailing/online chat. It makes it much easier for you to really make your case, and also it's easier to choose tone, and really let them know how you feel.

I would not have been happy if he got to keep the game and the money, and the excuse it wasn't either party's fault, means that the package should be sent back then, since it's not your fault, and if they were trying to put everything back as it is, you should have the opportunity to get your item back and resell, ESPECIALLY if you have to take the hit on the fees.

It just doesn't add up.
 
I've never had an eBay claim filed on me, but Amazon is awful when it comes to claims. The only bright side is that buyers are limited to 5 claims (unless they changed it), so if it's something of little value, I doubt a buyer will want to waste one of his/her claims on that.
 
I need to sell a couple of iPhones (my wife and I just switched providers), and I'm downright terrified of using eBay for it because of this shit.
 
Just make a note of the phone's serial number and only ship FedEx/UPS with direct signature required. Wouldn't hurt to add buyer requirements, either.
 
[quote name='Arakias']Post his user name so we can block him. Sounds like a douchebag to me. Good luck.[/QUOTE]

yes, post this and all his other info in the Fraud thread please.
appears to be a scammer and works the rules to his favor
 
Reading this, I kinda feel stupid about contacting a person who sold me a broken phone that was in "'Like New' condition and had been tested and Works Great!" Afterwards, I paid first class, expedited shipping back and forth; letting it sit in his P.O. box for over a week before asking what the delay was, accepting a 90% refund excluding shipping fees.. and not leaving negative feedback.
 
Amazon is worse. I just ate $180 because a buyer claimed he didn't get a book even though I sent it with delivery confirmation just like Amazon tells you to and the books was delivered. Amazon refused to listen to anything I had to say, saying I had "no proof" that the book was delivered and that delivery confirmation isn't good enough.
 
[quote name='gothamcentral79']Amazon refused to listen to anything I had to say, saying I had "no proof" that the book was delivered and that delivery confirmation isn't good enough.[/QUOTE]


Oh wow. I wanted to sell somthing on amazon but this makes me a little worried.

Guess I won't do it.
 
[quote name='gothamcentral79']Amazon is worse. I just ate $180 because a buyer claimed he didn't get a book even though I sent it with delivery confirmation just like Amazon tells you to and the books was delivered. Amazon refused to listen to anything I had to say, saying I had "no proof" that the book was delivered and that delivery confirmation isn't good enough.[/QUOTE]

Actually, they tell you to get signature confirmation. USPS delivery confirmation is not real tracking and is not proof that an item got to where it was addressed. For an item worth $180 I would suggest signature confirmation and insurance. I don't put those services on cheap items, but once it gets above $75 or so I start thinking about it.
 
[quote name='Squarehard']You probably should have made a bigger deal about it, especially if you threatened to never sell on eBay again and was going to only sell on Amazon.

You should really just call them up over the phone, instead of emailing/online chat. It makes it much easier for you to really make your case, and also it's easier to choose tone, and really let them know how you feel.

I would not have been happy if he got to keep the game and the money, and the excuse it wasn't either party's fault, means that the package should be sent back then, since it's not your fault, and if they were trying to put everything back as it is, you should have the opportunity to get your item back and resell, ESPECIALLY if you have to take the hit on the fees.

It just doesn't add up.[/QUOTE]

If I understood correctly, the OP isn't losing anything. Ebay is issuing a refund. I would be happy if I were in his shoes.
 
[quote name='yourlefthand']Actually, they tell you to get signature confirmation. USPS delivery confirmation is not real tracking and is not proof that an item got to where it was addressed. For an item worth $180 I would suggest signature confirmation and insurance. I don't put those services on cheap items, but once it gets above $75 or so I start thinking about it.[/QUOTE]
What he said. I wouldn't even ship anything over $50 with USPS.
 
[quote name='Rozz']News flash: scammers/assholes use Amazon, too.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. All of these marketplace companies are making it very, very, very easy to be a dirtbag buyer. I really don't sell stuff online anymore because of this. And when I do, I put a LOT of rhetoric into my product description. This seems to scare off a lot of douchebags. Yeah, my auctions often don't end as high as others I have seen for the same product, but I haven't had a real problem in quite some time...knock on wood...
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of online commerce. I've been on eBay since 1999, am a powerseller, and I have 4.9 DSRs across the board (with a 5 in shipping cost). I've had similar things happen to me (twice in the last four months) and eBay hasn't cared for me in the slightest.

In my brief time with Amazon, I was also scammed by a buyer, who Amazon had no problem siding with. There really is no safe place to sell stuff online, if you're going to do it you kind of just have to accept the risks.
 
Im kind of new to using ebay and I sold black ops. This is my first time someone filed a complaint and it was because of a bank inquiry. The dispute has been open for over 2 weeks and what I dont understand is why does it take so long for paypal to respond. Also after reading this thread I feel like I am going to lose this dispute...
 
OP lucked out.
There are alternatives out there you know guys. I too have gotten fuct like many of you and hardly post on ebay anymore.
 
[quote name='foster1887']

Should I do anything to the person's information?(good CL ads, spam their mailing address...etc?)[/QUOTE]
i would post his information on cag (under auctions in the main forums theres a post by guinevere). sometimes it gives people the idea to actually do what this guy did. lets just hope he doesnt do it again.
 
Instead of running from store to store to try to figure out what you want, you can buy an Abercrombie shirt or other items right from the comfort of your own home when you decide to shop online at a retailer that deals in high end clothes created for casual wear.

---------------
abercrombie coats


​
 
So far I haven't really had any big problems on eBay but all these stories I hear scare me. I have over 500 feedback with most as a seller. I'm sure I have considerably more transactions than that where buyers did not leave feedback. It sounds like a lot of people would have had several issues during that many transactions.

The worst problem I have had so far is that a buyer did not read the description for a game and left neutral feedback. I think the buyer was expecting excellent condition when I clearly stated that it was not in great shape. I've gotten no negatives or any other neutrals so far.

Other than that I have had one or two cases where PayPal opened a case regarding payment...buyer using a bank account with no funds or unauthorized access or something. I had already shipped them out and just needed to have the delivery confirmation # in PayPal and all was good for me. I've also had to deal a few times with buyers using an old address they forgot to update. And USPS has temporarily lost a package one or two times.

If you haven't already done so I would strongly suggest going into the seller preferences and set buyer requirements to make it so proven bad ebayers can't bid/buy your stuff. I have the strongest restrictions possible although I wish eBay allowed me to make them more restrictive. Also should be obvious on CAG, but add the blocked bidder list in this forum.

I do mostly use BIN because even with the outrageous fees it allows me earn more than I would on average by auction. Having the instant payment requirement helps although I've only had a couple non paying bidders.

I do offer stuff such as paid return shipping labels if there is a problem with an order and generally trust my buyers (has proven to be cheaper and more effective to do so and have not had any reason not to trust any of them so far).

Perhaps my biggest issue was caused by myself where I accidentally swapped two buyers items. I lucked out and had two great buyers who I was able get to quickly forward the items on to each other after I e-mailed them shipping labels. I was a bit worried as there was a big cost difference with the items.

Actually I have had a lot more problems as a buyer. I have gotten a defective Wii that was not supposed to be defective and have frequently had buyers forget to include items from large purchases (they always have sent them quickly when realizing their error though). I don't buy much off eBay anymore though.
 
[quote name='ronald02']Instead of running from store to store to try to figure out what you want, you can buy an Abercrombie shirt or other items right from the comfort of your own home when you decide to shop online at a retailer that deals in high end clothes created for casual wear.

---------------
abercrombie coats


​
[/QUOTE]

lol. A bot sleeper agent?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top