Anyone know what happens when an Ebay seller dies?

usignuolo

I recently purchased a Buy It Now item from Ebay and paid at once using my Paypal account. Payment cleared the account at once. After a week the item had not arrived so I emailed the seller.

His family replied that he died several weeks ago, leaving around 8000 items listed on Ebay, many of them Buy it Now items. However they had been unable to get Ebay or Paypal to freeze or delete his accounts because " this could only be done with the authority of the owner of the account" who is of course dead.

They said there were between 70-100 people caught up in the mess, and more letters lying on the door mat of an empty house. They said Ebay was sympathetic but said there was no way round these rules.

Meanwhile more people get caught out every day.

What happens when a seller with a large and busy online shop on Ebay and Paypal, dies? Anyone know?

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hey,

I've had experience of a seller not responding to requests after a purchase. I just logged a dispute through Ebay and paypal.

After so many days without response they usually award in favour of the buyer and refund your money.

It's a sad thing to happen but 8000 items does seem a bit suspicious.

Lets hope that it's not just a scam to get people to buyitnow and then not bother claim the money back.

After all if the family have access to his e-mails then they can see what you paid for. What's stopping them packing it up and sending it off to you or requesting a paypal password change and refunding the money themselves.

I know if it's genuine the last thing they want to do is think about ebay sales but if its affecting 100 people, there are things they can do to help those caught out by it.

Let us know how you get on.

Calzone_2

It's an odd situation to be in, but like you mentioned - More and more people are being caught out every day. Surely if the family members can log in to ebay to reply to your messages, they can end all the online auctions?! Though if they're simply replying by email (which sounds like it might be the case), they could perhaps try the 'Lost password'?

As for your personal case, I would try opening a paypal dispute to claim your money back - As after the 30 days limit, in which he obviously won't be able to reply in, paypal will automatically give you your refund.

I find it very sad that ebay are only 'sympathetic' and won't actually do something about it, I bet this whole thing's just adding to the poor family's stress!

mum2one

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt wrote: »

Hey,

I've had experience of a seller not responding to requests after a purchase. I just logged a dispute through Ebay and paypal.

After so many days without response they usually award in favour of the buyer and refund your money.

It's a sad thing to happen but 8000 items does seem a bit suspicious.

Lets hope that it's not just a scam to get people to buyitnow and then not bother claim the money back.

After all if the family have access to his e-mails then they can see what you paid for. What's stopping them packing it up and sending it off to you or requesting a paypal password change and refunding the money themselves.

I know if it's genuine the last thing they want to do is think about ebay sales but if its affecting 100 people, there are things they can do to help those caught out by it.

Let us know how you get on.

Def agree it may be geuninue, but it if they can access his ebay account, etc then it would show up as paid via ebay system, rather than going through Paypal.

Iwould log a complaint, I think you have to wait 7 days.

Good luck x

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

They don't need to cancel the accounts they should just either refund the money or post out the items. After all you technically own the item now.

Maybe try them with an e-mail first. Asking them to do either of the above and say that you understand their situation but not to worry if they don't want to do either of those things then (I think it's about 30days) you'll happily wait for the dispute to be resolved and get your money back that way.

I think you'll find out through their response if they're genuine or not!

Good luck! Hope you're not out of pocket too much!

usignuolo

I did try the email first and got the "tearing our hair out reply" from a family member. I am assuming it is a family member - it may be only a friend. The fact they say the seller's house is now empty with uncollected mail on the mat suggests that he may have been living on his own. He clearly did it as a more or less full time occupation - he had a 100% rating over a long time period.

If the house is empty I assume the stuff being sold has probably been cleared out but someone is monitoring his emails, if only to tell people contacting him that he has died. The stuff is probably long gone. The email only said they basically despaired in getting any sense out of Ebay or Paypal to close it down.

I have lodged a complaint with Paypal. The Ebay link to contact Ebay led to either an international call number in Ireland or a broken email link!

Lil306

Was the seller from Nigeria by any chance?

Sorry had to ask

I'd go with what others have said, but if they're emailing you to say that the seller has died than it means they have access to their account(s)....

googler

e-mail the relatives you've been corresponding with, and ask for the names of the executors for the deceased, whether that's a solicitor firm or not. Armed with this,

Write recorded delivery to 'The Executors of XXX, at XXX', outlining your claim for a debt against the estate of the deceased, specifying the debt can be regarded as either supply of the goods you paid for, or a refund of your money. I'd suggest you write to any address you have anyway, but for the fact that the letter is likely to be returned to you when the PO can't get a signature.

The first thing the executors have to do, after funeral expenses, is settle the debts of the estate - before the estate is distributed to beneficiaries.

Whether you get the name of an executor or not may tell you if it's a scam or not.

If you can't get an executor name, I'd suggest Police or Trading Standards in the area of the eBay seller may take an interest.....

googler

Lil306 wrote: »

Was the seller from Nigeria by any chance?

Sorry had to ask

I'd go with what others have said, but if they're emailing you to say that the seller has died than it means they have access to their account(s)....

It means they have access to the deceased's e-mail (because messages within eBay get forwarded to external e-mail addresses) - doesn't necessarily mean they're logging on to eBay.

weegie.geek

If they have good feedback, they go to auction heaven. If they have bad feedback they go to ebid!

kwikbreaks

All of you blaming the relatives seem to think they have the dead persons eBay and PayPal passwords which may not be the case.

The real fault lies with eBay and PayPal. If the person died weeks ago then there must be a death certificate which they should request and then they should be capable of closing the eBay account down and cancelling all the auctions and stopping any further transactions on PayPal.

I suppose that the lesson that needs to be learned is that you need some way of ensuring your relatives have the passwords if necessary should you die unexpectedly.

The only thing that interests eBay and PayPal is spending as little as possible while turning the handle of their money printing machine.