Help, I inadvertently sold a fake item, now buyer threatening to report me to police!

Poc

if you Google Mulberry fake handbag you will find a few articles which tell you how to tell a fake Mulberry from a real one. Check the description agains the one you sold.

I can't believe any sensible person would buy an expensive handbag without knowing how to inspect it to check whether it is real or not. Therefore this sounds a scam to me.

Depending on where you live I'd be tempted to tell the police - I live in a small town and the Police are generally very helpful!!! Honest!!!!

Auntie-Dolly

OP still hasn't told us who bought her the bag and if it is likely to be a real one. Who in their right mind spends £700 on a bag that the recipient doesn't like? I suppose she could be Danica from BB!

kennyfong

BobQ wrote: »

All sound advice if the buyer is doing a scam. If she is genuine and has discovered that the OP sold her a fake Mulberry, your "that's tough" approach is apalling.

The point is you won't know which, except by communicating and the more you communicate, the more chances you give yourself to get scammed/pressured or shoot yourself in the foot.

Not being an expert in handbags I honestly couldn't tell if the one I was presented with is the same as the one I sold. How could anyone here say they can do this with a reasonable degree of confidence?

At the end of the day I think it boils down to this:
1. "Tough" approach - live with the knowledge there's a X% chance I scammed someone [inadvertently]
2. "Soft" approach - live with the knowledge there's a Y% chance I've been scammed.

If I can only choose between 1 and 2 (which I believe is the case because you simply don't have enough confidence to judge whether any bag presented to you is the same as the one you sold), then I choose "tough". But you really have to be honest with yourself and try to determine the probability of X. If I received the bag from a known cheapskate who always buys fakes then yes, I would take it back [but then, I wouldn't be selling it as genuine at all without having it checked out by a shop first].

I've been scammed before and bought a fake iPhone from a store in the US and when I took it to the store and they said it was a fake, felt like s**t; I chalk it up to life experience. Lesson learned was if you're not a subject matter expert, pay the retail premium to a reputable store so you have recourse. Buy on gumtree and it's buyer beware.

That all said, I can see there are two sides to this.

Avon2001

Hi, if you're really worried then I'd suggest you repost this on a proper legal forum to get advice from people who know their way around the relevant legislation. On a practical note however, the police are going to take zero interest in this. The reasons for this are many, however at their most fundamental level the fact is that if they took you to court they have to prove you guilty and it would boil down to your word against this woman's. They would not have a leg to stand on, particularly since the woman saw the bag before she parted with her cash. Hence this is really in the Money Moral Dilemma category. In this situation you have to take a 100% position because offering a partial refund or goodwill gesture will be seen as an admission and that could lead to trouble. You can either tell her that the bag was genuine and that she had the opportunity to verify this for herself when she examined it before purchase and that is the end of the matter and that if she wants to take further action that is up to her but you will not respond to further communication or you can refund her and take the risk that you have been scammed. Frankly I think you are the one being scammed and personally I'd tell her to take a hike, but that's me.

BobQ

kennyfong wrote: »

That all said, I can see there are two sides to this.

A fair analysis. Personally I would hate to be scammed but I would hate to be an innadvertent scammer, so I would want to know more.

The OP may not have given the value of the bag much thought until she decided to sell it. But the manufacturer states that a genuine bag comes with an authentification certificate which suggests to me that if you had a Mulberry you would pass it on with the bag.

thecoffeehouse204

Auntie-Dolly wrote: »

OP still hasn't told us who bought her the bag and if it is likely to be a real one. Who in their right mind spends £700 on a bag that the recipient doesn't like? I suppose she could be Danica from BB!

OP states in post 5 that it was an ex partner that bought the bag which doesn't really help that much as it could be an expensive gift from a loving partner or a fake gift that would look expensive and get said partner in the good books.
It's a really tricky one - personally though I would say as you handed over the goods in person she had chance to inspect the item and if I'd been the buyer I would have gone armed with all the info on how to spot a fake, i'd certainly be suspicious at getting such an expensive bag for so such a good price. I think that really it's a case of buyer beware.

1940sGal

Personally in this case I would keep the money. It's not like she bought it without getting to inspect it first, like from ebay or such like. She saw it, and was happy to hand over £350.

If she goes to the police it's up to her to prove you sold her the bag she claims is fake and she could show them any bag.

Ignore her.

uptomyeyeballs

Caveat Emptor

She's not manufacturing counterfeits, she doesn't make a habit of selling expensive items, it's a one-off, the buyer inspected it, the buyer has to prove it's counterfeit, the buyer has to prove the seller knew it to be counterfeit, etc.

Anyone shelling out that kind of money needs to establish legitimacy before parting with the cash and could be considered negligent on her own part for not doing that, so no case to answer as far as I can see. It's simply (lack of) 'due diligence'.

Thrillho

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

Anyone shelling out that kind of money needs to establish legitimacy before parting with the cash and could be considered negligent on her own part for not doing that, so no case to answer as far as I can see. It's simply (lack of) 'due diligence'.

Well on the other hand if you're selling an expensive handbag you need to be sure that it is genuine before listing it. Having tags isn't really enough evidence. Everyone knows fake handbags are everywhere.

scotsbob

I would call the bluff.

What evidence is there for the police to prosecute? Can she prove the bag she has now was obtained from you? If she can't there is no case to answer.