BEWARE! - Thinking of selling something on Ebay?

custardy

Lazydayz71 said:

custardy said:

Why do you feel your thread here makes people aware?

Hi Custardy, it's pretty obvious isn't it?

People reading the thread will be made aware there's a big hole in the protection for Sellers that can be easily be exploited.

What about all the threads before yours?
Your 'extensive research' is after the fact.

Flyonthewall

Deleted_User said:

This is a well known scam on ebay. Even experienced sellers this has happened too.
Was your feedback for selling low? I know their feedback was ok but sellers can no longer leave negative feedback.
Not that it helps much but I just leave a positive feedback but type in the comment section 'BE WARNED SCAMMER' or something to that effect.
If you have decent feedback and have been an Ebay seller for years etc they normally pay out.

You shouldn't leave a negative comment as a positive. A lot of people won't read the positive, they can just see an extra positive transaction and it will add to their trust in their buyer. Plus the buyer can get it removed.

You should report the buyer and leave no feedback.

Lazydayz71

NBLondon said:

And this is the key question the OP has not answered....

Does a £300 camera have a serial number?

Hi NBLondon, yes it definately has a serial number. Yes, I got some great detailed photographs of the serial number, but sadly it doesn't help.

You always come back to the original problem... It's impossible to prove what was in the box that I sent to the Buyer.

robsithninja

There is a video on youtube by Nic & Andrea Hills that illustrates exactly how useless ebay seller protection is.

The video is called 'ebay buyer returns broken item - We ask ebay seller protection for help - Selling on ebay'.

In it they show how they sold an expensive car part, the buyer damaged it and returned it for a full refund and left the seller out of pocket to the tune of £300.

Flyonthewall

Lazydayz71 said:

custardy said:

As is pretty much always the case. What research did you do on this?

Having experienced the scam first hand is extremely good and relaible research! 

That's not research, that's experience which you gain after. This is now part of research for others, but that wasn't their question.

Before selling I looked up how to sell and common issues and how returns/cases work and read through scams even though most weren't aimed at the items I was selling. I basically read everything I could about ebay and I'm sure I did the same before buying too. I also keep checking boards like this and reading stuff about ebay to keep up with the latest scams, issues and changes.

I have asked advice on here for a couple of situations, but even then it's more of a confirmation or have I missed anything. I could have managed the situation without asking, I just like to be certain I'm doing the right thing.

Lazydayz71

custardy said:

Someone is wronged and comes on a forum spouting about it as if its new news. Sadly its not.

Hi Custardy, yes as you say it's not new news, it's been going on for years. That's exactly why I'm 'spouting' about it!

Hopefully 'spouting' about it might prevent someone else losing out, even if it does upset you in the process.

Flyonthewall

Lazydayz71 said:

Flyonthewall said:

If this is a recent case, get as much evidence as you can together and try phoning ebay.

As I said:  Over a number of days I spoke to Ebay via telephone and email. All they kept telling me was that as they hadn't handled the item, they had no way of confirming what was in the parcel I sent.

Did you offer any evidence though? Just stating an item is different won't get you anywhere because, as they say, they weren't handling the item. You need solid evidence.

Receipts, serial numbers, buyer messages.

You wouldn't go to court holding the item you got back and a photo of you at the post office and expect a judge to rule in your favour. Same goes for ebay.

Lazydayz71

Flyonthewall said:

Did you offer any evidence though? Just stating an item is different won't get you anywhere because, as they say, they weren't handling the item. You need solid evidence.

Receipts, serial numbers, buyer messages.
You wouldn't go to court holding the item you got back and a photo of you at the post office and expect a judge to rule in your favour. Same goes for ebay.

Hi Flyonthewall, yes I uploaded and supplied as much evidence as absolutely possible; photos, serial number, Post Office tracking, parcel weights, Ebay can see all the messages between myself and the Buyer.

Unfortunately none of this helps as Ebay has a standard response that they repeat with slightly different wording:

"We are an online platform and we don't have the item in our possession. We cannot compare the item sent by you and the item received by the buyer"

and again...

"eBay doesn't see or handle items, so it's difficult for us to determine the exact condition of the item when it was sent or received"

Lazydayz71

robsithninja said:

There is a video on youtube by Nic & Andrea Hills that illustrates exactly how useless ebay seller protection is.
The video is called 'ebay buyer returns broken item - We ask ebay seller protection for help - Selling on ebay'.
In it they show how they sold an expensive car part, the buyer damaged it and returned it for a full refund and left the seller out of pocket to the tune of £300.

Hi, thanks for that, I've just watched it.

Interestingly there's also a follow up video where they read out the apology received from the President of Ebay's office. In the apology letter Ebay say the following:

"Your story highlighted a number of areas of concern within our policies and our customer service. I wanted to let you know it has the attention of leadership, I want to let you know that we hear you and will review this"

custardy

Lazydayz71 said:

robsithninja said:

There is a video on youtube by Nic & Andrea Hills that illustrates exactly how useless ebay seller protection is.
The video is called 'ebay buyer returns broken item - We ask ebay seller protection for help - Selling on ebay'.
In it they show how they sold an expensive car part, the buyer damaged it and returned it for a full refund and left the seller out of pocket to the tune of £300.

Hi, thanks for that, I've just watched it.

Interestingly there's also a follow up video where they read out the apology received from the President of Ebay's office. In the apology letter Ebay say the following:

"Your story highlighted a number of areas of concern within our policies and our customer service. I wanted to let you know it has the attention of leadership, I want to let you know that we hear you and will review this"

The only way around this is to introduce a qualified third party to deal with escrow type service.
Do you see that as practical?
Would you be willing it pay the cost?