BEWARE! - Thinking of selling something on Ebay?

Lazydayz71

custardy said:

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?

Hi Custardy

No. I don't think that would be practical.

I might be willing to pay the cost if it was a resonable amount.

However, the original point was not about finding a solution, but about Ebay making people aware of the risks before they list an item for sale. hence the reason why I'm 'spouting' (as you put it) about this issue.

Maybe Trading Standards could force Ebay to make people aware of the risks before using their service, in the same way that when you buy investments you are warned that values may go down as well as up. In my opinion that would be a perfect solution.

Flyonthewall

Lazydayz71 said:

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"

They sound like computer automated responses. Sometimes you have to try getting through to someone who will go off script/fully understand the issue or take it higher.

Have you tried contacting Paypal instead of ebay? I assume the payment went through them? Might not help if the case was through ebay, they may be limited as to what they can do, but could be worth contacting them to see as the payment and refund would have been processed through them.

I think most places are the same. Scripts, automated responses, don't want to pay out etc. Only difference with ebay is that you can have problems as a buyer and seller and you're dealing with an appeal process if the original dispute doesn't go your way. It can be frustrating.

Lazydayz71

Flyonthewall said:

They sound like computer automated responses. Sometimes you have to try getting through to someone who will go off script/fully understand the issue or take it higher.

Yes, I agree it does sound like computer automated replies but unfortunately more than one Ebay rep repeated the same line to me on the telephone.

I received some really strange email replies from Ebay, I did ask a rep if they were real people replying or automated replies but he assured me they were all actual people.

Lazydayz71

Flyonthewall said:

Have you tried contacting Paypal instead of ebay? I assume the payment went through them? Might not help if the case was through ebay, they may be limited as to what they can do, but could be worth contacting them to see as the payment and refund would have been processed through them.

Hi, yes the payment and refund were made via PayPal, I haven't contacted PayPal yet but I will give it a try. Thanks.

mimi1234

Keep phoning eBay.  I had a similar situation where I sold some posh eye cream worth about £100.  Buyer sent back her old tube which was covered in hair, completely empty and smelt like she had put it in a deep fat fryer.  

I, too, had the same argument with eBay repeatedly but they sided with the buyer saying they didn't know what I had sent and whether it was the same thing or a different item to what was returned.  It almost felt like the eBay staff were reading from a script - regardless of how many people I spoke to, I got the same sentence in response.

Anyway,  I went through the buyers feedback and found another negative she gave to a seller for the same posh eye cream a few months before with the same "item not as described" feedback.  I contacted the seller who had the same return debacle as me.  We both contacted eBay again and got our money back.  It was a lot of effort but it put me right off selling anything more than a few quid. 

I don't think it's just eBay, there are scammers everywhere.  You just have to be careful and weigh up the pro's and con's of it all.  

OP - I am sorry you lost out on so much money.

Flyonthewall

Lazydayz71 said:

Flyonthewall said:

They sound like computer automated responses. Sometimes you have to try getting through to someone who will go off script/fully understand the issue or take it higher.

Yes, I agree it does sound like computer automated replies but unfortunately more than one Ebay rep repeated the same line to me on the telephone.

I received some really strange email replies from Ebay, I did ask a rep if they were real people replying or automated replies but he assured me they were all actual people.

Yeah, they all read from a script. It's, sadly, why you have to keep trying to get through to different people or ask for their supervisor/manager. Not just for ebay, but most big companies. I get why they have scripts as they must get a lot of the same questions and they need to give clear answers. However, when you get someone who refuses to understand the issue and won't go off script or even check another section of the script it's not helpful.

Even if someone has sent it they'll be copying and pasting usually, it won't be personal. If they're strange emails as in their English is poor or they're not answering the question asked, but picking on key words and giving a completely different answer to expected, it's probably a person in another country whose first language isn't English. 

All I can say is keep trying with ebay and see what Paypal say. It's annoying, but hopefully you'll get your money back eventually!

Lazydayz71

Flyonthewall said:

All I can say is keep trying with ebay and see what Paypal say. It's annoying, but hopefully you'll get your money back eventually!

Thanks, I'll keep trying, fingers crossed.

It just seems to be a lot of work and hassle to get back to where I started! Wish I'd never bothered now.

custardy

Lazydayz71 said:

custardy said:

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?

Hi Custardy

No. I don't think that would be practical.

I might be willing to pay the cost if it was a resonable amount.

However, the original point was not about finding a solution, but about Ebay making people aware of the risks before they list an item for sale. hence the reason why I'm 'spouting' (as you put it) about this issue.

Maybe Trading Standards could force Ebay to make people aware of the risks before using their service, in the same way that when you buy investments you are warned that values may go down as well as up. In my opinion that would be a perfect solution.

Be honest. If eBay listed all potential pitfalls selling with them,it would be a wall of text.
You would tick a box to say you read it and move on.

Lazydayz71

custardy said:

Be honest. If eBay listed all potential pitfalls selling with them,it would be a wall of text.
You would tick a box to say you read it and move on.

No, I don't believe EBay need to list all the potential pitfalls, just make it clear there's a risk a fraudulent Buyer can steal your item and there's nothing Ebay can do to prevent it.

At least then the Seller would have the opportunity to make an informed decision as to whether they're willing to take the risk or not.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone new to Ebay with little or no feedback, they've purchased a couple of items without any problem, then they decide to list their £500 laptop for sale. Due to low feedback, obvious inexperience and a high value item, they would be a prime target for scammers. They lose their £500 laptop and when they complain to Ebay they're told there's nothiing that can be done about it because:

"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"

custardy

Lazydayz71 said:

custardy said:

Be honest. If eBay listed all potential pitfalls selling with them,it would be a wall of text.
You would tick a box to say you read it and move on.

No, I don't believe EBay need to list all the potential pitfalls, just make it clear there's a risk a fraudulent Buyer can steal your item and there's nothing Ebay can do to prevent it.

At least then the Seller would have the opportunity to make an informed decision as to whether they're willing to take the risk or not.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone new to Ebay with little or no feedback, they've purchased a couple of items without any problem, then they decide to list their £500 laptop for sale. Due to low feedback, obvious inexperience and a high value item, they would be a prime target for scammers. They lose their £500 laptop and when they complain to Ebay they're told there's nothiing that can be done about it because:

"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"

You want ebay to explain they dont handle your item for you as a seller that you post yourself?

Theres pages and pages in the ebay safety centre etc
Eg