Info from experienced ebayers

oldernonethewiser

I have used eBay on and off for many years but not really done much buying and selling.

I am wondering if anyone can explain what the process might be or how it works when reporting a seller.

Background: - I bought Apple Airpods Pro Gen 2.  Described as opened never used.

Delivered a little later than advertised but nothing unusual about that.  

Long story short, they were not genuine. Confirmed when I took them into Apple store.  Opened case returned to seller who didn't respond in any way and eventually refund given by eBay.  All good.

While waiting for seller to respond noticed they were still selling Airpods but now as Brand New, Sealed, despite using the pictures of them out of the box.

Once I had my money back I reported the seller for selling counterfeit goods.  Got an acknowledgement from eBay and since heard nothiing .

Almost two weeks later and the seller is still selling conterfeit goods.

My questions:

Do eBay update the complainant (me)?

Do eBay do anything to stop the seller?

Is there any indication of a timescale for either of the above happening?

I have never reported anyone before so interested in the process.

(As well as hoping to stop anyone else being conned)

Brie

any chance that it's only yours that were dodgy?

oldernonethewiser

Nope. 

I was shown in the Apple store how many times they were aware of the same serial number having been used.

And that doesn't explain the selling of more than one pair from the same seller.

steveE2

My questions:

Do eBay update the complainant (me)? No eBay never tell you what actions they may or may not take against a seller

Do eBay do anything to stop the seller?May give warnings,stop listings eventually but only after numerous reports 

Is there any indication of a timescale for either of the above happening?Not a chance

se2020

I would guess that the seller bought a load of fake ones.
Opened the first pair up to take the photos and sold them to you.
The rest are still sealed so they are just selling them using the photo of your pair.

What you should have done (although you may have done this) is opened a 'not as described' dispute giving the reason as 'item is fake or counterfeit'
The seller would argue this and ebay would ask for proof of them being fake (letter from the apple store)
You would then not have to return the item but would still get a refund.

Sounds like you may have opened a different type of dispute,  or, ebay just.closed the case as the seller didn't respond. 

There is very little chance a real person at ebay has read anything you have written in the dispute.  You need to use the automated process (counterfeit item) and a few different buyers need to do the same. The seller will then get banned if they are fairly new. An established seller with a larger variety of items listed will get a warning (or several) before getting a suspension or eventually a ban.

About the best thing you can do is leave negative feedback keeping it impersonal and factual.
Something like "airpods confirmed as FAKE by apple store, no response from seller, refunded from ebay"

oldernonethewiser

Thanks for the replies.  

Didn't expect much in the way of responses from eBay but was curious to learn what might happen. 

forgotmyname

Some sellers are clamped down hard when reported for selling fake goods and yet some sellers get away with it. Having plenty
of sales and a good reputation helps but not a guarantee.

Several sellers all with the same pirated game cartridge, some would get the listings closed, some would get banned in full and there
would be the odd seller for that item where they continue to sell the same fake item. All using the same wording and photo's so
obvious it's not a genuine item.

And no they won't update you on what action even if your on the team monitoring the sale of these items.

GabbaGabbaHey

se2020 said:

About the best thing you can do is leave negative feedback keeping it impersonal and factual.
Something like "airpods confirmed as FAKE by apple store, no response from seller, refunded from ebay"

I'm sure that I've read on here that mentioning an eBay dispute is sufficient for a seller to get negative feedback removed. Would this count?

forgotmyname

ebay refunded could get it removed even though that appears on a lot of feedback, don't risk it.

Spoonie_Turtle

Would 'eBay sorted' / 'sorted it' be less likely to qualify as reason for removal?  Because feedback that's not allowed to accurately tell you the seller refused to engage is not helpful for other buyers.

oldernonethewiser

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Would 'eBay sorted' / 'sorted it' be less likely to qualify as reason for removal?  Because feedback that's not allowed to accurately tell you the seller refused to engage is not helpful for other buyers.

As you are now allowed to add supplementary feedback, I did so pointing out the fact that I was sold counterfeit goods.

Seller still selling conterfeit stuff.