Hello...
macrumors 6502a
I left ebay because of this and now the scammers, they will side with the buyer and never with the seller,you will get stuck with refunding the money and a broken iPad .
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iPad I am being scammed on eBay and I need advice!
- Thread starter journeyof83
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I though this policy was more akin to a credit charge back. Ebay does not advertise this policy, do they? Ebays 45 day policy is already long enough. I guess I have been lucky I've sold several hundred items and haven't had many issues. When I get them I usually just bite the bullet for a couple dollars here or there. I make up for it in the long run.
gnasher729
Suspended
If you sent him a working iPad, and he sent a broken iPad back, an Apple Store can likely tell you who the previous owner was. That might be decent enough evidence.
sanke1
macrumors 65816
That is so true. I met some really good people on EBay while selling a few things and buying some toys I had as a kid in the 60's.
My 2 big issues since I was on EBay since 98 was someone bought an old 35 mm zoom lens I was selling and after buying it he said it did not fit. The buyer had a stellar record on feedback and he sent it back and it was in the same good condition I sold it to him. That was a situation that could have gone good or bad.
My biggest fear as a seller is the "I did not get it" issue. I had a netbook I decided to sell after I was done with school and bought an iPad. I had been selling long enough where I ship with insurance and tracking. Three days after I read it was delivered he emails me saying he did not get it. So I was nice saying how I typed in the number which he also had showing the package was delivered and that I had plenty of insurance in case it was stolen or not delivered. Not sure what he was up to but 12 hours later he "found it" and no further issues. Reading his feedback he had a few issues as a seller so I was never sure if he thought my shipment was not covered or it was just an honest mistake.
And like you said it is who you deal with. Speciality items like the old toys I collected are not mainstream. Not everyone is looking for them. But cell phones and other electronics brings out the good and bad people and we just hope the bad ones do not bid on your auction!
jcarlough
macrumors newbie
I stopped selling after a buyer purchased a high price piece of recording equipment, and decided to open it up because it had "problems". It wasn't a user serviceable device.
I think he was hoping I'd roll over and give him some money back. I told him to "shove it" (nicely) because now the warranty was void - evenif there was an issue (there wasn't) I couldn't warranty it now that he opened it.
Is rather let something collect dust from non-use then deal with that crap.
I think he was hoping I'd roll over and give him some money back. I told him to "shove it" (nicely) because now the warranty was void - evenif there was an issue (there wasn't) I couldn't warranty it now that he opened it.
Is rather let something collect dust from non-use then deal with that crap.
Nice you scored one. I spent 5 hours trying to buy one for myself but the website completely crashed on me. I'm pretty annoyed at Sony about the whole thing.
I was also trying for hours and somehow I got to the last step and it crashed. I never received Sony email confirmation but I somehow did get a paypal receipt. To make a long story short, the order never actually went through - I complained to the manager/s - they decided to sell me a system after it was sold out. Where did it come from? UK stock, Canada? Who knows but they did indeed sell me one about 2 weeks after the launch day..
That's cool for you. I'm not sure why but I'm really irritated with Sony right now. Probably done with the plystation brand for awhile.
YanniDepp
macrumors 6502a
Don't sell anything valuable on eBay. As others have already said, they're a shower of cocks.
I listed my 2009 MacBook. I said I'd only sell to people with good feedback. The winning bidder is someone with zero feedback who has only just opened an account two hours before the auction closed. So, naturally, I refused the transaction.
eBay said that if I cancelled, I'd still need to pay all the fees: between the listing fee and the final value fee, it was £40 (about $60). They were useless on the phone: the guy actually said "I can see you're right, but there's nothing I can do. Just pay the fees and learn from the experience".
I sent them a letter, threatening to take them to court. The fees vanished from my account 😀
I listed my 2009 MacBook. I said I'd only sell to people with good feedback. The winning bidder is someone with zero feedback who has only just opened an account two hours before the auction closed. So, naturally, I refused the transaction.
eBay said that if I cancelled, I'd still need to pay all the fees: between the listing fee and the final value fee, it was £40 (about $60). They were useless on the phone: the guy actually said "I can see you're right, but there's nothing I can do. Just pay the fees and learn from the experience".
I sent them a letter, threatening to take them to court. The fees vanished from my account 😀
lordofthereef
macrumors G5
It's not possible, as a buyer, to receive negative feedback anymore.
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Reason for it is credit card fraud claims. People get buyers temorse and they file a claim with their credit card company. Ebay doesn't want to continue losing that money so they send the bill to their seller.
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They probably didn't want to deal with you. But it's against their policy to refuse dale to a person with a certain amount of feedbacks. Think about it. How is a new legitimate buyer supposed to get started on eBay if they allow sellers to have policies like this?
Not saying you did the wrong thing, but that policy makes a lot of sense.
The-Real-Deal82
macrumors P6
I totally agree with you. I sold an iPhone 5 back in September and I don't think a device that has already had a fairly long life by electronics standards should have to be guaranteed for another 6 months by the seller. A device can break down in the first 6 months or never break down, but once the manufacturers warranty has expired it really should be buy at your own risk. You could in effect sell a 20 year old car and then have somebody asking for their money back because its broken down after 5 months of owning it! That is totally unfair and I am considering never selling anything on eBay ever again. It is far too risky.
What the hell has happened to eBay anyway? I've had an account since 2000 and it suddenly seems very expensive selling on there now! I made a mistake a year or two back after not selling anything on there for a while where I listed 3 items and just kept re-listing them only to be charged £12. I hadn't realised listing fee's had been introduced and this along with a 10% sale fee makes it an expensive option. Since selling the iPhone I use Facebook selling groups local to me.
I hope the OP didn't get too burned in the end.
The-Real-Deal82
macrumors P6
In the last hour my iPhone 5 32GB White was on eBay I had about 30 emails offering me anything from £50 to I think £160 for it. One woman said 'look there is only 20 mins left and my offer is a good one (£110). You are dreaming if you think you'll get any more than that!!'.. She seemed aggressive so I blocked her from bidding and the phone eventually went for £259.30. The £50 offer I couldn't believe. I hate people who try and hustle you into ending the bidding and especially if you have done and then they disappear. Ebay has too many flaws in that regard. 🙂
newellj
macrumors G3
Newtons Apple
Suspended
I would have deleted the buyers bid and blocked them from ever bidding again if there is time. The problem is that he could bid at the last few seconds not giving you time to see his feedback.
The best you can do is check the serial when it comes back.
crjackson2134
macrumors 601
I used to own a franchised eBay drop-off store (brick & mortar store). I sold over $100k monthly. The money wasn't worth the hassle at all. The parent company sent us owners to school and gave us operation manuals on how to avoid these types of problems.
I never got beat out of a single Penney by scammers, but they caused me so many problems it was ridiculous. The reason I never got beat was because us franchise owners were very high volume sellers, and we had our own eBay account reps. (Employed by eBay)that we called for help. I can't tell you how many people I've personally had banned for life from eBay. Also, don't think that you can simply make a new user account. They block/ban anyone using the IP address of the banned user.
It doesn't work like this as an individual seller, and it's easy to get scammed if you are an average / casual user. I'm confident that I can sell on eBay without being scammed, but it's so much trouble it's not worth it at all.
eBay sucks if you are an honest merchant. You're better off selling local for cash, face to face, all sales final.
I hope you got your problem resolved, please post back and let us know.
I never got beat out of a single Penney by scammers, but they caused me so many problems it was ridiculous. The reason I never got beat was because us franchise owners were very high volume sellers, and we had our own eBay account reps. (Employed by eBay)that we called for help. I can't tell you how many people I've personally had banned for life from eBay. Also, don't think that you can simply make a new user account. They block/ban anyone using the IP address of the banned user.
It doesn't work like this as an individual seller, and it's easy to get scammed if you are an average / casual user. I'm confident that I can sell on eBay without being scammed, but it's so much trouble it's not worth it at all.
eBay sucks if you are an honest merchant. You're better off selling local for cash, face to face, all sales final.
I hope you got your problem resolved, please post back and let us know.
eBay these days just seems to be out to get the little guy - what you mentioned above is one of the reasons I don't really buy from eBay powersellers any more.
There are 2 problems. The first is the scammers. Large sellers are pretty much immune from scammers as they actually get proper support from eBay. Small sellers are on their own.
When it comes to buying - if I buy from a small seller and something is wrong, eBay will invariably side with me. The seller obviously doesn't bring in enough revenue to worry about. If you buy from a powerseller - everything changes though. Suddenly, because you're dealing with a high-volume seller who brings in lots of revenue, eBay doesn't care about the buyer. I had this recently when a large seller sent me the wrong item. They denied it, eBay closed the case in their favour, even though I had clearly showed photographs of the other item (which they also sell and I hadn't ordered). Capital one were great though and did a chargeback (even though it was only £15) - so the little buggers didn't win in the end.
Golden rule of thumb - eBay only cares about eBay.
crjackson2134
macrumors 601
No argument here. Back when I was selling, both buyer & seller had recourse, but it was pretty tough on the seller. You didn't want an unhappy customer as it affected sales and feedback. Being a franchise business you're not allowed to have unresolved negative feedback. Corporate got involved, and was in control in the end.
I left eBay many years ago. They have poor ethical policy in my opinion.
Dowjohnny
macrumors 6502a
I also really dislike eBay nowadays, for all the reasons that have been explained in this thread (ridiculous buyer protection)
However, i have found that it really depends on what you are trying to sell. I can only say hands off when selling iphone, computer etc, since these items attract the eBay scum.
But when selling collector's items or sth like that it is just fine. I recently sold stuff that would have gotten me nothing when offered just locally..
However, i have found that it really depends on what you are trying to sell. I can only say hands off when selling iphone, computer etc, since these items attract the eBay scum.
But when selling collector's items or sth like that it is just fine. I recently sold stuff that would have gotten me nothing when offered just locally..
Another thing I noticed is when I was trying to sell my old MacBook a year ago on EBay that no sooner was it listed was the generic, very similar, email message of being a student in school, no income, and making a super lowball offer. 5 emails in a few hours all very similar. I blocked every sender and that is when I knew this was not worth the hassle as far as electronics selling goes.
When dealing with old toys, nothing but a pleasure with some great buyers and sellers. Reminded me of being on EBay 15 years ago.
I'm back...with good news!
Everyone, apologies for the long delay. I did not want to reply until I had an update, good or bad. Honestly, everyday when I was looking at this thread, I was just becoming stressed out, so I took a little leave away from the forum, no offense! Everyone has been great with your advice and suggestions.
I was going back and forth with the scammer through eBay's case resolution thingy, and let me say I was just throwing down some really harsh (but civil) words. It basically came down to my tone being something like, "Send the iPad back to me immediately, I am ready for it, bring it on!" I was ready to video-document my entire process from the UPS delivery down to me going to the Apple Store and having them open it.
I. WAS. READY.
Although I didn't tell the scammer these details, but I let him know I am ready to fight, no matter what. This became more than money to me at this point, it was principal.
One of the last things he said to me was something along the lines of "...please work with me or I will send it back and then you can resell it." If the iPad was legitimately broken, wouldn't any normal person say "you sent me junk, give me a refund...NOW!" Why does he care what I do? Maybe he wants to console me so that I can sell his broken iPad for parts.
Anyways, a few days after that, eBay closed the case. Didn't even say why or for what reasons. It was just closed. So I wanted to wait out the 45 days. Here we are on day 55, and I haven't heard anything from eBay or the buyer. I transferred the money from my PayPal to my girlfriend's account and we are all really happy.
Moving forward, I still give eBay a huge middle finger for even allowing something this obvious to happen. I've sold some books on there since then but I don't think we're going to be selling anymore electronics, especially Apple products - they hold such high value, it attracts the scum of the internet.
Lastly, the fact that I won this by that scum cowering and skittering away proves that he is a true scammer. eBay needs to recognize that and take a long, hard look at their policies.
I want to thank everyone again for all your helpful and KIND words! It was very much appreciated and I'm glad this is over.
Everyone, apologies for the long delay. I did not want to reply until I had an update, good or bad. Honestly, everyday when I was looking at this thread, I was just becoming stressed out, so I took a little leave away from the forum, no offense! Everyone has been great with your advice and suggestions.
I was going back and forth with the scammer through eBay's case resolution thingy, and let me say I was just throwing down some really harsh (but civil) words. It basically came down to my tone being something like, "Send the iPad back to me immediately, I am ready for it, bring it on!" I was ready to video-document my entire process from the UPS delivery down to me going to the Apple Store and having them open it.
I. WAS. READY.
Although I didn't tell the scammer these details, but I let him know I am ready to fight, no matter what. This became more than money to me at this point, it was principal.
One of the last things he said to me was something along the lines of "...please work with me or I will send it back and then you can resell it." If the iPad was legitimately broken, wouldn't any normal person say "you sent me junk, give me a refund...NOW!" Why does he care what I do? Maybe he wants to console me so that I can sell his broken iPad for parts.
Anyways, a few days after that, eBay closed the case. Didn't even say why or for what reasons. It was just closed. So I wanted to wait out the 45 days. Here we are on day 55, and I haven't heard anything from eBay or the buyer. I transferred the money from my PayPal to my girlfriend's account and we are all really happy.
Moving forward, I still give eBay a huge middle finger for even allowing something this obvious to happen. I've sold some books on there since then but I don't think we're going to be selling anymore electronics, especially Apple products - they hold such high value, it attracts the scum of the internet.
Lastly, the fact that I won this by that scum cowering and skittering away proves that he is a true scammer. eBay needs to recognize that and take a long, hard look at their policies.
I want to thank everyone again for all your helpful and KIND words! It was very much appreciated and I'm glad this is over.
Mattym62
macrumors regular
Ive been following your thread. I am glad things worked out for you. I stopped using eBay to sell ANYTHING years ago after they tried to screw me. I got an email saying that since I haven't sold anything in a long time, they would waive all fees including the final listing fee for one single item. I thought that would be cool, and decided to sell my extra LG G2 unlocked phone that I had gotten a few weeks prior. (I worked in wireless and we always got hooked up by phone companies with phones at events, and after we used them for a certain amount of time, we could sell them).
Well I sell the phone for $650.00 buy it now. A month goes by, and I get an invoice from eBay for $65.00 for the final listing fee. I emailed them immediately and they responded that the email I had gotten was incorrect, and only the fees to list the item were waived. I promptly called and the guy I spoke to treated me like I was an idiot, and said to me "Yea, I know you must be thinking you got all this money for selling a phone, but you are no different than anybody else that sells on eBay, including me, who sells on eBay regularly". At that point, I just requested a supervisor. He came back on the line and told me that one was not available, and that they would have to call me back. I figured ok whatever, i'll never get called back, i'll just call again tomorrow and deal with somebody else. Ironically, the very next day, a supervisor called me, confirmed with me the email that I was sent, and waived the $65.00 fee. She was the most pleasant person to deal with, but after having to jump through hoops to get what was promised, I decided that I no longer would sell on eBay.. Sorry for the long post, but figured i'd share my story.
Well I sell the phone for $650.00 buy it now. A month goes by, and I get an invoice from eBay for $65.00 for the final listing fee. I emailed them immediately and they responded that the email I had gotten was incorrect, and only the fees to list the item were waived. I promptly called and the guy I spoke to treated me like I was an idiot, and said to me "Yea, I know you must be thinking you got all this money for selling a phone, but you are no different than anybody else that sells on eBay, including me, who sells on eBay regularly". At that point, I just requested a supervisor. He came back on the line and told me that one was not available, and that they would have to call me back. I figured ok whatever, i'll never get called back, i'll just call again tomorrow and deal with somebody else. Ironically, the very next day, a supervisor called me, confirmed with me the email that I was sent, and waived the $65.00 fee. She was the most pleasant person to deal with, but after having to jump through hoops to get what was promised, I decided that I no longer would sell on eBay.. Sorry for the long post, but figured i'd share my story.