Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Possibly eBay scam, assistance please?

A

Akuratyde

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 7, 2011
249
1
Hi everyone. My wife and I recently sold an iPad 2 on eBay hoping to make a little extra money as we're in a rather dire financial situation right now due to my wife losing her job.

Now the buyer is claiming the iPad 2 never came, though I suspect they are scamming me for a few reasons.

First, I shipped the item Priority Mail without a tracking number, delivery confirmation, or signature confirmation. I admit that was a huge mistake so let's please not focus on that, I have already been scolded enough times on the eBay forums.

Here's what I want to know, a user on the eBay forums suggested using the serial number to see if the device has been registered yet. Is that possible? I have a photo of the serial number on the back of the box but I assumed that was just the serial number for all iPad 2's, not for that specific iPad 2. Can anyone confirm whether the serial on the back of the box is for the device itself or all iPad 2's? And can anyone please confirm if there is a way to see if it's been registered using the serial?

Thank you!
 
You said not to focus on what you did wrong. I'm not sure what else there is to say other than that you learned a $500+ lesson on not doing it again.

PayPal will likely side with the buyer. Sorry.
 
Yes, I am aware that eBay and PayPal will side with the buyer as I have been scammed on eBay before. My questions were specifically about the serial number and if there's any way to see if the device has been registered.
 
Akuratyde said:
Hi everyone. My wife and I recently sold an iPad 2 on eBay hoping to make a little extra money as we're in a rather dire financial situation right now due to my wife losing her job.

Now the buyer is claiming the iPad 2 never came, though I suspect they are scamming me for a few reasons.

First, I shipped the item Priority Mail without a tracking number, delivery confirmation, or signature confirmation. I admit that was a huge mistake so let's please not focus on that, I have already been scolded enough times on the eBay forums.

Here's what I want to know, a user on the eBay forums suggested using the serial number to see if the device has been registered yet. Is that possible? I have a photo of the serial number on the back of the box but I assumed that was just the serial number for all iPad 2's, not for that specific iPad 2. Can anyone confirm whether the serial on the back of the box is for the device itself or all iPad 2's? And can anyone please confirm if there is a way to see if it's been registered using the serial?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

if the ipad serial do get registered , what will that proof ... apple will not provide you with that persons info ....
 
Akuratyde said:
Here's what I want to know, a user on the eBay forums suggested using the serial number to see if the device has been registered yet. Is that possible? I have a photo of the serial number on the back of the box but I assumed that was just the serial number for all iPad 2's, not for that specific iPad 2. Can anyone confirm whether the serial on the back of the box is for the device itself or all iPad 2's? And can anyone please confirm if there is a way to see if it's been registered using the serial?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

You would have to call Apple for that, but unless things changed they won't help. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2526

However, the number on the back is the serial number of the device.
 
Akuratyde said:
Yes, I am aware that eBay and PayPal will side with the buyer as I have been scammed on eBay before. My questions were specifically about the serial number and if there's any way to see if the device has been registered.
Click to expand...

I just checked my own box, and yes what you see there will be the serial number for the specific iPad 2.

ansabakhan said:
if the ipad serial do get registered , what will that proof ... apple will not provide you with that persons info ....
Click to expand...

If that iPad is registered, it could go towards proving it was indeed delivered.
Edit: there is a web site that could possibly help track the iPad if you have the serial number. I have not used it personally, but saw it recommended in the Apple discussion boards:
http://www.stolen-property.com/
 
Last edited:
Your screwed, PayPal will probably force you to return his money. Always get delivery confirm + sig with anything over $100.

However it could actually be that it sat outside his house and somebody took it before he got home.

This happened to me recently (I believe) with an iPad Touch 4g I bought. It came, was marked as delivered, and never showed up at my front door. Eventually the retailer sent me a new one but took them 5 weeks to do so.
 
I guess you tried to save a few bucks, and in the end you are loosing all your money. I hope you find it. Apple should be able to track it for you.

Without a tracking number it's going to be very difficult to trace your package, unless you could someone contact he destination Post Office and locate the carrier who would have delivered the package. He should be able to confirm delivery of the package. Maybe he did delivered it, but because it didn't require a signature, he may have left it by the door and someone else may have stolen it.
So the buyer may also be thinking he got scammed on eBay because he didn't receive the package.

Always try to use some common sense to prevent this kind of problems. it's not the first time someone in this forum reports something like this. A few extra bucks would have ensure proper delivery and protect you against any scams.
 
laurenr said:
If that iPad is registered, it could go towards proving it was indeed delivered.
Click to expand...


(Devil's advocate) Or it can show that a seller kept it for himself. The fact that the iPad is registered does not mean much unless it can be tied to a specific person/location. The only way I can see Apple letting this information out, if kept at all, is by court order.
 
Maybe he actually didn't receive it. You never know.

If you're positive that he did receive it, you could always sue.

Alternatively, you could probably remove your bank account from Paypal and then close your Paypal account. I'm not sure what Paypal does in that situation. Do they send a collections agency?
 
Your only option is to contact the local police in his area and claim he is trying to defraud you.

At that point if an investigation is launched you might be able to contact Apple for assistance. But even if ipad was activated, it could have been activated by anyone. The buyer could be telling the truth and without any delivery confirmation could easily have been left outside unsecured and anybody could've swiped it.

your trying to see if this solution will help but it's not going to prove that you ever sent it.

Without any confirmation, signature or proof of delivery it's his word against yours.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Move on. I never send any over 200.00 USPS ,FEDEX only and you can track it along the way, he will get his money and the new iPad.:mad:

He will sell it for a profit and order a legit one from Apple.
 
Cutwolf said:
Maybe he actually didn't receive it. You never know.

If you're positive that he did receive it, you could always sue.

Alternatively, you could probably remove your bank account from Paypal and then close your Paypal account. I'm not sure what Paypal does in that situation. Do they send a collections agency?
Click to expand...

I would do this and contact local PD in his area. If you close your paypal account and de-authorize your bank account they can't touch you.

Do call the cops in his area. Even if they just go over and knock to ask questions it might scare him into being truthful
 
Yes, that serial number should be unique to your old iPad.

No, I don't think you can use that in any realistic way to track down your iPad.
Yes, your financial situation just became a bit worse, sorry.
 
yes contacting the local pd in his area. some pd's have nothing better to do and will enjoy going to that guy's house and giving him a hard time
 
also if you have the serial number, maybe you could call apple and say you purchased an ipad and want to double check that you registered it. but give them his name, and if they say yes, you know hes lying
 
Mattstkc said:
I would do this and contact local PD in his area. If you close your paypal account and de-authorize your bank account they can't touch you.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's correct. I had this exact same thing happen to me a few months ago with a cheap $20 printer that I had from a few years back. eBay refunded the money to the buyer but since I had already transferred the funds to my bank account eBay sent me daily notices saying that if I didn't pay them the money within 1 week they would send it to a collection agency.
 
I just got off the phone with Apple, the gentleman that I spoke with was very polite. He did look up the serial number for me but informed me that it had not been registered. He also informed me that if I could give him the person's name (which I have since they paid for it with PayPal) that he could tell me if they are the person who it's registered with, once it becomes registered. So that's VERY helpful, because if the buyer is scamming me, I may be able to verify it.
 
I do nt understand how you donthave a tracking number. If you sent it priority mail isn't that tracking number on your receipt or the green tag attached to the label you filled out? And if you used ebay's print shipping label it should automatically produces tracking number. I'm sorry I just don't understand.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

I would say it's been stolen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back