As a long time buyer on eBay, I recently started selling some items. Only a few items I no longer had use for, and some collectibles that I felt I no longer wanted. Well one of these items I sold is a Mother 3 Deluxe box set, which can go for a several hundred and is a nice collectible for fans of the series.
During the auction I received many messages from people wanting me to sell it to them directly outside of eBay. I ignored these requests and waited for the auction to end. The winning bidder seemed relatively odd in his messages and his location on the account was different than the shipping address on the eBay label. Regardless of that, eBay doesn't seem to allow for cancelling of bids very easily, and they paid right away.
The item was received by the buyer on Monday and last night the user requested a refund saying I did not ship him a few items of the set, most notably the charger. Now that in and of itself doesn't make much sense. The set value is derived from the collectible system, game and Franklin badge, not a gameboy micro charger. I, at this point, still thought he was a legit buyer and may have overlooked the charger, as the box set has several boxes tucked away in its compound packaging. I explained where everything was packed and how to access each component. He replied all the boxes were empty and it only contained the system. I requested that he send me a picture of the empty boxes. At this point he became angry, and it became clear something else was going on.
I called eBay customer support and was basically told I am required to accept the return and provide the buyer a shipping label. I went through that process and will wait for the user to ship the package back. The part that confirms this is a scam is that the buyer has another purchase which he received positive feedback for(made around the same time). On a whim I contacted the seller and asked if he would share the general location of the shipping address. The other seller indicated a shipping address which is not in the lower 48, which my item went to, and that the buyer also immediately requested a refund for his item. So right now I am basically waiting for an empty box to be shipped back to me, my PayPal account negative hundred dollars( because the return caused a hold on my account and the funds had already been transferred out), and from what I can tell very little chance of eBay doing anything to help me once I get an empty box back.
TLDR: Got scammed as a seller eBay. Scammer has all the power through eBay policy. Not going to get my item back.
During the auction I received many messages from people wanting me to sell it to them directly outside of eBay. I ignored these requests and waited for the auction to end. The winning bidder seemed relatively odd in his messages and his location on the account was different than the shipping address on the eBay label. Regardless of that, eBay doesn't seem to allow for cancelling of bids very easily, and they paid right away.
The item was received by the buyer on Monday and last night the user requested a refund saying I did not ship him a few items of the set, most notably the charger. Now that in and of itself doesn't make much sense. The set value is derived from the collectible system, game and Franklin badge, not a gameboy micro charger. I, at this point, still thought he was a legit buyer and may have overlooked the charger, as the box set has several boxes tucked away in its compound packaging. I explained where everything was packed and how to access each component. He replied all the boxes were empty and it only contained the system. I requested that he send me a picture of the empty boxes. At this point he became angry, and it became clear something else was going on.
I called eBay customer support and was basically told I am required to accept the return and provide the buyer a shipping label. I went through that process and will wait for the user to ship the package back. The part that confirms this is a scam is that the buyer has another purchase which he received positive feedback for(made around the same time). On a whim I contacted the seller and asked if he would share the general location of the shipping address. The other seller indicated a shipping address which is not in the lower 48, which my item went to, and that the buyer also immediately requested a refund for his item. So right now I am basically waiting for an empty box to be shipped back to me, my PayPal account negative hundred dollars( because the return caused a hold on my account and the funds had already been transferred out), and from what I can tell very little chance of eBay doing anything to help me once I get an empty box back.
TLDR: Got scammed as a seller eBay. Scammer has all the power through eBay policy. Not going to get my item back.
