Obtain seller information to pursue civil action

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

I'm in need of some advice on an issue I've run into with a purchase from October. I bought a rare Japanese Pokémon box costing over £3,100, which was supposed to include two valuable promotional cards. Upon its arrival, I inspected the box's plastic seal and didn't notice any tampering, so I added it to my collection — I sometimes collect sealed products in addition to the cards themselves.

However, a few months later, when I decided to open the box and retrieve the cards, I discovered that the promotional cards were missing. This was a clear indication that the item had been tampered with prior to it coming into my possession, despite the initial appearance of the seal being intact.

I have submitted a report to the police via Action Fraud and I'm now considering taking further steps, including potentially initiating small claims court action. However, I need to obtain the seller's contact information to proceed.

Could anyone advise on the best way to go about obtaining a seller's details for a purchase dispute? I understand the importance of privacy and data protection laws, so I'm looking for a way to do this that respects eBay's policies and legal standards.

Any advice on how to navigate this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help.

[douglaspuglas]

Did you pay by PayPal?

If so you may still be in time to open a case in their resolution centre.

They currently allow not as described cases to be opened up to 180 days from when payment was made.

However in May they are will be reducing the timeframe down to 30 days.

[*knight-rider*]

Or for that amount, concider a chargeback through your credit/debit card company, especially if you used a credit card!

Was it purchased within the u.k?

[papso22]

I understand that eBay will only give out private seller information if they receive a letter from a solicitor. 

[1956glyn]

Ouch referring to your last sentence i did not know that.

So in future possibly a lot more Bank chargebacks do you think?

[tressygirl]

Yep,  it was announced sometime ago that PayPal's buyer protection is coming down from 180 to 30 days, so it would seem there is a possibillity of more chargebacks then on the horizon.

[1956glyn]

And that may well equate to further bad news for sellers.  eg extra fees and chargebacks generally are harder to fight than a Paypal case 😞

as to buyers......unless they know about chargebacks or come to the boards for advice they may just assume they are stuck with an item if a seller deliberately runs them out of time (which obv already happens)

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

I did pay via PayPal and I opened a dispute within the 180 day timeframe. Unfortunately, it was closed because apparently buyer protection only covered 30 days after delivery for items not as described.

I paid with an Amex through PayPal and their chargeback timeframe is only 120 days - which I unfortunately missed.

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

Yeah, it was within the UK.

I paid via PayPal and tried to dispute but they closed it because protection against items not as described only covers 30 days after delivery.

Ive missed my credit chargeback timeframe unfortunately.

[papso22]

---

@the_yellow_pokemon_rat wrote:

I did pay via PayPal and I opened a dispute within the 180 day timeframe. Unfortunately, it was closed because apparently buyer protection only covered 30 days after delivery for items not as described.

I paid with an Amex through PayPal and their chargeback timeframe is only 120 days - which I unfortunately missed.

---

That's very strange, the PayPal buyer protection guidance still says 180, which goes with the May start date for the change to 30.

[douglaspuglas]

That doesn't seem fair as according to the the PayPal announcement the reduced timeframe for SNADs comes into affect on the 28th May in the UK.

Amendments to the PayPal Buyer Protection Program
Effective 28 May, 2024:

• In addition to meeting all other eligibility requirements for PayPal’s Buyer Protection Program, disputes asserting Significantly Not as Described claims must be opened by the buyer in the Resolution Centre within 30 days of the delivery or fulfilment of an order or within 180 days of the date a payment was sent by the buyer to the seller, whichever is sooner. The timeframes for opening other disputes asserting other claim types (including Item Not Received, Unauthorised Transactions, or other errors) are not changing at this time.

If you are within 10 days of the case closing it may be worth appealing.

Or contact them and ask why they rejected your case when the 30 days timeframe doesn't come into effect until the 28th May 2024.

[*knight-rider*]

Then, for over £3k and if you can find oht the sellers details, i would concider small claims court, but be prepared for possibly a lengthly process. Small claims courts only grant judgements, they can't/don't force payments, so if they didn't pay, you'd need to get bailiffs involved. I'd seek legal/c.a.b advice first and look at your options, but you need to find who they are first 😉

[technthread]

It would be very difficult to substantiate this claim I would have thought. Did you video yourself opening the pack?

[pg_kicks]

A video only proves at that point were the 2 cards not in the packet, the seller could easily just say they were sent like that and the buyer has opened it removed the 2 valuable items and resealed it (like they claim the seller has done) and then videoed opening. I am in no way saying the OP has done that but somebody has and a video doesnt prove who has removed and resealed. Thats why INAD are so heavily weighted in the buyer, they just need to claim its not as described and they are basically awarded the win, if they had to prove it in court I'd guess 75% would fail. 

Again I am in no way saying the buyer has done this or is is wrong in his claim, just proving something is not as described especially when you've had it for 6 months is pretty hard.

[technthread]

The seller may have bought them like that too and were unknowingly scammed themselves. Plus there is the issue of how long the eBay listing with the important details is accessible to be investigated.

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

Yeah, I have high res pictures of the box & seal when it arrived and recorded the opening showing the seal before breaking the plastic.

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

Video of box being opened - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxuxs0LbtZA

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

Cards should been housed within the white inner box. See example photo below - 

[the_yellow_pokemon_rat]

Also, I noticed the seller (who only had 12 sales on eBay) sold the 2 exact cards that were missing from the box 



Obviously not concrete proof but pretty suspicious.

[four_mid_able]

If the seller was registered as a business and you went through small claims court and won you would have a chance as bailiffs could be brought in to act.Doesn't actually mean you would get your money back as costs would come in to it and sellers address may not be their own,they could possibly just be living with someone who could not be tied in to things at all.

As the seller is private the same scenario does not apply as bailiffs could not force entry to recover goods to resell to the value of any claim.

If you did actually manage to go to court it would be your word against theirs ,how would you actually prove the items were missing ?.