Private Inexperienced Seller - Am I being Scammed/Conned - What Do I Do | Member To Member Support

equinehealing · 2026-06-04T10:35:35.076000Z

I sold a Hat New w Tags on 31/5 - used EBay automatic postage. Packed it in a Large Hat Transportation Box with expandable paper internal packing plus reams of milleners tissue & the hat also was wrapped in delicate tissue. I sealed box with tape marked fragile. Post Office take EVRI Courier deliveries - Post Office printed the label & affixed it to the large box. I have the receipt. Post Office have cctv at the counter. Yesterday buyer emailed with a terse message saying surprised I sent a Hat with no packing as it’s received all crushed. They sent photos of the Hat in a clear plastic bag on its own - loosely/separately on top of the bag was the shipping label that had been ripped off the box still on a piece of the cardboard box. They said that’s how they received it. They want to know what I’m going to do about it. I drove this morning to PO and showed them the photo they said Royal Mail would not accept an upacked item like that but more importantly they said they have to affix the label to the item - she remembers doing it as I am disabled and the box was large. She said cctv would confirm it. She confirmed no PO in country would have a loose label & separate parcel - it’s impossible. She said sadly she thought I was being scammed to give a refund or discount. I drove home and the EVRI area courier was nearby at a neighbour. I showed him & he said straight away - couriers take hundreds of parcels to & from sorting hub a day - no way would they take an item with a separate label - they have to be attached and no way would a hat be sent loose with no packing. He said they are paid so little per delivery that any item that gets damaged in the system would not be delivered - he said after 14 years he was confident that no delivery driver would take the time to unbox a hat, remove all the packaging to then put it in a clear plastic bag crush it and then tear the delivery label & cardboard underneath and delivery it to a customer as separate hat & delivery label. He said I had to face facts I’m being scammed by the buyer. I honestly have been in tears all night & this morning as cannot afford to lose the £37 when I did nothing wrong. I have to sell contents of my house as husband in palliative care & I have to move. I’m not an experienced professional seller - I’ve been on eBay over 20 yrs as a buyer but this is only my second time selling a batch of items and have over last 2 weeks had very positive feedback on my auctions. I’ve never had negative feedback etc but as you can tell am sensitive and never been “scammed” before. I told the seller it was expertly packed & I have followed process & told them to open a case. You will all have more experience than me - will I lose my money & have to pay for return? If the seller said they didn’t like it I would if accepted the return but now all the box, packaging etc mysteriously disappeared & Hat damaged and unsellable. I don’t know what happened but I know a parcel cannot go through a PO scanning and despatch process not affixed to the item and I cannot imagine any sorting hub keeping a separate label and item together or the courier delivery driver going to such lengths. I hope the courier photographed the delivery. Apologies long question just so upset and cannot afford such a loss.

Discussions

Private Inexperienced Seller - Am I being Scammed/Conned - What Do I Do | Member To Member Support | eBay UK