Ebay contact details to report stolen goods

[brusellit]

Just spotted my stolen 16mm film that I made (& extremely precious to me) was sold on ebay 2 days ago.

I contacted the seller & explained they sold stolen goods, seller said they bought from a market in good faith as not stolen.

Seller said they were too busy to contact the buyer, I suggested seller gives me buyer contact details so I can inform buyer of situation. However Seller has not supplied details  gone quite.

Buyer is in Repubic of Ireland, goods were sold from London, Uk.

Reading some of threads here, is the best move to report crime to Police or to ebay?

As buyer is not in UK, would reporting to UK police still carrying weight in buyer having to return film to me?

Any advice truely welcome, I can't find relevant contact details or button to select for ebay to report this stolen item.

Many thanks,

B

[arkwebus · Accepted solution]

Although the seller may have bought the item in good faith the fact that it was - in fact - stolen does not give him any legal title to sell it.

Have a look at this link

https://www.netlawman.co.uk/ia/selling-goods-non-owner

Go to the police!   Physically walk into a station with all you documents statrting with the crime report when it was stolen and so on ...

Whether - of course - they will do anything let alone try to recover the goods may well be doubtful

@brusellit 

[brusellit · Accepted solution]

Thank you arkwebus for your reply. I read the link you gave with interest, it appears my situation is covered by law.
I understand by law I am the rightful owner & the seller sold stolen goods, therefore the police should take steps to have the goods returned to me.
I'm interested to know why you question if police '...will do anything let alone try to recover the goods...'
These goods, a film print, costs thousands to print one film, would the sizeable amount of money involved, not make the police to decide this 'theft' is serious?
My other concern it appears buyer received goods in the Republic of Ireland. The seller sold from UK. If UK police do take the case on, do they have the power to recover goods from Republic of Ireland?
Many, Many thanks,
B

[red_magpie]

You can't report crimes directly to eBay.

If you go to Help & Contact at top of page, and enter "stolen" in the search field, it will take you to eBay's policy on the sale of stolen property, and the procedure to report it to the police. The police can then contact eBay for further information if they wish.

If you're saying that your film was sent to a buyer outside the UK, I's afraid your change of getting it back through the police will probably be almost zero. Good luck, but I can't see international police forces cooperating over the theft of a 16mm film.

You would have a better chance of negotiating its return if the seller would contact the buyer on your behalf, but if they're not willing to do this you can't make them.

[papso22]

You go back to the police with this new information.   They, if they have the resources,  can get the buyer's details from Ebay.  It's a breach of the GDPR for anyone else to do it. 

[brusellit]

Thanks papso22,
I wasn't aware asking for buyers contact details was breach of GDPR; thinking about it now, that makes sense.
Also what I've gleamed in my searches is that it appears ebay will only cooperate re stolen goods with police once a crime number assigned to case?
Many thanks,
B

[arkwebus]

Thank you for the reply.  The police have - sadly - only limited resources and in practice do not resolve everything reported to them.  You also raise the point that the good may be physically in the Republic of Ireland.  We are currently "in" the EU [at least in practical terms] and again I doubt whether their resources are sufficient to get any co-operation for such a matter

Please let us know how you get on ultimately.  I hope that I am being gloomy.  

@brusellit 

[brusellit]

Thanks arkwebus, understand what you're saying, not gloomy but reality....forgot we're still in EU!
You want to know how I get on, thankfully looks like I won't have to go down this nightmare legal route....
Just heard back from the seller, who has confirmed they have contacted courier to intercept delivery to buyer, fingers crossed package is successfully redirected to seller & that we can agree 'costs' for the return of goods.

[ruby*tuesday]

Sorry but what you are describing is nothing to do with Ebay. They only get involved with items Not Received by a Buyer or Items Not As Described.

Contact Citizens Advice bureau on line and get advice from them.

[brusellit]

Thank for your reply ruby*tuesday,
In my searches it appears ebay will only cooperate re stolen goods via police once a crime number is assigned to case?
Are you saying that ebay does not cooperate in retrieving stolen goods via police with crime number?
Many thanks,
B

[ruby*tuesday]

Take the very good advice from @arkwebus  and @red_magpie @Sorry I didn't know that the Film was of such high value. That's an awful lot of money!

Do let us know how you get on.