Buyer claims item never arrived but then listed it for sale a few days later

[garethandaud]

My buyer claims his Nintendo Switch game never arrived.  A few days later he confirmed the game still hadn't arrived and I quickly issued a full refund as I feared negative feedback.  Out of curiosity (or plain luck) I noticed he was selling the same game a few days later on his account.  All attempts to get an explanation have been met with silence over the last 2 - 3 days. 

Meanwhile I can only claim a maximum of £20 from Royal Mail for an item that sold for around £35.  Under eBay's report buyer menu there (infuriatingly) is no option to cater for a buyer falsely claiming an item never arrived.  What can I do about this as all signs point to a buyer abusing the system to obtain a free item (and technically commiting a crime)?

[**peaseblossom**]

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do via ebay.   I suppose you can't be 100% certain it is your game the buyer is selling but in any case put their ID on your blocked bidder list to make sure you don't sell to them again:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/bmgt/BuyerBlock

[garethandaud]

This is the problem.  I was half expecting the buyer to say he purchased from somewhere else - at which point I was going to ask for proof of purchase to catch him out (as I had to to with my RM lost item claim).  We never even got to that point as he immediately went silent at the point he got his refund with no explanation about how he was selling the same game himself in such a short space of time.

I can't say I'm at all satisfied with simply blocking the buyer from future bids.  As far as I'm concerned he has stolen money from both Royal Mail and myself with no repurcussions.

[*vyolla*]

Without any proof of delivery it's impossible to take this any further.

You have no proof that it's the same game. 

[garethandaud]

But what if he refuses to provide proof that he purchased from elsewhere?  Isn't that effectively an admission of guilt.  It certainly wouldn't look very good in a court of law.  I mean this is a ridiculous state of affairs where you can get away with this - particularly as people cannot afford the spiralling costs of Royal Mail charges to pay for tracked packages.  What's to stop me doing the same to some other poor sod to claw back my losses.  He could then do the same, and so on and so on.

[red_magpie]

I quickly issued a full refund

If you didn't wait for the buyer to open a case under eBays money back guarantee, you can't even report them for abusing the guarantee.

In any case, even if you had refunded through eBay's guarantee the buyer could still have kept the item if it arrived after you had refunded them. eBay does nothing to support the seller when a buyer keeps both the refund and the item when it arrives. You talk about a court of law - eBay would say, as they have to other sellers, that it's up to you to sue the buyer.

You haven't given any dates told us what the tracking record states, but if it is now recorded as delivered you probably won't be able to claim from Royal Mail.

As I so often remind sellers, selling on eBay is risky. The money back guarantee is wide open to abuse by dishonest or opportunist buyers.

[arkwebus]

You have been unlucky.  I am assuming that you used an untracked postal service but for a value less than the actual price of the item. 

If you had used the correct method [and it is seller's responsibility to do so] then you would have had tracked delivery and been able to establish delivery to eBay which is the only evidence they will accept.    That would also have included if the item had been mis-delivered. 

For "cheaper" items it is a judgement as to whether to use "tracked" postage on cost grounds or a cheaper option and bear the odd delivery failure on occasions. 

If you did have tracking showing delivery then the buyer must open a non delivery case. There is no alternative.  When tracked delivery is shown the case closes in your favour.  @garethandaud 

[garethandaud]

Incidentally I've tracked down a total of ELEVEN cases in the last 6 months where a seller has stated that their item went missing when selling to this individual - many of which also stated that he sold the same item on ebay a few days later.

At what point will people actually start to give a sh** and do something about this?!

[*vyolla*]

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@garethandaud wrote:

But what if he refuses to provide proof that he purchased from elsewhere?  Isn't that effectively an admission of guilt.  It certainly wouldn't look very good in a court of law. some other poor sod to claw back my losses.  He could then do the same, and so on and so on.

---

He's under no obligation to provide proof or purchase.

[garethandaud]

You wouldn't be so blase and dismissive if it happened to you.

[john1297576]

Only if each seller reported the problem, but while sellers like you do not use a tracked service providing adequate cover, this buyer can continue. He could only do this because you failed to use the correct postal service.

Items over £20 need either Special Delivery or Tracked 48, provide more than £20 cover.

[garethandaud]

If I had to use a tracked service for every item I would not longer be competitive and wouldn't sell anything anyway.  Either way ebayers like this are costign me money.