Possible scam buyer - seller protection advice needed during the returns process

[dfernand101]

Today's date 31/03/2025:

A UK buyer who created his ebay account very recently on 23/03/2025  which was the same day on which he bought a rare (out of production) and relatively high value (£225) board game bundle from me has messaged me this morning stating that he 'is not happy with the condition of the items received as ' one box have a hole'  and  '  and the smell dump , so , just let you know that this week I will send them back to you '; the wording in the message to me suggests English may not be his first language but I hope he can understand me - the issue I have is that I am sure there were no holes in any of the 6 board game boxes  and I don't know what he meant by 'smell dump' as the boxes were kept in a dry and no smokers free environment.

I replied  via ebay message stating that there were no holes in the boxes sent and I had packing photos demonstrating this which show all the six boxes in front of the Roytal Mail addressed (to him) mailing box which also shows the Ebay order invoice quite clearly in all the photos - the packing photos match up to the condition of the 6 game boxes in the Ebay advertisement so I don't know what he is referring to - I asked for a photo to show me any perceived damage - 4 of the boxes in the Ebay advertisement are shown wrapped in cellophane and 2 of the boxes in the Ebay ad are shown open showing the game components inside.

Anyway I have some concerns given that this is irregular having sold hundreds of Ebay items in my time (more via a different Ebay account when I lived abroad in Europe) and something doesn't sit right with this given that it's a high value item and his buyer account is less than 2 weeks old with no feedback history.

My question to you all is how as a seller can I protect myself during the returns process (the only other returns process I was involved in was when the buyer forgot that he already had the item and returned the item but that went smoothly) ??? I've messaged him asking him to use the Ebay standards Return Item process on his order page and to send it tracked - if he doesn't want to pay for the postage due to him marking it down as a 'Item Not as Described' claim then ok, I will pay for the shipping label but I will get his approval on which courier is more convenient for him (can he refuse say Royal Mail labels if I suggest to provide them ?).

I will also do an unboxing video of when he returns the items and I unpack them to compare  them to their condition sent and  of course I won't refund until I get the items.

Are there any other pitfalls I am missing out to protect myself as the seller ? I'm wondering if this is possibly a scam were the buyer is trying to 'test the water' with this new 'Ebay Buyer protection scheme' on a relatively high value item with his brand new less than 2 weeks old Ebay account.

I think I've been very lucky to not have to deal with something like this before but I'm reasonably worried about it.

Any advice is much appreciated.

[clearingmyshelves2025]

Just a response on videoing packing/unpacking etc - Ebay will take no note of that whatsoever.

[lucy_farmer]

Hello df,

As this is an 'item not as described' case, you will have to send him a returns label. (a tracked service)

Do not refund until you have the items back (He must send back *everything* he bought, not just bits he doesn't want)

IF he hasn't sent everything or sends something different (i.e. kept yours and sent you his old stuff!) come back to the boards before doing anything, and ask for more advice!  

[dfernand101]

Ok, but during the seller protection procedure the seller can at least put in a claim stating that items were not received by the seller in a condition / state - as sent to the buyer ? right ?

So Ebay will not even consider video unboxing evidence ? if they will not how can they ever properly resolve buyer / seller disputes ?

Anyway I hope that it never comes to that with my particular case and that all the items I sent the buyer are returned to me intact but something doesn't sit well with me regarding this transaction that I described in my original post. I could be wrong and it may not be a scammer, just a buyer that has buyers remorse or is extremely picky about the condition of items and the slightest imperfection prompts him to initiate a return but the wording and the complaints in his message to me this morning just didn't ring true hence why they raised alarm bells.

Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter.

[lucy_farmer]

'So Ebay will not even consider video unboxing evidence ? '

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Nope 🙁

'but during the seller protection procedure the seller can at least put in a claim stating that items were not received by the seller in a condition / state - as sent to the buyer ? right ?'

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After the return , you can put in an 'appeal'. If this is successful you will get to keep your money. But the buyer will already have had their refund. (successful appeals come out of ebay's own pocket...)

[dfernand101]

Many thanks lucy_farmer,

If he selects 'items not as described'  then I will have to create a postage address label for him.

I would prefer to buy a Royal Mail return label for him outside of the Ebay system and then somehow upload the PDF return address label onto the Ebay returns process somehow if that's somehow possible. 

If not possible then I'm guessing that I'll have to buy the return label via the Ebay internal system and I heard that they're more expensive - I've never done this before so I hope I do it right.

If he returns me an empty box or bogus items then I will return to these forums for more advice.

regards,

dfernand101

[lucy_farmer]

Yeah ,I think you'll have to send the label through the ebay system.

If he sends you rubbish instead of your stuff back, the thing to do is contact 'action fraud'.

AF don't actually *do* anything about your problem but they'll give you a 'case number' and if you use that in your appeal with ebay you stand a much better chance of keeping your money!

(I think the function of Action Fraud isn't action as such; it's more just keeping a tally of how often it happens!)

[*vyolla*]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

'So Ebay will not even consider video unboxing evidence ? '

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nope 🙁

'but during the seller protection procedure the seller can at least put in a claim stating that items were not received by the seller in a condition / state - as sent to the buyer ? right ?'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the return , you can put in an 'appeal'. If this is successful you will get to keep your money. But the buyer will already have had their refund. (successful appeals come out of ebay's own pocket...)

---

It's not possible to appeal an eBay decision unless eBay make one.

A seller can't appeal unless they decline the return and the buyer has to ask eBay to step in. Bit of a double edged sword there. 

[lucy_farmer]

'A seller can't appeal unless they decline the return and the buyer has to ask eBay to step in. Bit of a double edged sword there. '

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So how does a seller discover they've been sent something other that the item, if they have to decline the return?

How does the appeal work in this case?  What's the procedure?

[*vyolla* · Accepted solution]

They shouldn't decline the return, it's a no win situation if they do - most people haven't read eBay's terms and conditions and don't realise that you can only appeal an eBay decision if eBay make one.

The usual way forward in these situations is that the seller accepts the return and gets their item back, if it isn’t their item they then immediately file a report with Actionfraud and get a reference number.

The seller then clicks the "Report a problem" link in the case, selects "Different item returned" as the reason and provides the Actionfraud reference number and report. This stops the automated returns process that would ultimately force the seller to issue a refund.

Then, someone at eBay reviews the case. As to what happens next depends on a few factors - if the buyer has done this before, if the seller is a long standing eBay member who's had no issues like this before etc.  

[lucy_farmer]

Ah right;

so it's                       1. accept the return, and if it's dodgy...

                                   2. go to action fraud and get your number.

                                   3. 'report a problem (not 'appeal') and put A.F. stuff in the case.

                                   4. This should produce a human and stop the computer.....!

Thank you .. 😊

[*vyolla*]

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@lucy_farmer wrote:

Ah right;

so it's                       1. accept the return, and if it's dodgy...

                                   2. go to action fraud and get your number.

                                   3. 'report a problem (not 'appeal') and put A.F. stuff in the case.

                                   4. This should produce a human and stop the computer.....!

Thank you .. 😊

---

Yes, that's the best path to follow.

[plpmr]

Adding to the advice already given -

Be very careful going to action fraud and  "if this is possibly a scam were the buyer is trying to 'test the water' with this new 'Ebay Buyer protection scheme'".

Looking at your listings the buyer should not have had to pay a buyer protection fee.    

[the-nutwood-collection]

The eBay return labels are usually slightly more costly, but they offer far better protection.  As it's eBay's label, eBay can track the return - they know when it's been delivered and where it's been delivered to.

If you send your own label, this protection doesn't exist.  It's easier for a scam buyer to manipulate a seller's label.  Also, if you send it outside the eBay system - which is difficult to do - you have no proof that you sent a label.  Therefore, the buyer will say that you didn't send a label, the SNAD will time out, and you will lose your money, the cost of the label (if you don't cancel it within the timeline), and the item.

My advice is - don't count the pennies - use an eBay label.  It's not foolproof, but it's much safer than sending your own label.

[vinylscot]

Following on from @plpmr 's post, you may be best to accept the return and refund the buyer, then write it off to experience and move on. Hopefully, there won't be too much damage to the items, and they will be resaleable. Many returns like this are, in reality, change of mind returns.

You do need to consider whether you want to draw attention to your account status, by having a human look at this issue.

[dfernand101]

It's just a private / personal board game collection that I've realized that I have no time to use /enjoy bought many years ago.

Even though many of the items are listed as new, if you look into them over 80% you can no longer buy them as they went out of production years ago and I've never had the time to use them / play them hence why I am getting rid of them - I will never have time in my life to use them. I ended up in a board games club and we just played the same 15 board games again and again and never played t he others in my collection.

I bought the majority of them online (and some from physical high street games shops) so I paid VAT on them as private individual / consumer person buying them. I've looked at the main 3 criteria for setting up an Ebay Business account and I don't fall into any of those categories.

[vinylscot]

Many private sellers have collections of items such as records, postcards, stamps, and other things which don't take up much room.

You have 549 board games on sale now, and you have sold 246 more this year. Looking at your sold items, I can see that you have sold multiple copies of the same item. You must have a lot of free space to store such a "collection".

I'll leave it there.

[dfernand101]

If you look carefully at my listings I hardly have anything  (around 1%) that are 'multiple items of the 'same item'.

There are many say card set expansions that a similarly named but if you look at the photos they are completely different expansions of the same base game and I only have quantity 1 selling. 

Any multiple items, you see are typically miniatures for the X-Wing (version 1.0) board game (which I've never played) i.e. several TIE-Fighter miniatures  as per the movie (in Star Wars there were multiple TIE-Fighters not just one); also for a Game of Thrones card game I have say multiple card game mats as there are 2 or more players in that particular card game. In those  two games examples I've given you cannot buy Game of Thrones the card game from shops as it's been out of production for years and regarding  X-Wing 1.0 that has been out of production for years also; there is an X-Wing 2.0 board game still available but the two versions of the game are not compatible. I'm just a collector who wanted to play these games but never found the time / people to do so and now  I never will.

[sml192]

At the end of the day it isn't us you need to convince.  Just be aware that eBay will be reporting your sales to HMRC at the end of the year and I think you may have a hard time persuading them that these are just personal possessions.  I suggest you read up on HMRC's nine 'Badges of Trade' one of which is:

Frequency of transactions: A large number of similar transactions taking place is more likely to indicate a trade.