Seller's Beware !! No protection for sellers !!

[happy_days5]

Sellers have no protection on eBay ... Something must be done

OK so this is my experience.... Been an eBay member for 19 years.

Have sold many items and have excellent feedback rating.

Sold iPhone 11 Pro, after a few days return request received stating Box was empty. I looked at buyers account only opened in August 2021 with 3 feedbacks. I could clearly see this was a scam... I looked on google maps and saw that the address was not apartments but an industrial site. So, I was confident that eBay would take all aspects into consideration and close the request in my favour.... Boy was I wrong.

They put a hold on my funds £485 and refunded the customer. when I called eBay to appeal the gentleman just said "we can’t do nothing". No investigating no common sense no passion to stop crime or protect sellers. He advised the buyer had sent in a police ref number (which you can get in 5 mins online) and that was the end of it. I explained to him that anyone could order a phone, get a crime ref number and say the box was empty... His response was "yes they could".

He tried to pass the buck onto the shipping company but looking at the photos of proof of delivery the package was as sent.

So, I Have a few questions and suggestion.

If anyone can help me how to get this investigated further internally or externally via regulator?

After looking for help online there seems to be hundreds if not thousands of posts regarding sellers that have been scammed. This is not acceptable and I believe action needs to be taken. As a collective much can be done, it’s not a matter of closing our accounts but rather ensuring eBay has policy in place to protect sellers.

One simple suggestion would be to send orders of considerable value to a service centre for new buyers or buyers with low feedback. The item could be checked securely sealed by eBay and sent to buyer. I know not everyone is a scammer but recently it has been getting out of control.

As I mentioned as a collective much can be done so may start an online petition, highlight on media or something along the lines.

The worst thing is I called my network provided who said they can’t block the phone as not brought directly from them, called apple they said they can’t block the phone either... So, the buyer has a free phone!!!

I took take the hit of £485, but for many people that could be life changing in this day and age. If someone was selling that phone because the needed that money for an emergency and this happened to them could put someone in a very dark place mentally and financially.  

[elitegiftsltd]

---

@mondayjon wrote:

I was able to prove that a couple of buyers had pulled a fast one.   One had part swapped the other said there was no power lead (although it was a battery operated item? )  and tried to get partial refund.  
EBay refunded/reversed the payments back to buyers for me.  The annoying thing is the buyer still got the refund, oh and the item.   
IMHO all that does is promote theft and also promoting people trying to get partial refund to.  

---

Great. You of course added those buyers to your blocked buyer list? 

If its promoting theft its been going on for some centuries. See what effect its had? 

[mondayjon]

I did add them to the block list.

what gets me though.  If EBay is only a third party and creates a platform, then why get involved especially just one sided.

oh and I did tell customer service that all they are doing is promoting theft by still giving the buyer refunds. 

when a seller is proven to be correct about buyers like above, they should be penalised.   

theft and cons are illegal last time I heard.  Online or not.

[happy_days5]

Write to eBay with your concerns as I did. I believe they are facilitating fraud as their internal standards and policies are weak and inadequate.

[ldnsneakrs]

How do you write to them, what is their address?

[hill-walker]

---

@ldnsneakrs wrote:

How do you write to them, what is their address?

---

Bottom of this page>About eBay>Legal Notices

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Item could have gone missing in the postal system.

Thats not buyers fault.

Ebay has to follow UK laws on trading which gives buyers lots of rights and protection.

The only protection a seller gets is INR and tracking proof is supplied.

[wopperstoppers7]

Ebay in the past offered protection for sellers, now they dont.

Now the seller has to take direct responsibility, which comes at an extra cost.

Ebays customer service is appalling, so even the smallist problem becomes a long drawn out nightmare.

Ebay wants its cake and eat it. 

The sooner there is a real and viable alternative, the better. Because Ebay just gets worse and worser, year on year. They refuse to listen to sellers concerns. I would always look at alternative ways to sell, Ebay being the absolute last options if all else fails.

[yesterdaystreasures2210]

Quite agree! I wish there was a viable alternative. I just sold 9 antique clocks FOR SPARES OR REPAIRS - PARTS ONLY. 

The buyer got way more value than the 10.50 he paid but has opened a case because one clock has the back missing. They were sold for parts only yet eBay are demanding he gets a full refund including postage! 
Ebay seems to forget it's the sellers that pay them and a bit of fairness wouldn't go amiss! I pretty much despise eBay. It's got worse and worse over the 20+ years I've been on it. Sold something for £3.50 the other day and made less than £1 which doesn't even cover packaging or time as their fees are so high. 

[ampmaster.uk]

No experienced Ebay seller is going to send you an empty box. They know it is pointless.

[ampmaster.uk]

I've just had one of those scammers and he had the cheek to leave me negative feedback because I would not capitualte to his demands!

[ampmaster.uk]

Ebay spend a fortune on lawyers. Good luck with that.

[ampmaster.uk]

It was worth it as the item was expensive. I have also be reinburssed by Ebay in the past but that avanuse is getting smaller all the time. If it happens again, they will look at your record and that payout will be highlighted on your account and you will be very unlikely to get another.

Lower value scams are not really worth claiming for that reason.

If you had a payout over a 60 scam then got stung for 500, it is doubbtful you would get the 500 back if they had paid you the 60 beforehand.

Well done for being persistant.

[ampmaster.uk]

So true but there still is no other platform with the same size audience.

Also, Ebay has a low scam rate compared to Marketplace where the majority of ads seem to be fake and they really don't care. I used to report the fakes scams but they leave them up so what is the point in me wasting my time? 

[ampmaster.uk]

Can you imagine how expensive and complex that woudl be? It woudl have to be funded by sellers and woudl make it unprofitable to sell at all on Ebay.

Does this checking facilty have to test ever item works? If so, it is no longer new.

If it is a used item, who decides on the condition? One persons "mint" is another person tatty.#

The checkers could also be accused of breaking something. Then it has to be repacked. What is it then gets damaged in the post? Who sorts that out? Endless problems, sadly.

[four_mid_able]

Ebays MBG makes it possible for buyers to return almost everything at sellers cost.

Sometimes it's like an online hire shop where the price paid is only a temporary loan.

With Christmas coming i guess we will see all the usual posts about returns requests for clothing items ,all claiming not as described yet some returned with wine stains from various Christmas parties 🙄

[petesy_7]

That's a shocking story! 

As a retired Detective police officer it is clearly a crime. Not only to defraud you of your phone but to tell the police lies (even online) and to have a false crime report raised. 

Ebay are not interested in actually looking at the circumstances of thier disputed cases , they just take the easiest way out. 

I have Been an ebay member for 21 years and sold a barrell load of things on ebay including bicycles. 

I recently sold a bike to some weirdo that constantly sent me messages asking about every step of the transaction, then rejected delivery of the bike , blamed the courier company,  phoned them up to shout at them and demanded a full refund inc. shipping 54.99 within hours of it arriving back with me. He then raised a case before I could reply. 

Ebay told me I was covered , not to worry blah blah blah,  then refunded him the whole amount leaving me 55 quid down because he had buyers regret. 

This is why I will no longer be selling on ebay ... that and the fees are a joke !

[maeleigh10]

I suppose you could have contents checked and verified before posting by courier for a small fee 

[r.soles_sneakers]

That's just crazy - 

And so annoying -  especially when you go out to give the best service possible to ensure they would be happy . These tires of buyers just expose the system and eBay just play along ! I guess they also still kept their free after the partial refund!?

[petesy_7]

They gave the guy a full refund Inc shipping 34.99 actually cost me 54.99 because I paid extra for insurance. I had a feeling about this guy, he sent around 40 messages , refused a phone call, was extremely impatient, and phoned the courier to rudely demand they either deliver the bike that same day or return it to me. My worst experience on eBay and like you say they just sided with the buyer even after telling me I was covered.



Sent from my Galaxy

[rigged_out]

Have you appealed it? I was under the impression that the refund will always go through to the buyer initially but then you have to appeal it and provide the evidence that they refused delivery. Ebay won't look at the transaction and see the tracking etc (that would be too logical). I think you have to upload to the appeal case and give the evidence there. If they opened a case for INR then the tracking will show attempted delivery and buyer refusal. Also include a quote of eBay's own policy. If they opened the claim for any other reason then it's a false claim proven by the delivery refusal.