Not sure what this ebay seller is up to?

[baileynorris]

I'm in the UK and have recently bought something for £800 on a live ebay auction from Australia. I paid for the item using paypal and it looks like the seller wasnt an established ebayer or paypal user, so they put the payment on hold and would only release this about 3 weeks after the auction had finished or when the item had been delivered.

The seller then asked me to change the payment for friends and family, which I declined. He then marked the item as dispatched, straight after the auction had finished, so I asked him to let me have the tracking number which he did the following day.

Anyway, everything looked fine, the item ended up with the international carrier a week ago and it said it was on its way

.

I then received an email this morning advising me that he had refunded me the full amount and wanted the item to be returned unopened and directly to him. He advised that he was having issues with paypal and that they wouldnt give him his money, so he was paying the money back and thinking of suing Paypal. I told him that the item hadn't arrived yet and that I was happy to keep it, if it was as discribed in the listing. I got some good advice from the community and also got a good steer on options from ebay online.

I messaged him and told him what options we had and then received three abusive ebay messages accusing me of being a scammer. I then received another ebay email from him telling me that the post office had returned his item to him and he was relieved that I hadn't scammed him.

I have reported him as a seler for violating ebay policies and sending me abusive emails.

This seller clearly has issues but I don't know what he is playing at, as the tracking reference for the item clearly states that it is on its way. Has anyone else on this community had a similar experience?

[red_magpie · Accepted solution]

Has anyone else on this community had a similar experience?

Don't worry about that. What's important is that you handle this by the rules.

Thankfully you had the good sense to refuse to make a friends and family payment. This is a common scam, as it leaves the buyer with no protection at all. In this case it may be sheer ignorance. This is presumably a new seller who doesn't realise that there will be a hold on his payments, for security reasons. Whatever the reason, for £800 don't be talked into any private arrangements.

You now need to wait until the latest estimated delivery date. If it hasn't arrived, open a case under eBay's money back guarantee, through the resolution centre.

A case must be opened within 30 days after the latest estimated delivery date. The seller is allowed 3 business days in which to respond. After that, the option will appear for you to escalate the case, if necessary, for eBay to step in and help. This option remains available for 21 days from the date the case was opened.

If the seller doesn’t respond with a solution, or you're not happy with their response, escalate it. Follow any instructions and time limits carefully, and don't agree to close the case until you have received your refund.

If it does arrive, ignore his request to return it to him unopened! You would probably lose your item and your money! Check the item, and if any problems with it open a not as described case under eBay's money back guarantee. It's probable that you will have to pay the return postage (and reclaim any import duty from HMRC).

p.s we don't know what you've bought, but if you have to return it, first check Australia's huge list of items prohibited for importation. It's possible that some items can be exported, but not re-imported. I really have no idea what would then happen, but you can't risk your item being siezed and destroyed. If necessary, ask for advice again.

[plpmr]

"The seller then asked me to change the payment for friends and family"

Clearly the seller knows what they are doing.

wait and see if you get the item and if its OK then you can decide what to do regards making payment but not via the way they asked you to do.

[baileynorris]

Hi Thanks for replying.
I received these messages from them:

Lmaoooooo see I knew you would do this you little dog . Open the box and see what you find . Lmaooo stupid English people think they are so smart lmaoooo I'm so happy enjoy your present mate.

I'm I'm happyyyyyy. And they so us Ozzies are dumb lol.

Also who would sell a complete master set with all promos pins and mats including the folder for $1350 . I hope you read this and you know what it feels like to be fukd with you just happened to be on the **bleep** end of the stick .

Hence why I have now reported them to ebay.

[baileynorris]

Oh also forgot to mention that they then sent this to me:

Oh look what the post send back to me thank god fewww I thought I was going to get scammed from some dumb Englishman lmaooo

With a photo of what appeared to be the item that he said he had sent to me.

So we will wait and see what he has put in the box, if anything.

[plpmr]

If that's what the seller is messaging to you -

When you are making decisions you should take into account that the seller most likely has [mental?] problems.

[john1297576]

Seller obviously has no idea what he is doing. He will be paying a hefty Ebay Fee and Paypal Fee whether it is in the post or not.

The tracking he provided may not even relate to your purchase. Wait and see what happens, remember to leave fb in due course. If it arrives and he really wants it back he will have to send you the money to pay for the postage.

There is also Customs Duty to take into consideration.

The lengths some sellers will go to just to get round the HOLD on money for new sellers, in this case incurring large fees.

[baileynorris]

Hi, There are a few things that just dont add up, I'm thinking that he wants the item back because he thinks he can sell it for more, so having made the refund, which with the exchange rates for me were £800 to buy, but his refund from Aus$ to UK£ meantt I got £750 back, he now says that I am scamming him and that the Aussie post have returned his item, even though the tracking says it's being processed by the carrier, so I will wait and see when it arrives and see what is in the box. I will video opening the box just in case it's empty. I will have to pay the import duty, which should be 4.5%, I was just wondering whether he refunded me in the hope that I would just ship it back to him, but when I told him ebay have advised that he reimburses me for the postage and the import duty, he started sending those messages, have had another one this morning asking why I haven't replied to him. No intention of replying, so will wait for the item to arrive. I will leave feedback and then expect to get negative feedback in retaliation, which will ruin my 100% feedback, as long as I can get ebay to remove it as it will not be justified.

[papso22]

Have you been refunded?

[baileynorris]

Hi, I paid £800 and got refunded £750 because I paid him in £'s to equal the selling price of AU$ 1345 and he just repaid this to me in AU$ not £, so with the paypal exchange rates, I'm £50 out of pocket. Should he have paid me in £'s ?

[papso22]

He can only pay you what he received, I don't think he can choose the currency. You could try asking on the PayPal forum, or PayPal themselves.

[rusticrye]

Original post: https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Buying-on-eBay/Buying-from-abroad-and-refunded-item-but-currency-exc...

When you have something to add, add it your original post rather than start another. It otherwise causes confusion and much time-wasting, with people responding to the first one, unaware that there's a later one on the go.

@baileynorris