How to report a seller without buying from him?

[fh991586]

Is there any way on eBay to report a seller because he's doing something fishy, but without having a transaction with him?
I've seen an item that is usually sold by Chinese sellers (compatible video game cartridge with hundreds of titles), by a seller listed as being in Canada (created in 2013), but only selling in the USA (with item located in the USA).  Other items he sells may offer shipping to Canada or worldwide, but not all of them!

That really looks like a legit Canadian account that is now used by a foreigner in a commercial way starting a little more than a year ago.  Unfortunately, the way feedback is presented nowadays exclude the possibility to retrieve more information as to his previous purchases/sales and dates to help figure his real past...
At the very least, this seller can't be located in Canada, so his information is a lie.  His items and business may be legitimate, but this is not something that helps to have confidence.

[marnotom!]

There's a "report item" hyperlink on the desktop version of the site and a button on the web version of the site that you can click.  I don't know what happens after that because I've never had any reason to report an item or listing, but don't be surprised if all that happens is that the seller gets put on eBay's radar.  One report based on unsubstantiated evidence usually isn't enough for eBay to deal with a potential issue.

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

A seller can be located in Canada, but ship from the USA. Many sellers hand their shipments over to  forwarders like chitchatexpress . The forwarders then take the shipments from many sellers across the border and drop them with USPS at a great saving, even with the forwarder's fees included.

And many Chinese companies actually do warehouse their goods in the USA , usually on the West Coast, to shorten the delivery period.

And of course, a Canadian (or German or Chinese) registered seller can list on dotCOM in US dollars and Block shipping to Canada (or Germany or China).

And then there are dropshippers, who are supposed to list the location of the product, not their own, although many misunderstand this through naivete or on purpose.

That being said, it sounds as if an abandoned Canadian account has been hijacked.

• The usual clue is a long gap between the last feedback and recent feedback.
• Also if the previous feedback was as a buyer but is now as a seller, which would not be noticed by a long gone buyer. 
• Yet another clue is a change in what is being bought and sold, say from Beanie Babies to iPads.

Go to the Security Centre at the bottom of this page and Report it as a possibly hijacked account.

The location is less of a problem (although with everything else it is suspicious) than any gaps and/or changes in feedback.  So do a little research.

BTW, if the seller has been active for nearly a year, without any negative feedback, it's likely there actually is no problem, and you are just looking at a seller who  has figured out how a Canadian can look like an American to tap into that market.

[fh991586]

The "report item" link does only that, and there is no provision for the seller's account.
I've used it a couple of times on the past for evident bootlegged dvd (when it was even stated in the item's description that it was dvd-r), but I never saw it ever had an effect, so I don't bother anymore.

[fh991586]

There is no logic as to why an account created in 2013 in Canada would start to sell typical Chinese junk (watches, toy, unlicensed video games, thermometers, dashcam, etc.) around 2019 while shipping from the USA, and randomly decide what items can be sent within USA only, to Canada or worldwide... That's why I thought it's most likely not a real Canadian user. And this seller shows 95.5% rating for 111 feedbacks!
Following the Security Centre hoops, I can only click on "The seller has violated one of eBay’s policies", but it's pretty far fetched in term of consequences...
I'll leave it like that, and simply not buy from him. But I still find it weird that there's no easy way to warn eBay that there could be a doubt regarding a seller's account.

[reallynicestamps]

And this seller shows 95.5% rating for 111 feedbacks!

That's a terrible rating.

Never buy from a seller with less than a 98% rating.

That being said, eBay does not use feedback to assess accounts. Only about 40% of transactions get any FB at all  and most of that is left by sellers for buyers.

What the bad FB indicates is that the seller also has a lot of Disputes, which are not made public. And Disputes that are not properly handled, which basically is a prompt refund, lead to Defects.

EBay does use Defects to assess accounts. Defects lead to higher fees (up to 14% of the selling price), restrictions on the number and value of listings, and eventually a closed account.

Reports are part of that assessment, but eBay doesn't act o n a single Report from a single member, who could be a competitor, a mischief maker, a vigilante, or just plain wrong.

[marnotom!]

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@fh991586 wrote:

I'll leave it like that, and simply not buy from him. But I still find it weird that there's no easy way to warn eBay that there could be a doubt regarding a seller's account.

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To what ends, though?  Yes, things don't add up, but the seller isn't doing any harm unless somebody actually buys something from him and gets stung or strung along eight ways until Sunday, and even then, the buyer has eBay's buyer protection schemes on which to fall back.

I agree that this seller's optics aren't great, but until somebody actually buys from them and can give eBay credible evidence of wrong-doing (if there is any), there's not much anybody can do.

[fh991586]

Well, eBay can easily verify that this seller is in fact located in Canada. If he is, then nothing to be done, since it's legit (altought weird). If he's not, then it's against eBay's rules, and he should not be able to do business until he changes his account information.
There's nothing against someone walking in a city street with a chainsaw, but police would not let him go around without asking questions when called by a concerned citizen. I felt concerned here, but I've got no one to call to.

[femmefan1946]

the seller isn't doing any harm unless somebody actually buys something from him and gets stung

I believe that negative Feedback is left by naive buyers who did get stung, but who can't figure out how to make a Dispute and get refunded.

And with less than 40% of transactions getting any feedback, the number of Disputes could be very high indeed.

Sellers can "hide" disputes for fraud by promptly refunding when the customer files a dispute. Those are "forgiven" by eBay and there is no public record of resolved disputes.

This is another weakness of the out of date FeedBack system.

[femmefan1946]

eBay can easily verify that this seller is in fact located in Canada.

The location of the seller is irrelevant.

The could be dropshipping from Australia, or running his goods across the border, or warehousing at a Fulfillment Centre in Idaho.

The location of the product is important.

There is duty and sales tax on imported goods.

Longer distances mean longer delivery times.

Long delivery times mean more chances of damage in transit.

And long delivery windows can allow fraudsters to shmooze naive buyers past the deadline for Disputes when in fact they sent nothing.

[fh991586]

When I shop on eBay.ca, I'm looking for items located in Canada. When I get a Canadian seller that sells stuff that is stated as being in California, I feel cheated by the system. I don't want to lose time with international items (or I'd buy for a lot less directly from Chinese sellers)... That's eBay's problem if I, as a buyer, can't get the real clear info right away when using their search engine.