Possible scam

I won an item at a very low price a month ago from a seller in China that hasn't arrived yet. He marked it shipped soon after I paid, but now says he will refund my money if it doesn't arrive. This would be the second time this has happened to me. I'm concerned that the item was won at such a low price that the seller is losing money, so he marked it shipped, but did not ship it, and now wants to get away with giving me a refund. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks very much.

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Possible scam

If it hasn't been 45 days since the transaction date, go to the resolution centre in PayPal and open an unreceived item case IMMEDIATELY. Also, leave negative feedback asap.

 

It is possible the seller marked it shipped but did not ship the item since sellers from China rarely use or provide tracking numbers because it's cheaper for them to ship using that method.

 

Once you follow my two instructions, Paypal will get involved and most likely take your side in this scenario since the seller never provided a tracking number and it's been almost a month. 

 

But just remember that products purchased from China tend to take 20+ days to arrive, sometimes a month and a week or so or more. But to be safe, you always need to open an unpaid item case after a month's time just in case you don't end up receiving the item.

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Possible scam

If it hasn't been 45 days since the transaction date, go to the resolution centre in PayPal and open an unreceived item case IMMEDIATELY. Also, leave negative feedback asap.

 

It is possible the seller marked it shipped but did not ship the item since sellers from China rarely use or provide tracking numbers because it's cheaper for them to ship using that method.

 

Once you follow my two instructions, Paypal will get involved and most likely take your side in this scenario since the seller never provided a tracking number and it's been almost a month. 

 

But just remember that products purchased from China tend to take 20+ days to arrive, sometimes a month and a week or so or more. But to be safe, you always need to open an unpaid item case after a month's time just in case you don't end up receiving the item.

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Possible scam

I agree that you should open a Dispute if over 30 days have passed. You could even stretch that to 43, but don't let the 45 day deadline pass.

However, leaving negative feedback is an excellent way to guarantee that the seller will not cooperate. You have 60 days to leave feedback so it is worthwhile to wait until you have your refund (or your item) before taking that final step.

 

Two notes: There is a recent scam out of (mostly) Asia where the seller promises to send a replacement. Like the original item, it will not be sent and the 45 day dispute deadline will pass. You should only accept money refunds. These take seconds to process.

If the item actually arrives after a refund, ethically you should refund the refund using Paypal's Send Money feature.

Also, when you leave feedback you will be asked to leave Detailed Seller Ratings. In my opinion buyers who are reasonably satisfied with the entire transaction should leave Five Stars. Anything else has a very strong impact on the seller. If the seller was outrageous in his actions the buyer should leave ONE star, the lowest possible rating. (No stars is a free pass). A seller whose DSRs drop below 4.3 finds it difficult to list and sell on eBay.

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