Getting scammed as a seller

[peamealbacon]

24 year ebayer with 100% positive feedback. listed an iphone 16 pro max 256GB for sale. within Canada only. was purchased with buy it now. I provided free shipping.  used ebay shipping program, item was trackable with UPS and selected signature required upon delivery.   buyer received within 1 day of shipping because I was nice and went with the better shipping option for them.
Now buyer is claming that I sent a clone phone and not a genuine iphone.  they have requested a shipping label to return. they posted pictures showing a google play app icon on the screen.  alledging that I shipped a fake phone, their reason: item not as described.   I immediately called ebay because it states the funds were on hold until resolved.  obviously, I can't reason or communicate effectively with a professional scammer.  I realized after the fact that this was a 3 week old account with zero feedback that used the BIN. 
eBay support said I have 3 options.  try to resolve with seller (not happening), issue a return label, when the fake phone comes back to me, start a claim stating that they didn't send the original back.  (what a joke).   or wait 6 days and ask ebay to intervene and make a decision.  In other words, roll the dice.
I have a VERY bad feeling about how this is going to play out and how long this is going to take.  Meanwhile, I am out my almost new iPhone 16 and the money from the sale.  The buyer keeps messaging me to send a return label. Like they have asked 4 - 5 times.  To me, that means they know more than I do... that I have less of a leg to stand on when I get a fake clone phone back. 

Anyone have any suggestions/recommendations.. on how I should proceed ?   I searched and can't seem to find others posting about this issue and yet, it has to be sooo common.   What recourse to I have?     The fees on selling this thing are 13.6% and what does ebay do for that kind of money?     

[lucitabby]

Send a return shipping label & make sure ebay knows in the claim you have sent it by adding tracking number for retun label - also send a message to the buyer that it must be returned exactly as you had sent it to them and if it is not the same you will be going to the police to report the transaction as fraudulent.

When you get it back, take a video of you openning the parcel - if it is a fake, report to police and get a file number from police which you will enter in the claim - ebay needs this.  This is the only way you have a chance of getting your money back.

[lucitabby]

P.S.  if he chickens out and does not return it, you will evetually get a credit for the unused return shipping label.

[mrdutch1001]

advice? ...NEVER,EVER list high-value items on eBay!!

well, hindsight is great! so that HUGE RED FLAG= a new account 0 feedback purchasing a high value item...

NO!,NO!,NO!

NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!!

[recped]

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@lucitabby wrote:

P.S.  if he chickens out and does not return it, you will evetually get a credit for the unused return shipping label.

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If you are using an eBay return label you are not charged if it is never used so there won't be a an "eventual credit".

Making a video of opening the return package is completely pointless, nobody will ever look at it because it would prove absolutely nothing.

[flipistics]

Send the return label. When you get whatever they send back, if it's not the one you sent out, then contact eBay and file a police report. You might be able to have it marked as stolen with Apple as well, which should lock it down and effectively render it useless to anyone else. I think there's also something you can file with the post office to have them investigated for mail fraud, but I'm not positive.

If you do want to make a video, which probably won't really help but might make you feel better, then have it sent to your post office and record the package being handed to you by the postal employee. Open it immediately there on camera. No one from eBay will view it, but it could potentially be useful with the police or a small claims court.

It's possible eBay may cover you as a courtesy, but I wouldn't count on it. If you're top rated and they send you back a different item, you also don't need to refund the full amount in this kind of situation. You can hold back up to 50% of the amount.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Everybody else covered what to otherwise do pretty well. You 100 percent need to provide a label. eBay isn't a court of law, they don't arbitrate. If you don't provide the label, they rule for the buyer automatically. 

This is a common scam that predicates on sellers not reading eBay policy and misunderstanding how buyer protection requests and cases work. They are hoping that you don't provide the label. 

Get a label and go from there. I suspect the most likely scenario is that they will return the original phone. Second most likely scenario is that they won't follow through. Third is that they will go through with the return and pull a switcheroo with a fake phone.

Everybody has covered what to do if it is the third one. But you HAVE to provide a label. It's not an optional thing.

The only thing not covered that I would add is that you should have a CSR walk you through reporting the account to eBay. It doesn't help you directly, but there is a very slim chance that if multiple other sellers have reported their account over a short period if time it could end up deleted. This is like a 1/10000 type thing because they probably created a new account or bought/gained access to an insecure account, but you should report them regardless. 

Because your account has been around for such a long time, assuming you haven't had any issues, there is a very small chance that eBay might refund you after you provide the label, receive the return, and refund the buyer. You shouldn't expect this outcome, but it does happen sometimes. You might have to file a police report and sign an affidavit.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

On a side note, check the address. 

Google it, google street view it, etc.

Check the phone number in the invoice by clicking the three dots to the right of Order Details, the in the drop down click "Print Invoice", and the phone number will be on the packing slip under the address. Google the number. Call the number. Etc. 

There is a small chance that this could have been sent to a freight forwarder since phones are popular internationally. A freight forwarder is a service that accepts packages on behalf of international buyers and forwards them to the buyer.

If this happened, and you can prove it, their buyer protection is void. Also, they would not be able to return the phone if you provide a label. 

Click on their actual eBay profile and see where they are located. Under their username it will say the join date and there will be a country beside it. Like how yours says "Member since: 22-Apr-02 in Canada". 

If their account is not a Canadian account, it would decrease the chances that they actually return the item. While it is possible that someone outside of Canada moved to Canada, an international account stealing phones is either using a freight forwarder or some sort of third party to accept the phones. It lowers the chances that they are actually going to be in a position to send it back and raises the chance that they are bluffing in hopes that you don't produce the return label. 

Again, you 100 percent need to provide a label. If you don't, they will get a refund and eBay will allow them to keep the item. 

[reallynicestamps]

Just in passing , if the phone sold for over $750 I hope you paid for Signature Confirmation. 

You likely did, since the Claim is for Not As Described , but it is always worth noting that high value items should have Signature Confirmation because eBay wants that secondary proof of delivery to reject a  Claim for Item Not Received .