Is eBay the paradise of scammers?

[Anonymous]

That's a legitimate question to ask.

I'm honestly and accurately describing my eBay experience here so it serves other peoples, knowing it will probably be hided or buried by the moderators. 

Here's what I think and please take my testimony also as a warning.

Hopefully you are not reading this too late,  AFTER been scammed, or you are not an helpless victim of this site in search of answers. In this case, I really feel sorry for you.

Clearly, if you are a seller, especially inexperienced one, such me, you will come across scammers, abusers and you will lose money.

And this is fine with eBay because SELLERS are held 100% responsible by the Money-back guarantee policy.

Try this, go in a store, check an item you like, examine it, buy, use it. Then, for whatever reason, return it back.

If the store policy say the only condition they will take it back it's because it is red, yellow, or blue, then everyone will return the item claiming it is red, yellow, or blue, of course.

They will take it back, check it out, see if it is red, yellow, or blue and decide to refund or not. That's the typical way it works in real life and nobody has to read all small characters or the store policy because that's how it goes. It's called trust. 

If you don't know the definition of trust, please take a moment to check it out.

eBay has a Money-back policy backing buyers that can be easily abused by unscrupulous buyers, and if you were aware of the risks before, you wouldn't had, obviously, never used the site to sell your items.

Unfortunately, it's always newbies, like me (and most likely you), that gets trapped. And there is no chance at all that eBay will make this harder to newbies to fell for it. A simple and explicite warning before you engage in selling your things. Instead of the usual bunch of links disguised in usual boring legal stuff no one ever read.

Knowing the risks, many will not agree to sell on eBay after knowing what they should had known. 

After a misadventure of that nature, and seeking for answers, and wondering what are my options, I found an endless amounts of seller horror stories all over the place. Reddit, Quora, Youtube, Facebook, Mastodon, Discord, Google, name it, and even people have set up personal sites to join the cabal. It's impossible to read everything and you will find similar situations describing yours within minutes. 

As a result, I lost complete trust in eBay. It's now nothing less than corporatism scamming for me. From ridiculous listing fees insertion, final fees, and support, you feel being completely scammed. I immediately realised after the first sell, if they have a chances to take an additional dime from you, they will. 

As a result, you will lost complete trust in eBay too, and most likely leave, as any normal person would react.

You will feel so bad for not have taking the time to read annoying things. But again, it is the human nature in you that makes you trust people naturally.

Let's be very clear, (from what I have read and experienced after my 3rd sell only), rather sooner than later,

-you WILL lose money on ebay
-you WILL be scammed and abused in one way or another

Even if,
-YOU ALWAYS CLEARLY STATES YOUR SELLING TERMS
-YOU HAVE TONS OF PICTURES, VIDEOS and PROOFS
-YOU HAVE A PERFECT SCORE IN 20 YEARS
-YOU HAVE AN IRREPROACHABLE EBAY REPUTATION
-YOU HAVE BOUGHT OVER $50k OF GOODS ON EBAY

EVEN IF,

YOU SOLD TO AN OBVIOUS SCAMMER, LIAR WITH A FRESH BRAND NEW EBAY ACCOUNT...

...you will lose!

And this is why, I have no doubt, eBay is the paradise of scammers.

In a new YouTube blockbuster near you soon.

Bonus:

(they let an old thread run for 3 years, then, as soon someone post a follow up, and reactivates the thread and negative eBay reviews starts pouring in that thread, they suddenly close the thread, claiming that's an old thread)

[ericsells75]

Lol. Talk about absolutely not listening. There is a return pending that you are going to 100% lose because you aren’t following the steps. And then you will be out the money AND the item. This is beyond comical at this point and you don’t even realize which at this point makes it also just sad. Good luck with that police report.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this reminder.

Please, newbies, take also note that each time you revises your listing or make a correction, even though it is not clearly stated, you're being charged Insertion fees that will be deducted from the Sellout amount.

Use a spell checker and revised it carefully because that can be costly and it's not an easy one to spot until you get the final fees.

I have a bad habit of not using a spell checker that I can't get rid of that can be easily exploited.

[ericsells75]

By the way when you say:

Try this, go in a store, check an item you like, examine it, buy, use it. Then, for whatever reason, return it back.

If the store policy say the only condition they will take it back it's because it is red, yellow, or blue, then everyone will return the item claiming it is red, yellow, or blue, of course.

This is a misconception many people have. Your on eBay's site you don't get to make your own policy that overwrite ebay's policy. You want your own policies, go make your own site. Simple. You agreed to the rules when you signed up.

[Anonymous]

yeah, can't you imagine this guy a minute, not following the steps, not listening and still having made it up to retirement 

I earn a Erin Brockovich tattoo for sure

[ericsells75]

At this point I can only assume you’re being deliberately obtuse for whatever personal reasons. I’m out. Good luck

[Anonymous]

Speaking of misconception, and the following is not from me, I'm not that savvy.

No policies in Canada strips you of your basic rights and supersede Canadian consumer protection by default. I think you have to demonstrate that your policy is fair, secure, reasonable, etc. and a normal person would had agree to it in normal circumstances. That, I think, to my view leaves place to interpretation, and again courts are full of people testing policies. But that's far beyond the goal of this thread, right?

No need to assume anything here, just making a point.

[brettjet38]

Received item 3/15/23

Requested return the evening of 3/16/23.

Seller responded with Demands on videos, photos, examples of it not working, products we plugged into etc..

Seller responded to us after business hours therefore no one was available to reply.

Seller sent another message a few hours later demanding the same thing.

Then immediately this morning sent a nasty threatening email as we hadn t had a moment to meet his demands.

Will harass you & threaten to close acct.

And, judging by your responses to everyone here I can see the BUYERS side of the story...

Your Buyer has opened a Return Request...

You have until the 21st to reply...

If you do not reply or ignore the request, the eBay bots will rule in the Buyers favor and they will get a full refund, and get to keep the item also...

...and you will lose your $$$ and then what are you going to say?!

Have you actually read the nonsense you have written?

Good luck with your vendetta, do not forget to send that return label...

And calling your Buyer, no, no. no, never...

[brettjet38]

Exactly, at 12:03 - 04 depending on the bots...

[brettjet38]

"Canadian consumer protection" is for the BUYER

You are the SELLER and subject to the RULES of the platform you use to sell your used tat...

You agreed to ALL the terms and conditions when you signed up to eBay, if you do not like them, move on, move on...

[Anonymous]

accurate, except for the timeline and the following

brett Please, don't distort the facts here so it suit better your interpretation.

BUYER - Then immediately this morning ...

FACT: notification received at:

From:eBay
Sent:Mar-16-23 12:01,

I saw it at 15:06 on my phone
and replied in a normal courteous manner (5 lines paragraph) around that time, after re-reading my listing description and requesting these basic infos, that most seller would have asked anyway.

In your DOs and Don't list, you can't possibly blaming me for that. I don't believe.

Just a note, it may seems to you that we are involved in a personal conversation you and me. No, we're are on a public forum and all the NUMEROUS previous posts aren't specifically made to you. Please, don't feel personally and too emotionally involved. Or try to start a spit fight by spamming the thread with flaming observations of your own. If you're only here to judge and resolve the case with your own distorted perspective,  that is not what I'm here for, you are wrong. As a proof, first ever thread, and arguing on the web with strangers is not really my thing. I'm sure you can provide useful insights rather than 4chan comments or childish wittiness attempts. You have the opportunity to show the best side of you as some have in providing real relevant help for me and others, and that can only help your eBay merchant business. Thank you, nevertheless .

FACT: I Added a one line message to my previous message after business hours (around 5-6 PM) to precise that I can help him going with these info.

Besides, business hours regarding communication via eBay messenger...you use "this one" only in very rare occasion IMO.

BUYER -sent a nasty threatening email

FACT: No email exchanged, no treats, a lie, and logs probably exist in the mail server to prove it, I'm not worry about this, easy to prove if I have to.

FACT: All messages were exchanged SOLELY via eBay message.

Maybe he meant MESSAGE instead of EMAIL, and that's what I assuming.

This refers to the 17, after they hang up to my call placed at 12:57 PM. 

FACT: At this point ONLY the 2 previous messages were exchanged and 1 failed cordial phone called attempts.

That's the degree of harassment he suffers up to that point.

Anyone can call this harassment, others would have another word for it.

At the moment, I had no explanation and not much of a doubt, but started to sense something weird.
Why hang up if your seeking help, and interested keeping the tool, etc.
He could have just tell; I'm busy, I'll get back to you later, not hanging up like... a scammer for instance.
I don't have to break it down too deep philosophically here, we're all deemed a ridiculously polite nation.

You can't all advocate to be safe on eBay and blaming someone of being careful.

Knowing the facts help to see that there's few things we all could have done better for sure, he, me, eBay.

But the demonstration is established by now that bad faith lives here as much as anywhere. Lesson learn.

FACT: after my call, I sent him the same message requesting info and adding he doesn't have to ghost me.

5 or 10 minutes later, I got his **bleep**ed off reply. Telling me he will filed a complain to eBay and he will place a bad feedback review.

Mild treats here, and looks like I don't care as I'm already done anyway.

I told told him I don't care as I already stated to eBay, I will close my account as soon this is resolved, and I took my other expensive listing down immediately by precaution.

BUYER -Will harass you & threaten to close acct.

FACT: No treats to him, exchange of words, called him scammer, called me POS, ignorant (about serial number privacy), called him abuser, liar and MOFO  

[pjcdn2005]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for this reminder.

Please, newbies, take also note that each time you revises your listing or make a correction, even though it is not clearly stated, you're being charged Insertion fees that will be deducted from the Sellout amount.

Use a spell checker and revised it carefully because that can be costly and it's not an easy one to spot until you get the final fees.

I have a bad habit of not using a spell checker that I can't get rid of that can be easily exploited.

---

That's actually not the norm as ebay does not charge when you revise a listing.    If that happened it could be a mistake on ebay's part. When that does happen it is generally a glitch that temporarily affects many sellers. They normally credit those fees later on.    If they haven't, you will have to contact them.

The only time you are charged  a fee when you revise is IF the revision is to add an optional listing upgrade.  Then you are charged for the upgrade, not for the act of revising.

I'm curious how much the fee was that you were charged and what was the wording next to the fee.

Now I could be wrong about this as I have never been charged a revision fee but I thought that any type of insertion fees were charged right away. Not, charged after the item sold.

[Anonymous]

I will definitively look into it, I have a load of insertion fees added to a sell that I'm assuming was because of the listing revision.

I will keep you updated, for sure before I close my account. Thank you, really appreciated.

[dinomitesales]

Yikes. This is quite the masterclass in how not to sell on eBay.

Occam's razor would suggest the simplest hypothesis:

Buyer purchased item, received item, attempted to use item only to see it wasn't suitable for his needs (you mention yourself that this particular device is only useful in specific situations of which the buyer may not have been aware), goes to return the item only to see a big fat "No Returns Accepted" disclaimer, chooses to select that the item is defective because that's the only option that allows him to return it and get his money back. Had you offered returns this probably wouldn't have been much of an issue.

Have you accepted the return yet? Please keep us updated.

*munches popcorn*

[brettjet38]

@Anonymous  "I told told him I don't care as I already stated to eBay, I will close my account as soon this is resolved, and I took my other expensive listing down immediately by precaution."

Yep, that about sums you up as an individual  I guess...

Remember to send that Return Label before midnight tonight (eastern time), otherwise, you will find it "RESOLVED" for you when you wake up tomorrow AM, multiple posters have warned you about the Bots.

And, there is no appealing the decision, primarily based on what you have told us...

As for your fees, I would not be surprised if you added extra features for your listings, I mean after all, you have made it very clear you do not read eBay rules or wish to adhere to them so why would you read about Fees charged for listing items...

You sold an item, and the Buyer asked to return it, we really do not know why, and you went "Kamikaz" coming here to try and round up "Support" for your crusade, unfortunately, you didn't get the replies you wanted, so now you spew more nonsense to deflect from the issue at hand.

Did you send your Buyer a return Shipping Label or have you made arrangements with them to return the item you have until midnight & that is a FACT!

@dinomitesales "Yikes. This is quite the masterclass in how not to sell on eBay."

Ya don't say!!

[brettjet38]

There are revision fees if you add upgrades to the listing.

I suspect that is what this rule-abiding member has gone and done, a self-inflicted fee or two...

[pjcdn2005]

Yes I mentioned that in my post.

There were quite a few posts on the .com boards a couple of weeks ago about a glitch when

sellers were being charged for revisions.  But I haven't heard anything else about it so it must have

been fixed.

[brettjet38]

...and usually, those erroneous charges are credited back to the account within a few days automatically.

I myself have never had any odd fees charged to my account.

[brettjet38]

Fees

Final value fee % + $0.30 per order 

• 12.9% on total amount of the sale up to $7,500 calculated per item

Fees for optional listing upgrades

Fixed price listings - Good 'Til Cancelled*

Gallery Plus - $2.00

Subtitle - $6.00

https://www.ebay.ca/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822&st=3&pos=3&query=Selling...

How many other "extras" did you butter your listing with, cause I can see you used these two...

And did you list these on eBay.com in US$ ? 

[Anonymous]

1st sale

Final Value Fee
Variable percentage · eBay Motors category
-US$228.23

2nd sale

Final Value Fee
Variable percentage · Business & Industrial category
-US$369.80

Fund still on hold
This one had 6 or 7 insertion fee of $9.68 each.
Now, everything got merged into one Final fee amount.
I always took Subtitle +$9.68 CND

no upgrade otherwise

I will look into it in detail later, glitch or not.

[Anonymous]

That's it.

You got it and I didn't forced it in your throat.

Why not taking my help then?
But that's ok. We won't speculate from there.

He changed his mind and that's ok.

Thank you.