eBay Fraud

pooleman0 · 07-13-2011, 08:03 AM

Has anyone ever sold something on eBay and been accused of fraud? I sold something recently, an old ipod that i rebuilt, and shipped it on July 1st. I got an email from the buyer yesterday saying that the package was delivered and that no ipod was in the box. I shipped it. He wants a refund but I won;t give one as I will be out an ipod. Is it more likely that he is lying or that someone at the post office stole it. It took 10 days to get from CT to FL, which seemed funny to me.

**Josey Wales** · 07-13-2011, 08:24 AM

dude, from the time it was sent out you have no way of telling what happened, do you have the tracking number? you can track where it was, did you insure it? because then you can get that money back, or the person is just yanking you tell them to prove it somehow, i wouldn't refund the money as you know you sent it..

i mean seriously i could order an ipod get the box email the person telling them it wasn't in there, and if they ask to prove it i could take a picture of the empty box so idk man.

**tenwatt** · 07-13-2011, 08:25 AM

Was it insured? Contact you PO to see what they think about it.

I had a guy try to scam me on eBay once and he actually some how withdrew his Paypal payment to me. It was on a $1700 guitar too. I had all of my shipping receipts and such and Paypal and eBay investigated and eventually favored my story and I came out fine with all the money that was owed to me. It took a week or so to iron out.

**Josey Wales** · 07-13-2011, 08:50 AM

ok i just talked to my boss, and he uses ebay all the time, he said if it's paypal then they will refund the money, and you'r SOL unless you can have it investigated like tenwatt said, he also said to check that users ratings and look at the comments and see if theres any negative stuff that you can base them lying on

bobthecockroach · 07-13-2011, 08:55 AM

Scamming you on eBay for the value of an iPod is probably a misdemeanor. Stealing mail carries a prison sentence of up to 5 years. You decide which one someone is more likely to risk.

Get eBay involved and find your shipping receipt. It will show the weight of the package at the time of shipment. An empty box would weigh a lot less than an iPod. This is probably your only evidence.

In the future, I think you should use signature confirmation for anything you sell online unless you're willing to offer a no-questions-asked refund on the item.

***Art*** · 07-13-2011, 12:33 PM

A shipper tried to scam me once with a bait and switch. Paypal 's fraud protection is phenomenal. Get your stuff together, and contact paypal with it.

pooleman0 · 07-14-2011, 05:32 AM

Should I wait for him to contact ebay or paypal? I already got paid so maybe the best person to notify. I felt that if he was scamming he may be more willing to try to get money from me but less willing to risk it with the "authorities", so to speak. I did find my receipt with the weight. So I asked him to weigh his box and packaging without telling me how much of a difference it was. Since he hasn't called ebay or paypal yet I think he is trying to scam me.

bobthecockroach · 07-14-2011, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooleman0

Should I wait for him to contact ebay or paypal? I already got paid so maybe the best person to notify. I felt that if he was scamming he may be more willing to try to get money from me but less willing to risk it with the "authorities", so to speak. I did find my receipt with the weight. So I asked him to weigh his box and packaging without telling me how much of a difference it was. Since he hasn't called ebay or paypal yet I think he is trying to scam me.

If you contact them, you get to tell your story first.

pooleman0 · 07-16-2011, 03:53 PM

Its been two or three days and no word. I think he wised up.