A theory about wan...ebayers at the minute

[Detector]

Theres a LOT of ebay scammers about at the minute who are buying stuff and then saying that they have either not received the item OR that it does not work when they tried it.

Tonight i got an ebayer saying the latter, that a product they receieved did not work when they tested it - i know that crap as i test everything i sell over and over again to make sure theres no problems at a later date.

i can also tell by their emails exactly what they are up to, little things give them away and so i wanted to share my thoughts to help other ebayers on df.

when you list the item in the first place be 100% honest and accurate - there no comebacks at a later date. list any problems or defects if any.
test, test and test again b4 despatch
mark your valuable or electric items and record any or all serial numbers (photos is good)
i recommend buying some tamper proof warranty labels but dont just use their own glue (most are stick on) - i also use superglue to make sure it cannot be lifted easily and replaced. there will allways be some kind of mark left if they do try to remove it.
adjust your ebay account so that you only accepy buyers with no negative feedback, have a credit card and paypal account and no other problems in the last few months.

when you post anything out these days - it pays to send the item recorded mail if under £50 or special if possible over £50
any large items send via somewhere like parcelmonkey where they pick up from your house and buy extra insurance just in case.

and lastly and more importantly what i did tonight:
i realised from their initial email/pm to me that all they were after is a refund SO i said all the usual crap like - so sorry you have had a problem etc etc etc. gave them advice to try and help any problem if genuine. and they said they still had a problem. SO i said (and this is the important bit)
post the item back to me in the same condition as i sent to you with all accessories (if included) and once i get the item back and confirm it to be faulty i will gladly refund your monies in full PLUS the return postage fees so your not out of pocket.

the thing here is to get a paypal refund they need to provide a tracking number to paypal so if they are just trying a scam they would be hesitant as its a lot of fucking about for them to post it back. after i said this my ebay buyer relented saying they did not want a refund as ive been very helpful (yeah right)

genuine people with genuine faults will want to return the item instantly so you allways know.


so in short be polite, offer a refund if the item is faulty and ask them to post it back to you asap. if they dont you know they are just trying it on.

if they demand a refund tell them they need to post it back to you first - paypal require a tracking number anyway.

[{{909}}]

sort of similar and rings true to your advice. I sold a CD set and the cock who bought it complains the disks dont have their original cardboard sleeve and this is so fucking important they dont want the disks now, even though my photos and description made no reference to it.
I argued a bit and they started calling me a liar, which really got my goat up so I thought fuck it, Ill offer a refund + plus their postage fees. The seller then tried to tell me that they would rather drop the CDs off at a charity shop and accept my refund, than to send it back! What a fucking cock. The CDs were listed on ebay brand new for £59 by another seller (didnt sell mind), mine sold for £4 so he's tryign to say a fucking bit of card missing makes 60quid worth of CDs worthless?
Strangely the cock is yet to accept the refund, or to reply to the last email I sent telling him to expect it.

[Cooleo]

Strangely enough, I haven't been hit this recent dickwave. I list all my items with 100% description of everything, including any faults and send royal mail signed for, This seems to work for me.

[Detector]

909 m8, tell him to send back the cd's in the exact same condition as you sent them out and once you get them back you will gladly refund - i would not do fuck all till then

[Detector]

Strangely enough, I haven't been hit this recent dickwave. I list all my items with 100% description of everything, including any faults and send royal mail signed for, This seems to work for me.

i find thats the best policy - be 110% honest, any slight scratch or problem tell them about it because they actibely search for things like this.

[{{909}}]

nothing will protect you from cocks on ebay, or anywhere for that matter. I didnt list my item as being anything other than it was and I take top bollock photos to go with my auctions to avoid any sort of mis understanding but you will always get one asshole.
To be fair, i think people have a varying opinion on what 'very good condition' means. Out of almost 300 auctions Ive done in the last 6 weeks, I have only had 3 issues, 1 where the item didnt arrive, 2 where they didnt think my item matched up to the discretion. not a bad ratio really.

[Lighty]

I remember when eBay was a.) Good and b.) Cheap
nowadays its a.) wank and b.) No cheaper than anywhere else by the time youve added all the fees and bullshit on

[cosmicma]

over the years iv'e been fortunate with ebay as a buyer but i try to buy localy so i can collect especially if i'm spending a few quid that way we both know where we stand the seller gets the cash and i get my item and if there's something wrong with it i only have myself to blame for not checking it properly before i handed the money over

i know there's a few idiots out there on ebay but with not doing much selling i don't really come accross em

[Zoots]

One of the biggest risks with having goods retuned even with a tracking number, is that it's easy for someone to send an empty box or one full of magazines/newspapers or something. Now that is a proper scam but I've heard it happening a few times and even had a guy worried I was going to do that to him when I wanted to return something. Of course, there's little or sod all you can do to escape that sort of scam. I think it was on here I read it happening to someone with an expensive processor.

[ilscuro]

I do 99% of my buying on Amazon now because i was sick of twats trying it on on fleabay, you may pay a bit more, but delivery is quick and any problems i've had have been sorted quickly.

You can also sell on Amazon but not tried it yet.

[blaggard]

Vote for Amazon here too, I sometimes buy from eBay but have not sold there for a couple of years.

[Tim.Lad]

My mate has a furniture business mainly trading on ebay, he had some flat pack furniture returned to him once supposedly damaged in transit, when he received it it was a small box way to small to be furniture and had two paving slabs in it...

He went straight on the offensive, rang ebay and reported the attempted scam, had a mate ring the user and say he was from the local plod fraud department and wanted to confirm some details regard an allegation been made, then followed that with a solicitors letter... what do you know paypal case doped good feedback left...

[the.insane]

i just bought a motherboard for a PC, it was faulty upon testing but for the sake of £16 i just cant be arsed with the has+sle, i'll just recoup the loss some other way,

credit to the seller tho, he has emailed saying he will give me full refund if i return the item.

[{{909}}]

I have made 2k on ebay in the last couple of month, with about 200quid in fees etc and I couldnt have sold the stuff at anywhere near that price anywhere else. Plus i listed a load of old rave tapes last week expecting to get maybe 50 quid for the lot and within 30mins of the auction going live I got an offer of 180 for them, snatched his fucking hand off.
Personally I enjoy ebaying when your stuff actually sells or you pick up a bargain, its a pain in the butt listing stuff if it doesn't get a bid though, or just gets dozens of fucking watchers who never bid!

[ant3b]

Exactly 909.

I see Xbox games go for alot more than in the shops second hand etc. I put it down to paypal being around and they think ooo paypal money ill spend that..

on the note of rave tapes.. should of held out maybe got more

[raelmadrid]

yes it is nice when everythings going well and the moneys rolling in of course

[Detector]

just a quick addon

if any ebayer buys something then returns an empty box or something like bricks to you it is blatantly theft and also fraud and deception and you can get them done for it.

if this does happen to you, try not to disturb the items or packaging too much as they might want to fingerprint them. email the buyer and tell them unless they either send the real item back or drop the claim in ebay you will simply get the police involved and they will be able to fingerprint the box and contents etc. at the end of the day this is theft, faud and deception and is quite a serious offence in the uk.

[{{909}}]

what if you are selling bricks?

If i was having grief with a buyer for something the weight of a couple of bricks or whatever I just wouldn't issue their refund until I got the items back.

[Detector]

m8 the trouble is as soon as they make a claim with ebay, paypal freeze the amount in your paypal account so youre fucked either way.

and if your selling bricks on ebay you deserve to be sectioned

[dannyboy]

My bro in law sold a few tubs of Creatine - Creatamax extreme a few weeks ago. Out of the 10 he sold, 2 of them claimed they never received the item and the other claimed to have been sent the wrong flavour, even though he only had 1 flavour to sell!

On another note, I run a pre-owned game shop and always try and get people trying to scam me. ie me selling a game then a week or so later bringing it back claiming it freezes half way through. Pisses me right off. It's quite obvious they're bullshitting especially when I tell them i'll give them another copy of the game and but they just "want their money back" I invested in an industrial type disc repair machine to get rid of any scratches on the discs and this has helped alot with returns. This is why I only really stick to games and cheaper consoles, I can't be doing with all the returns i'd get on 360's and PS3s etc