ebay question

Hi all!! Long time reader of these boards, first post! I have a question for you ebay sellers out there.

I recently sold a $100 gift card on ebay. The buyer paid through paypal, and after a couple days I shipped the card to him. All sounds good, right? Well, a week later I get an email from paypal stating that the transaction is being investigated due to possible fraud. Then a couple days after that, paypal withdrew the funds from my account because the buyer "obtained the funds fraudulently". Apparently I'm not eligible for paypal protection reimbursement because the buyer's address was not confirmed.

paypal and ebay refunded my auction fee, but they won't do anything about the lost funds. This buyer has my gift card and I'm out the money. I don't have a lot of money and was really counting on this. Is there anything I can do to get this buyer to pay up?

Thank you for your help.

[bharman]

I don't know how to help, but I also have an Ebay problem. I ordered some perfume last week, but when I got it, it smelled nothing like the perfume. It was in the same bottle and box, but it was definitely not the same. It also faded after about 2 minutes and wasn't very potent. I think it may be a scam.

I paid $35 for the perfume. When I emailed the seller, she said she'd refund $15 and that I'd have to pay to ship it somewhere since her refund policy stated that the box had to be sealed in order to get a refund.

Is there anything else I can do? I've had several other people smell it, and I went to the department store to spray some on. It's definitely not the same perfume.

[cicy33]

okay, to the first poster, not much you can do except neg them. Sorry. That is the danger of gift cards. Some people have no problems, but more do!

Second poster: You should file a not as described product to get your money back from paypal. Then they will return your money. If they require you to send it back to her then make sure you get signature confirmation or you will not get credit!

[sweeps]

As I've mentioned in a different post, I'm finished with ebay and paypal. Unless you do enough business to absorb the escalating costs (from fraud, fees, package tracking, etc.), it's simply not worth it. The customer service at ebay and paypal is braindead, and the average buyer and seller are powerless against the crooks out there. Can you tell I'm bitter?

[cicy33]

I agree. I still sell but it is less and less. I buy more than I sell. The magic of ebay is gone. They have allowed way to many businesses on there. It used to be about the regular people but now like all big business we have no place there.

[bharman]

Well, thanks for your help. I actually emailed the seller again yesterday, and she agreed to refund 100% of my money. (Shipping was free, and I think she's still refunding everything.) I have to mail it back to her, so I'm not going to give her a review until my money is refunded. I don't think I'll buy anything perishable again on Ebay.

[Ima saver]

I have never used ebay, and I certainly won't now!!

[kashi]

I've always had good luck on eBay up until last week. I bought my laptop and a replacement LCD screen there with no problem. Last week, though, I paid for a keyboard and then the guy came back telling me he needed $50 more for shipping (for a total of $75). I thought, no way! If you said it was $25, it's $25. It took a while, but he finally refunded my money in full. I'm laying off eBay for a while.

[CJsoccerchic]

It's sad how buisnesses are going to ebay - they relaly are making it hard for the poeple like us to sell regular stuff at a godo price. And of course, the scammers. It's just sad.

[<><]

eBay is not all that bad, i use ebay mostly for electronic purchases as it is a lot cheaper on ebay than any other online retailer or at a retail store, you just have to be smart and look at the feedback and some of their previous reviews the seller has. Although the one thing i dont like is the overcharge for shipping, although the reason for this might be to circumvent ebay fees for selling an item, its still something i consider to be a little fraudulent.
just my 2 cents

[34saving]

I've always been pretty reasonable in my shipping charges, but I'm considering a pretty hard core increase. Why? To get any "seller protection" from Paypal you need to prove that it was delivered to the confirmed address. I think the only way to do that is with signature confirmation (a pain for everybody + the expense). I don't think regular delivery confirmation works because it doesn't show an ONLINE SPECIFIC address. So, looks like you have to send everything signature confirmed or take your chances. I never had a problem taking my chances until recently when took something I sent 4 weeks to go from Minnesota to Wisconsin -- it was sent priority mail and was supposed to be delivered in two days! Thankfully my buyer was very accomodating, but I definitely could have ended up eating the $75 though no fault of my own (or my buyer's . . .).

[cicy33]

I am really glad that you have solved your problem. I am careful what I purchase off ebay. I generally dont' spend a large fortune of money on there. I just don't trust it totally!

[CJsoccerchic]

I still use eBay, but I am very careful about the people that I buy from, I REALLY look at their feedback, maybe I'm too choosy, I dunno, but so far, I haven't been jipped yet... except for that one time, but it was a small sum, so I'm over it...

[BillsGirl]

Originally Posted by kashi

I've always had good luck on eBay up until last week. I bought my laptop and a replacement LCD screen there with no problem. Last week, though, I paid for a keyboard and then the guy came back telling me he needed $50 more for shipping (for a total of $75). I thought, no way! If you said it was $25, it's $25. It took a while, but he finally refunded my money in full. I'm laying off eBay for a while.

Ya know I have sold stuff there where I underquoted my shipping costs, although it wasn't a humungous diffrence I still never asked for if I told you $10 for shipping thats all I expect you to pay! I have myself also decided I am done with ebay...... not worth it costs way too much money and stuff doesn't sell that great! and people as a bunch of @$$holes there!

like I bought a shirt listing said shirt was brand new without tags.... I only paid $5 total but still I expected what the listing said and I got a disgutstingly dirty grease stained shirt, and the guy called me a fraud..... the nerve! I was willing to settle for a stupid apology but he had to be a jerk about it!

[eisor]

I've found that a good alternative to ebay is Craigslist. I however am in metro-atlanta so our craiglist is very active. I've found really good deals from people. Plus, you are dealing locally and you can actually see the item before buying it. So, if Craigslist is active in your area, it might be a good alternative for you too.

[SuzeOFan]

I think Ebay has lost its way. It's just no fun anymore.

I dumped them when they raised their rates last year.
I hate being nickled & dimed!

Try selling at Amazon.com

They're limited, but they're a whole lot less work!
And they let you keep your listing for about 30 days as opposed to the stingey 10 Ebay gives you.

[income_investor]

My 2 cents (100k + auctions)

1) only ship to confirmed paypal address (there are to many account takeovers out there) seller protection
2) del conf. is good enough for paypal sig not required. (it has worked for me several times when shipped to conf address)
3) I would contact the local law enforcement for where the item was sent. Get the police involved and they may think twice about doing it again.

Scott

[BignRichfan]

I still sell now and them on Ebay, but I to was ripped off las year on cologne and never got my product and ebay and paypal was like oh well! The person who ripped me also got alot of other peoples money to. A good place to see is Bidville.com which is free and Yahoo auctions. I think it's time for ebay to take a hike. They don't stand by their customers. Paypal is also alittle to free to just remove funds from your account and im sure that's illegal to do. It's not your problem if the person who paid you got the money elsewhere. How do you know that right? The worst part is even if you would have spent that $100 and had a $0 balance in your account they would still show you as a negative $100 and tell you that you owe them. That also happened to me once. I don't keep any money in my paypal at all anymore because of that. I emailed thaem about it and they never returned any inquiries about it. It's all big business now and they forgot that it was us the little people who made ebay and paypal who they are today.