eBay experts / got ripped off

[John105]

Interesting how the very topic touches nerves. Victims are “dumb.” They don’t know how to use tools. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. I always found it hilarious when people take delight in misfortune.

It’s all good, I’ll live. But I never woulda thought of dropping in fake tracking. One woulda thunk eBay could systematically see it doesn’t match. Of course I can easily make up ups tracking for New York, NY. It’d be harder to do so for Peekskill or croton in Hudson. But what I think is delivery of the tracking triggers payment to seller.

 

[Pablo]

Did you talk to the seller first before trying to contact eBay?

This

Has it been a week+ and no goods?
Why contact ebay? Contact the seller. If he goes silent there is your answer.

10:1 he was shipping a bunch of other stuff and messed up a copy and paste.

Ebay is not a giant hive of ripoff. I've been on ebay for 25+ years (no not Amsoil). Ebay does NOT control or monitor tracking numbers. I ship stuff (use stamps.com) and then I enter a tracking number in the order and then manually mark as shipped. Ebay doesn't control this other than pester me (the seller) to ship the item.

I'm not calling you an idiot or dumb, BUT you seem a bit ignorant on how ebay works.

I have some specific gripes about ebay (like FEES) but they as a company are OK

 

[DuckRyder]

Ive had all sorts of weirdness with tracking numbers including them being reused in relatively short times.

My first reaction would not be a "fake" tracking number.

 

[walterjay]

Did you talk to the seller first before trying to contact eBay?

I did. The problem was that I was purchasing an ink cartridge. Picture and nomenclature indicated that it was the original HP cartridge. Got it in and it was a Chinese knock off. Would not print in my printer. Seller did not seem interested in the fact that it was not original cartridge. Laid blame on me telling me my settings were not right. Cartridge will work. Contacted Ebay and they told me to try to resolve it within so many days with seller. Seller would not budge. Tried to contact Ebay after allocated time and they did not respond. At this point my time was up and I was stuck with the junk.
Ebay has turned into a corrupt and not caring organization. Bums and thieves hiding like cockroaches in the internet economy.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I went through this about a year ago, so this is from memory. First, you have to contact the seller through their system. It gives you an option about why you’re contacting them, and you have to say there’s a problem with the product. Then you send the seller a message. Make sure you do this even if you’ve already contacted them. In a few days, you will get a reminder from eBay asking you if the issue is resolved. You’ll then say no and fill out some other stuff. I think then it goes on for a while longer. Then if the seller is still not making things right, eBay finally looks at it.

There might be a faster way, but that worked for me. And I agree I used to buy a number of items on eBay , but after the last couple issues I buy nothing that I can get elsewhere at any price.

 

[John105]

Did you talk to the seller first before trying to contact eBay?

Sure that’s common sense. The item was ordered 2 weeks ago. It’s been my experience most sellers ship right away, as they want payment. Sent some emails through eBay, for eta or please refund. Crickets. Then last tue out of nowhere tracking appears. Look it up, it’s a 20 package UPS shipment, from Iowa to Philadelphia. I don’t live in Philadelphia. Real tracking, nothing to do with my order. Emailed seller, crickets and cicadas.

Fri said tracking is delivered. No response to any inquiries. And in his negative feedback it happened to someone else as well. Not going to beat a dead horse the world is full of dishonest people, I just naively thought eBay had instant algorithms and protections in place

 

[John105]

This

Has it been a week+ and no goods?
Why contact ebay? Contact the seller. If he goes silent there is your answer.

10:1 he was shipping a bunch of other stuff and messed up a copy and paste.

Ebay is not a giant hive of ripoff. I've been on ebay for 25+ years (no not Amsoil). Ebay does NOT control or monitor tracking numbers. I ship stuff (use stamps.com) and then I enter a tracking number in the order and then manually mark as shipped. Ebay doesn't control this other than pester me (the seller) to ship the item.

I'm not calling you an idiot or dumb, BUT you seem a bit ignorant on how ebay works.

I have some specific gripes about ebay (like FEES) but they as a company are OK

Maybe more info was needed before the rush to judgment.

Yes. Maybe 5 unanswered emails over two weeks.

Edit. But as such, gonna have to block you dude, if I can figure out how (never done it but assume feature exists)

 

[TiGeo]

So it hasn't come yet? Just contact the seller....

Using PayPal also makes the dispute process v. simple.

 

[John105]

I went through this about a year ago, so this is from memory. First, you have to contact the seller through their system. It gives you an option about why you’re contacting them, and you have to say there’s a problem with the product. Then you send the seller a message. Make sure you do this even if you’ve already contacted them. In a few days, you will get a reminder from eBay asking you if the issue is resolved. You’ll then say no and fill out some other stuff. I think then it goes on for a while longer. Then if the seller is still not making things right, eBay finally looks at it.

There might be a faster way, but that worked for me. And I agree I used to buy a number of items on eBay , but after the last couple issues I buy nothing that I can get elsewhere at any price.

Yeah that’s helpful. Thanks.

Funny how I suspect some folks on this thread are sellers. So like a Tesla from 0-60 they blame the buyer who must be scamming it’s really hilarious

I feel that a credit card stop payment is not “ethical” from the eBay standpoint. That’s cheating eBay. The seller already got his money. So I’m not doing that.

I remember talking to eBay on the phone 3 years ago. So I thought that was an option. It’s not apparently. It’s all good life is caveat emptor. Just need to remember sometimes.

 

[John105]

So it hasn't come yet? Just contact the seller....

Using PayPal also makes the dispute process v. simple.

This may also be something where I got taken. I made an offer, offer accepted.

Unlike the other 200 transactions, eBay asked for direct payment! Maybe that was a red flag I missed. Because I was gonna use apple pay for the 5%.

Again for the amount I paid I can lose it, but it’s irritating. It would give me pause on really expensive items, to check for all that stuff in advance.

 

[Pablo]

Maybe more info was needed before the rush to judgment.

Yes. Maybe 5 unanswered emails over two weeks.

Edit. But as such, gonna have to block you dude, if I can figure out how (never done it but assume feature exists)

Going to block me?

Just curious as to the why? What did I write that was wrong or offensive?

 

[wrcsixeight]

I order lots of things via Ebay.
Sometimes there is weirdness with the tracking, like the item shows up before the tracking even says Usps has even received package from seller.

But one seller told me product shipped and provided no tracking. 2 weeks later no product, seller said usps at fault, wait.
I ordered similar product from different seller as time was short.
left bad feedback.
ebay refunded me. Was a painless process.

More recently a product showed up way late in mailbox with a postage due, 'paid by mailman' with an envelope to reimburse him the 3.96$

It was a 7$ product with free shipping.
Contacted seller, they replied within the hour, apologized, refunded me 4$.

One 5 for 7$ item ordered, showed up with an incorrect product.
Contacted seller hoping they'd just send right product, but they said start the return process. Looked closer at listing and saw signs they could intentionally be offloading the older tech. The 2 products appear identical but bottom of circuit board picture was missing, and other oic was fuzzy so coukdnt read pri ting on the processor, and should have said xl6009 but what arrived was lm2596. Ordered booster, got old tech bucker.

Didnt bother returning items, didnt leave any feedback, just will avoid that seller in future.

i almost never use Amazon anymore. Prime tactics irritate me, and having to order 25$ worth of stuff to get free shipping annoys me, and screw Bezos.

Ebay will continue to be my first choice of online retailer.
Mistakes happen, they make them right. IME.

 

[John105]

I order lots of things via Ebay.
Sometimes there is weirdness with the tracking, like the item shows up before the tracking even says Usps has even received package from seller.

But one seller told me product shipped and provided no tracking. 2 weeks later no product, seller said usps at fault, wait.
I ordered similar product from different seller as time was short.
left bad feedback.
ebay refunded me. Was a painless process.

More recently a product showed up way late in mailbox with a postage due, 'paid by mailman' with an envelope to reimburse him the 3.96$

It was a 7$ product with free shipping.
Contacted seller, they replied within the hour, apologized, refunded me 4$.

One 5 for 7$ item ordered, showed up with an incorrect product.
Contacted seller hoping they'd just send right product, but they said start the return process. Looked closer at listing and saw signs they could intentionally be offloading the older tech. The 2 products appear identical but bottom of circuit board picture was missing, and other oic was fuzzy so coukdnt read pri ting on the processor, and should have said xl6009 but what arrived was lm2596. Ordered booster, got old tech bucker.

Didnt bother returning items, didnt leave any feedback, just will avoid that seller in future.

i almost never use Amazon anymore. Prime tactics irritate me, and having to order 25$ worth of stuff to get free shipping annoys me, and screw Bezos.

Ebay will continue to be my first choice of online retailer.
Mistakes happen, they make them right. IME.

My experience over 16 years is that seller responds. That’s the key.

Except for one case when I really got taken on a Callaway golf club that was broken (no damage to box, I actually let the seller string me along over 30 days), every time something was not right, seller responded and fixed their issue.

I’m not saying eBay is bad. I was just taken by surprise that I could not act (talk to them, chat, or ask for anything) when the bogus tracking was delivered. eBay purchase history considers the item delivered. I do think that now that I’ve once again emailed the seller to crickets, eBay can step
I’m after 6 days

 

[dogememe]

As a frequent buyer and seller I know eBay’s systems and processes very well.

Occasionally there are scammers on both sides. I sold a laptop as for parts not working with *bad motherboard read description* in the title and in the description detailed the issues. Stated that it was not eligible for returns. The buyer, of course, tried to return it because the motherboard was bad. I told the buyer the item is as described and I will not be returning it. But offered a $20 good will partial refund to make him happy. He stopped replying and continued trying to get a refund from eBay. I got fed up and called eBay. Spoke to a real human that sounded like he was in the US. Within 10 minutes he reviewed the listing, description, messages between us, agreed I was being more than reasonable, we even had a good laugh at how many times I mentioned in there it had a bad motherboard, and the issue was resolved in my favor.

I suggest you just find the phone number and call them and they will help you resolve the issue if you have already attempted contacting the seller. But definitely don’t give up. The scammers know many people will go “oh it’s only $XX screw it” but that’s letting them win. Don’t let them win!

 

[dishdude]

It's next to impossible to get ripped off as a buyer on ebay. Even if the seller refuses a return, you can file a "not as described" claim that forces the seller to take it back with shipping on their dime. It's like two clicks on the site to initiate the claim. I have over 1,000 transactions on ebay as a casual buyer and seller, very few issues.

 

[SC Maintenance]

My BIGGEST EBAY COMPLAINT - if you go to dispute - and ebay forces the seller to take it back, the item gets "returned' you can't leave feedback for the seller. So it doesn't matter - they tried to screw you but you can't let the next guy know.

I used to order a ton of stuff on ebay - even sold a few things. I have over 500 feedback registers - 100% positive, over 22 years. I have only ordered 4 things YTD - just looked - one of those 4 I just bought, an old remote control for a Sony Stereo. Hopefully that shows up.

I bought all kinds of stuff for years, car parts, ancient Penn fishing reels that are older than I am and will still work long after I die, electronic components, hardware - you name it - never an issue, for years.

Until right around the pandemic. Turned into a complete scam fest. Not as described, not even the right thing, not showing up at all. Email the seller figuring someone made a mistake - nope - either radio silence, or had to go to ebay dispute resolution twice, and just forgot about it a couple times - not worth the trouble for a $20 dollar item.

Done with ebay for anything I can possibly get anywhere else, even at twice the price.

 

[mrnkc130]

I no longer sell on Ebay, its too risky for someone who isnt making a business out of it. I'll buy without a worry though, the Ebay buyer protections are ridiculously good.
Ebay takes a huge cut of sales and takes virtually no risk, they hold the money until transaction is all good, they dont pay the shipping, and dont own the inventory...
You can get some fantastic deals on ebay, between that and amazon warehouse i hardly buy anything retail anymore.

 

[Leo99]

I didn't see any mention of paypal. Ebay seems to be set up to resolve disagreements through their payment system.

 

[spackard]

There were some Singapore sellers a few months ago scam-selling Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries. They set the shipping time to 60 days, to bump up against UCC limits, I think. I alerted PayPal first then EBay. PayPal was such a hassle I finally had to file a dispute with my credit card company; PayPal 1 day later then locked my account claiming my account must have become compromised.

2023 has been a sucky year for customer service. It’s been good or very, very bad. A lot of the latter.

 

[JHZR2]

More than once I’ve had stuff on eBay get a tracking number entered in, then it was changed or the item came separately. Not sure if it’s for “metrics”, or because of some ways to save on shipping costs, or what. I’ve always gotten my items but it has become weird.

One thing I bought they sent me a post card saying they donated $1 to some charity because of my purchase. That was the tracked item. eBay got the number and it was delivered “on time”. Item came later. I suspect it was a sham to be able to have plausible deniability that they operated on time whike not actually having the item they were selling.