Seller protection is sh*t, i'm out of pocket and not happy :(

[Marne]

2 weeks ago i sold a girls cardigain new with tags (cost me £18 when i bought it), it sold for just ove £10, the buyer payed and i sent the item. Then a couple days ago i had a e-mail from paypal saying the buyers bank had revered the payment (either she was using a dodgy account or did not have the funds), i then get another e-mail saying the money has been put on hold, apparently i'm covered by seller protection, all i need to do is show proof of postage which must have the buyers address on it, of course i only sent it 2nd class standard delivery so i have no proof of postage. So i have now lost the money and someone has got themselves a nice new cardigain for there dd for nothing. I'm not overly bothered about the money, just pissed off that someone can do this.

The buyer only had 3 feedback, chances are these people left feedback before the same happened to them. Should i put some nasty feedback (i know i can only leave positive but i can write something like 'warning, buyers bank reversed payment')?

[HoHoLaughingMonster]

Bugger. Did you not get a receipt at the post office?

Even if you send things 2nd class, you can ask the post office for proof of postage and they give you a receipt, with cost, date and postcode of buyer. I know this doesn't help you now though...

[Foreversquirrelling]

I had exactly the same thing happen!! It wasn't on ebay, but suffice to say some thieving so and so used a stolen credit card, bought something from my website, and then (when too late) PayPal informed me that the card was dodgy and wouldn't be paying out grrr.

Is all very annoying, but not sure who is responsible here. I think PayPal should be able to block the transaction when they know the credit card is no good. Lost about £100 in total

[fergoose]

unfortunately seller protection is only valid if you follow the rules and send recorded with a signature - proof of postage is not proof of delivery

Have you contacted the buyer and asked them to pay again - it could have been a mix up with their bank or card.

[fergoose]

And no don't leave bad feedback on a pos comment - will only be removed and you will get a slapped wrist.

[Marne]

I have contacted the e-bayer and had no response, looks like they have possibly donr it to 3 other people, with much more expensive items (2 sewing machines and something else), they have not left any feedback for anyone to say items have been recieved, they only joint e-bay 2 days before they won the listings.

I get recipts for all my parcels but apparently thats not good enough, you need proof of the address and a tracking number. I'm trying to contact e-bay as i am worried they will con others out of money.

I had it happen once before when someone had used a stolen card, i'm just anoyed that theres so much protection for buyers but hardly any for sellers. I will block her from buying anything from me again. I'm lucky it was only £12.80 (including postage) that she conned out of me, it could have been worse .

[Marne]

Why can't paypal pick up on problems sooner, its taken them 2 weeks to which is too late, am so that there are people like this on e-bay, i have been on there for 5 years and have had hardly any problems.

[fergoose]

The only way to protect yourself as a seller is to send everything recorded - the paypal user agreement does state you have to send everything with a signature.

[HoHoLaughingMonster]

Sorry I didn't realise a receipt wasn't enough. That's really shit Marne :( I do agree that ebay is totally set up in the buyers favour though.

[steamedtreaclesponge]

I'm sorry, Marne, that's crap. You really do need to send everything recorded delivery, it's the only way to get around that sort of situation.

[fergoose]

Why don't you get your buyers contact details and phone them?

[Marne]

I sell quite a lot on e-bay and for a while i sent recorded but my star rating went down for 'postage costs' and my items were selling for less to compansate the postage. If i sell anything over £20 then i send recorded (out of my own pocket) but TBH its not worth the hastle with smaller items. Just sucks that people can rip us off so easily .

[AnnaBegins]

I'm afraid ebay is now solely focused on the buyer not the seller, it is crap but that's the way they've chosen to go. My DP is in the process of selling his successful ebay business because it's just got so hard to be a seller, when people don't pay, return items in unsaleable condition etc, and you can't do anything about it. I feel so sorry for you, but unfortunately that's just the problem with ebay :( You could get the postage costs back from Royal Mail by claiming it didn't arrive, there's a form on their website I think, but that's about all.

[DinosaursHateUnderpants]

Had similar happen to me 3 times in the last 4 months (and never before in 6 years) - twice the buyers were genuine and they paid again as their PayPal payment had bounced at the bank so I wasn't out of pocket. Third time (buyer had lots of feedback) I got contact number and rang them and eventually after 3 weeks they sent me a PO for the full amount so I would persist in trying to contact them if I were you.

Set yourself some personal seller rules - mine are that I only send signed/trackable if the value is over £25, if it's jewellery/valuable item OR if the buyer has less than 30 feedback in prior 3 months. That way you can decide if and when you are prepared to take a hit on losing items or money.

[sarahtigh]

if you sell and charge for small value items as recorded you will get low DSR for postal charges, so I tend to do recorded at about £15-20 level or if less than 30 feedback or a newbie but I make decisions on feedback too

[Marne]

Paypal have given me the money back, had a odd e-mail saying thankyou for the proof of postage (i had not sent anything) and they have released the money into my account .

[sarahtigh]

i think it is a case of definitely fraudulent buyer they dont give sellers money back unless very sure!

[fergoose]

did you print the postage online via paypal - they may have counted that as proof of postage?

[Marne]

Nope, posted it at post office 2nd class (no proof of postage), seems very odd as before they said i had 1 days to prove i posted it .

[fergoose]

well they must have made a mistake or maybe have changed the rules.

Either way, glad you got your money back. :)