Have inadvertently sold a fake item and now buyer is threatening me with police

[HelpMeSoWorried]

Have namechanged as I am so embarassed. And also sorry to post in here, maybe should have posted in legal, but I know there is a lot of traffic here.

I was given a Mulberry bag as a christmas present a couple of years ago and tbh I never liked it much anyway and never used it (apologies to any handbag fans). As far as I knew it was genuine and had all tags with it etc.

I had no idea what it was worth but recently did a bit of research and they are about £700 new I think. So I decided to get rid and put it on gumtree. I was inundated with enquiries and sold it to a lady last week. She was really happy with it and I got £350 for it.

She has texted me today claiming it is fake and saying she wants me to pay her back and she will return the bag if I give her my address. She doesn't know where I live as I met her in town(at her request!) but she has my name, and obviously my number.

I am very upset and shocked as I would never have sold it if I thought it was not real, I would have maybe just given it away or something. Its completely against my principles, I am an honest person :( I am sat here crying now as I am so scared.

I really needed the money, I don't want the bag back and I don't want to return the money as as far as I am concerned I sold it in good faith and she happily chose to buy it. I am not a criminal, or a scam artist, but she is threatening to report me to the police. :(

can anyone help?

Do you have pics of the tags and number of the original bag (i.e. the one you just sold)? If so you could ask Mulberry if it was genuine.

There is no way I'd be giving her money back for the bag - she could have swapped it - unless you can definitely identify that it was actually the original bag you sold.

Yet another zombieeee

It sounds like it could be a scam. Something similar happened to me. I sold a genuine Louis Vuitton bag of a certain size. Sent it off to the buyer, who then sent me a photo of the same bag in a smaller size, claiming that the smaller size was the one I sent, so I needed to send back her a few hundred quid of what she paid to make up the disparity. I actually had documents from LV detailing the size of the bag she bought but she wouldn’t back down. I just told her if she wasn’t happy, she could return the bag to me and I’d refund her. I actually offered to drive to her, hundreds of miles from me, to refund her, but I never heard from her again.
Did you have any documentation with the bag at all that you’ve kept. It sounds like there’s a real chance she’ll bring you a fake and take your refund. To be honest I’d let her ring the Police.
The fact that she only paid 350 for a brand new un-used 700 quid Mulberry is dodgy in itself. They hold their value better than that. Keep a record of all communication with her, along with photos of the bag, presuming you used those to sell it. I would also contact your ex and ask the necessary questions. Don’t disclose where you live. If she wants to meet, take your brother/male friend with you but don’t take the bag back unless you’re happy it’s the one you sold.

IT'S A ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2012.

Anyone who spends £350 on ANY handbag is a mug. A fool and [her] money are soon parted...

It's depressing that I remembered this from the first time round the thread title alone

It even has my old login contributing before I lost it in the first great security debacle (first of about twenty I might add)

She will try and give you a fake. Ignore her.

Oh sorry just seen it’s a zombie thread

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 8 YEARS AGO

Could well be a scam and she wants to refund you a fake bag back.
The only way you are going to know is to get a receipt from your ex DP I’m afraid. Once you have some sort of proof you have nothing to worry about and she can do what she likes regarding police!

Grr zombie- who resurrected this and why!

Oooohh a thread the same age as my 8 year old son

Re zombie threads Mumsnet should disable replies after six months or so.
Wonder why they don't?

If Mulberry can't tell the difference between a fake and a real one, are Mulberry the scammers???

I have a Chinese fake bought in China for just under £200 which I don't think is that bad for a nice, big leather handbag. If I didn't have this I would have bought from Osprey for a similar price. Though it is rumoured that some of the Chinese fakes are actually from the Mulberry factory there, so how 'fake' are they really?

It may have been real.... And she could have swapped it for a fake. She sounds to be the dodgy one

Definitely a theory I thought!

I don't think you should take the bag back or return the money.

The transaction took place between a willing buyer and a willing seller. The buyer had ample opportunity to examine the item before deciding to go ahead.

You might be being scammed yourself. What if the bag was genuine, and this person has a supply of fake bags, and is making a fortune by buying genuine bags, and then complaining that they are fakes and returning a fake bag for a refund - you might not receive back the same bag you sold if you did accept a return, and then the buyer has the money and a genuine bag which they can then sell on.

You did nothing wrong, you haven't been dishonest. The buyer cannot prove that you didn't hand over the goods that they paid for (their possession of a fake bag is not proof) so ignore them

@SkinnyMarinkADink

No NO NO NO NO has no one mentioned the recent warning about gumtree??????

this was one of the scams, someone buys very expensive item, goes away swaps for fake and then demands and try to scare with police etc etc.

Do not fall for it, unless someone is a millionaire they don't go spending that sort of money without being sure it is a real item

That was my thought. Has the purchaser given you any reason why it's 'fake' or any evidence from a third party? Personally I think it sounds like a scam, let the purchaser follow it through.

Oh, only just noticed the zombie.

Be careful because she could be scamming you and want a refund and the bag. I would only sell on eBay where you are protected by returns before refunds and PayPal protects your money. Once you’ve got the bag back I would go and have it checked as it could well be real and she’s scamming you. I wouldn’t sell valuable things on gumtree.

Definitely pulling a fast one it's a common scam. They usually use PayPal though and claim the money back that way. She must be new to scamming

Ugh ffs

Oh I've just seen how old this is 😂

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