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?

tell her you have security marked it - then she hopefully won't attempt a switch. Does she know where you live?

Caveat emptor.

Real mulberry bags have a serial number etched onto a metal tag - did yours?

I'd ignore her entirely, she had ample time to check it, it's not Ebay, you don't owe her anything - buyer beware and all that, it's just like a car boot sale. If it was my ex-husband I would never believe he bought me a fake and I would be thinking someone would be swapping it.

if I had been daft enough not to put some security marks on it then there is no way I'd accept it back - she could just swop it with any crappy bag.

So...

1. serial number?
2. maroon logo'd dust bag?
3. care instructions with the bag?
4. did it come in maroon box?
5. Mulberry cleaner sold with it?
6. Mulberry shop nearby you can check with
7. type of Mulberry bag so MN can confirm if you've got a real one
8. did you have pictures on gumtree that you can post on here (for no. 7)
9. last resort of phoning ex to double check with him if you have to

Well, imagine for a moment that your DP had bought it as an exceedingly good fake, and as he's flash, he liked to pretend to you it was genuine. And imagine now the lady, who bought it on good faith and then later discovered it was a fake.

Then SHE would be right and you would be 100% in the wrong, no matter what your intentions were. So you ought to swap it back.

However, if you are sure it was genuine (and can somehow confirm this, either through XP, or because you kept note/photo of the serial number, and it had the original dustbag etc. with it, it could be that she is trying to scam you and has taken the real bag and is now trying to send you back an imitation. this happens a lot. People try it all the time.

However, unless you are 100% sure it was a genuine Mulberry, you will have to swap it back...unfortunately....just make sure it is exactly the same bag you sent her.

Ignore her op. It's either a scam which is why she wanted to meet somewhere neutral or its just her bad luck. Sold as seen is my motto.

Blimey. I recognise there is a posibility that this might be a scam.
But I am a bit at the people who are reacting in a 'tough shit' way.

Some poor woman may have saved up for this. No wonder ebay etc has gone to shit.

I would be mortified if it was possible that I might have accidentally sold someone a fake item. I wouldn't be trying to wriggle out of it.

I can just imagine the thread.
' I just paid £350 for a mulberry. It is fake and the seller is refusing to give me my money back'

But it's not Ebay where you have protection. It's like a carboot sale or a flea market where it's the buyers responsibility to check before handing money over.

The point is that the item has been TAKEN AWAY - meaning that it could now be used or swapped for a fake.

And I'm speaking as someone who'd bought fakes totally unintentionally on ebay and has been screwed over many times by buying items from car boots that don't work when the seller has claimed they do.

Oh I absolutely will refund the money if it is proven to be a fake - even though am skint could do without this - its absolutely right that I refund her, I do know that, was panicking when I typed my OP. Its just such a dodgy situation - I stupidly didn't mark it in any way when I sold it, and clearly I am crap with knowing about well, anything designer really posh bags

Right, am going to try and anwer all the q's re the bag itself now

1. serial number? - yes, there was a little tag thing inside with numbers on

1. maroon logo'd dust bag? - yes

1. care instructions with the bag? - yes

1. did it come in maroon box? - no

1. Mulberry cleaner sold with it? - no

1. Mulberry shop nearby you can check with - no idea but will look!

1. type of Mulberry bag so MN can confirm if you've got a real one - Alexa

1. did you have pictures on gumtree that you can post on here (for no. 7) - stupidly I have deleted the ad as kept getting calls and also have not kept pics on my computer, maybe someone knows how to retrieve deleted items...?

1. last resort of phoning ex to double check with him if you have to - will have to find out his number somehow, have already looked him up on facebook and he is not showing up but may have his account set to high security or something. however I should still be able to get hold of him somehow ie his work, friends etc

Sorry pag but I can't feel too sorry for someone spending £350 on a bag without checking it was the real deal first

"1. serial number? - yes, there was a little tag thing inside with numbers on"

Would you recognise the number again if you saw it on the returned bag?

I wouldn't contact your ex. Think about it the only reason you are contacting him is to check the authenticity of a very expensive gift he bought for you so you can sell it on? How would you feel if it was the other way around?

And yes to this being totally different than eBay. Buyer beware, especially if spending a ridiculous amount of money on a handbag.

<a class="break-all" href="//www.google.co.uk/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1019&bih=595&tbm=isch&tbnid=kSL5tOb0PsuxqM:&imgrefurl=www.mulberryukoutletshop.co.uk/alexa-bags-c-2.html&docid=fBG4mRB4vwZq9M&imgurl=www.mulberryukoutletshop.co.uk/images/7539_chocolate.jpg&w=548&h=548&ei=JUJPUOvTBMTI0QWC1YH4DA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=754&vpy=258&dur=101&hovh=224&hovw=224&tx=157&ty=232&sig=103197778574437081183&page=2&tbnh=137&tbnw=141&start=13&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:13,i:203" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">she's probably realised she can get one from here for £199

Atacareercrossroad

Well I can. Some people are not that bright. I am not sure that is a good reason to piss all over them.

If you sold her a bag as the genuine thing and it is a fake of course you need to refund her.....£350 for a fake bag is outrageous.

I am amazed at the people on here saying tough luck....blimey, if someone posted saying they had gone into a supermarket and stole a mars bar they would be lynched on here but to me, selling a fake as a genuine is just as bad!

It would be wrong to assume that it's a fake though, maybe she changed her mind.

Lady, are those bags fakes?

You might as well argue that if the buyer is actually scamming the op then this her own fault for selling without marking it or checking it was real.

You need to get the bag back from her and get it checked out. If it is indeed a fake then re-fund her.

Did you make a note of the serial number?

Exactly Pag. Years ago I sold what I thought were DVB jeans but they werent, they were very clever fakes. The buyer contacted me and I gave her the applicable re-fund, no harm done.

If you go on ebay there are loads of tips on there on spotting fakes. Apparently, most of the designer stuff on there is fake, esp things like Tiffany jewellery but again, there are tips telling you what to look out for.

I'm not pissing on anyone just saying if someone spending that much on something to shove their keys phone and purse in then its their own fault if they don't
check its real.

Shes obviously got something about her if she's trying to threaten op with the police.