EBAY and the famous 'chancers', take my warning

[BurberryIsSo2000]

I didn't realise it was a big thing before selling a load of stuff...

I've sold 10 items, 2 of which have been reported as 'not received'. 1 I've had to refund because she says I said the dress was mint green but she insists it's 'teal'. It's brand new with tags, designer label.

One of these three people even had the cheek to say they didn't receive it, but they signed for it with their signature.

Apparently this isn't the case, and someone has tried doing her signature for her.

eBay seem 100% on the buyer's side, no matter the outlandish reasoning.

I've looked at the feedback from two of these people and lots of people have said they claimed they didn't receive when they know they'd sent the item(s).

I'm gobsmacked. Cheeky fuckers.

Yeah it’s very frustrating considering you the seller are the one giving them the money.

The one with the colour claim should return it to you (at your cost) before you refund.
The claimed non-arrival should not refund if you have a tracking number you can provide to ebay.
Both of these situations are clearly described in the ebay rules. I'm not sure whether you mean they have been refunded or that paypal have stopped the money leaving your account until the matters are settled. If the latter you should get it back for the not-received and you should get the designer dress back.

I think you can change your account settings to disallow bidders who don't have 100% positive feedback, which might help weed some of them out.

You need to get the dress back before your refund. That's the rules. Please tell me you did that?

They drive us round the bend. The type we seem to attract send a flurry of emails about the item in the hope we'll just send them a refund to shut them up.

The worst ones are blatant, 'now I want to see what you can do for me before I leave feedback'. They usually leave 5 star feedback but with a negative comment.
I don't think they realise we can reply to feedback, so we leave a comment 'this buyer attempted a feedback hijack''.

The good news is that Customer Services can see when there's a pattern, and if you contact them, they will sometimes remove their account.

This is one of the problems that comes with sellers not being able to leave negative feedback for buyers: I had a 'not received' problem with a buyer, who appeared to have 100% positive feedback … but when I actually read the feedback, 3 of them said that the buyer had claimed it hadn't been received when they knew it had. So when I sell stuff and I put the buyer restriction setting on, it still lets a lot of con artists through. I've never heard about eBay siding with the buyer when a signature has been taken, though: makes you wonder why you bother. I had a nightmare years ago when I sold a designer bag for £400: 3 months after she signed for it she claims that it hadn't been her who ordered it, her eBay account had been hacked … Paypal took the £400 out of my account immediately, then started sending me emails saying I needed to get my account out of the red (ie put in £400) which I didn't have. Ebay were looking into it for ages, and all the while I'm getting messages from Paypal requesting money. I managed to pay half but they were insistent they needed it all, and then said they were passing it over to debt collectors! Luckily info I gave eBay seemed to help and eventually they found in my favour, but the whole experience was horrible. I don't sell anything valuable on eBay anymore - I'd rather go somewhere like Vestiaire Collective - even though they take a big commission, it's worth the peace of mind that I'm not going to get ripped off.

You need to look at the sellers forum on Ebay, you can just read it and find out how it works or you can ask people that have been on there for many years and avoid a lot of this.

Input the tracking no. when you send an item, enter it when there is a not received dispute, this proves it was delivered. If the buyer still insists it was not delivered then tell them you will contact Royal Mail and make a complaint on their behalf because obviously there is a problem at their address and it will be logged for reference. This usually ensures that the item is discovered somewhere.

If a case is opened for NAD you simply as for it to be returned for a refund. You do not refund until it arrives back with you in the same condition as when it was sent. No partial refunds.

Block these buyers from buying again both by user name and by e.mail address. Set your seller preferences to the tightest you can, ie: credit card on file, lowest no. of negatives etc. you will find all the choices when you look at the list in your Ebay.

Yanbu. Sellers get ripped off, and eBay allow it.
Sooner they go under the better. Selling on Facebook local selling sites is much better-no fees too.

I'm selling a few things at the moment (having a massive, gradual declutter as we're moving house soon). The non paying bidders seem to have risen by an awful lot since I last sold on there a few years ago. Yes, the chancers.

Though as a buyer you can be stung, I had a crook seller sell a specialist item which was very substandard and poorly made and not fit for purpose. On appeal being opened Paypal said they lacked the expertise to assess my complaint adequately and found in the buyer's favour (I've seen similar complaints on Mumsnet as regards antiques and made to order items)

One of these three people even had the cheek to say they didn't receive it, but they signed for it with their signature.

Wait, eBay refunded her even though you sent it signed for? So there was both a tracking number and her signature and you lost the case?

Only ever sell collection only and cash on collection.

Yes ebay 99.99% sides with the buyer even if you follow their instructions to the letter so the scammers get to keep the "not received" item and their money back win win for them, the seller loses money and the item.

This is why I will not sell via eBay. Ever!

I've never had an issue with eBay before but recently didn't receive an item I had paid for. eBay were great, we both tried contacting the seller to no avail and they refunded my money within a couple of days of the case being opened.
I hate selling stuff on there but have a few bits on at the moment due to a wardrobe clearout - will make sure I get plenty of postage proof!

I might be tempting fate here but in 15 years I have had only 2 items go missing and I believe those to be genuine, both around holiday times when post is not at its best so I stop selling just before Christmas.

I look at buyers feedback left and received before posting and often check the address on Streetview to see if there are likely to be any problems before deciding whether to use signed for. Sometimes a hint in the feedback will give something away. Buyers can be reported and it is possible to appeal a decision, sometimes you can get your money back, it takes determination and finding the right Ebay rep to deal with it, you may need to phone more than once and hope you get an Irish voice as they understand better.

Wait, eBay refunded her even though you sent it signed for? So there was both a tracking number and her signature and you lost the case?

Yes, this is exactly what's happened.

I even spoke to eBay over the phone and they said, in a nutshell, they'll always side with buyers 99% of cases

Yes quite a few liars on eBay though I think you’ve been very unlucky running into so many! 90% of my buyers are honest and genuine people. I wouldn’t sell at all if I experienced otherwise. I had one pretending they hadn’t received the item until I showed them the signature. eBay sided with me when I showed a screenshot of the signature and I didn’t have to refund. I also had a similar situation years ago but it was tracked, so I showed eBay and again I didn’t have to refund. Ebay works in mysterious ways, though they do favour the buyer without proof. If it kept happening I’d quit eBay and find somewhere else to sell. They can be so shitty to private sellers. I can always tell from the tone of the messages and a couple other things whether people are trying it on. Post rarely actually goes missing - I know from my youth working in mail sorting rooms. Myself personally I’ve had only a couple things missing in a decade and I buy hundreds of stuff online. Earlier this year I thought something went missing and it eventually turned up 3 weeks late!

I tend to use tracking more nowadays even on inexpensive items. Shame as it cause me to increase postage prices. The liars ruin it for everyone else.

I would do what a pp suggested to weed out the buyers with negative feedback. Though having said that I had 1 negative feedback leaving me less than 100% all because a buyer didn’t read the description, which they admitted to. They left the feedback before even contacting me. I left a comment below it to explain.

Don’t forget to leave negative feedback for buyers like the ones who have a signature but claim they didn’t receive it. (If you are sure of the situation.) I always check buyers’ feedback before I post items! Then I know whether to track items.

I regularly sell on ebay and have only had it once where a buyer reported an item as not received so opened a case to which I had to respond, as I send all parcels via a courier I always have a tracking number which I enter onto the buyers dispatch notice at time of sending, as soon as I uploaded the tracking info on the opened case, ebay were then able to see as was I on courier website, that I had done my end of the bargain and it was showing as delivered, the case was closed within hours in my favour.
I later spoke to ebay and they said as I could prove it had been delivered and the buyer couldn't prove it hadn't then it was an open and shut case.
Find it really unusual that ebay didn't find in your favour OP.

I've had about 1500 transactions on eBay but no one has ever claimed non receipt. An increase in people just not paying though. I think it's going down the pan tbh.

You cam claim the money back from royal mail. Its abit of faffing but at least you will not be out of pocket.

Make sure you use special delivery for expensive items, it's the only tracking that PayPal accepts.

For the colour thing, they need to send back the item before getting a refund. I had the same and eBay found in my favour (also the above I had from the forums was to not reply to the stuff eBay was sending me, as when you reply it seems to automatically find in the buyers favour!)

I've had the opposite. Item sent, tracking said delivered but no signature as none required, eBay said that was all the seller had to do. I was out of pocket basically and she tried to imply I was a fraudster.

I had one person contact me about a missing item. I had sent it tracked and it appeared to have been delivered, on telling this to the buyer they suddenly 'found' it behind the door. There are some very unpleasant people on eBay.

I'd be appealing that refund with eBay/Paypal if I were you. You have proof of delivery, you shouldn't have to refund them. I've had the exact same thing happen to me and all I had to do was send over a copy of my receipt with the tracking number on, which they then checked themselves and saw the item had been signed for. Case closed. It's not your fault if it has genuinely been delivered to the wrong address.

I stopped selling a couple of years ago, I still buy though. Last thing I sold the buyer contacted me and said a button had come off and was loose in the parcel. So I said, if you can't sew on a button or know someone to sew it on send it back to me and I'll refund once I receive it. Never heard from her again.