To be seething that someone is trying to cheat me an expensive item on eBay?!

[ponderingthisthing]

Sold a BNWT expensive designer blouse on eBay which has gone through the global shipping programme. The buyer messaged me with a picture to say that there's a hole on the sleeve. There is no hole in the one I sent!! The picture the buyer sent me is a zoomed in view but it looks like a terrible quality replica.

I made the terrible mistake of just uploading stock photos and can't believe I didn't take pics of the actual blouse. Does this mean I'm now doomed and will lose hundreds of pounds to this scammer, who will end up getting the genuine item for free? I know eBay almost always sides with the buyer so not feeling hopeful here. Also the buyer has over 2k ratings on eBay and is clearly business seller. Any tips at all on how I could protect myself? Feel so sick about this whole ordeal.

Sorry but I think you've lost that money. OH sold his phone through eBay and at a variety of points he spoke to ebay and said - this buyers trying to scam me, they still went through the whole process siding with the buyer. It was so transparent. New account with 1 or 2 good reviews of low value items, nothing said until the last day before filing a complaint. They never sent him a message to try and resolve. They had to send it back but the scammer knew that they just had to send to any old address near where we lived and it would be registered as 'returned' and an automatic refund issued. Our postie was excellent and managed to track down the exact address - it was nowhere similar to ours, no typo but deliberately sent to a different address. They'd just sent a letter and not the phone but ebay system only cares that something was returned to your postal town. In our case, because we had the proof it was a scam, we did get a refund from eBay but the scammer still got the phone and the money. We wiped the phone remotely just in case but probably some poor bugger ended up with a useless phone.

You have no proof at all and unfortunately this will be a hard lesson. The only possible solution is to notify ebay that the item is not the same (do you have an original receipt) and hole was clearly made by scissors and you might be lucky.

For over £600 I’d have made sure.

@Oftenithinkaboutit

A lot of assumption about an item that cost well in excess of £600 you say.

Not sure I'm getting any benefit out of this thread now other than being beaten up again and again for not having taken the appropriate measures to protect myself against scammers. Seriously, if the item was damaged in such a way during transit, it would've been very obvious and any genuine buyer would've made a point about that or showed a picture of the damaged parcel.

I appreciate some of the kind responses where people are genuinely trying to help or console, but I think I may ask MN for this thread to be taken down now since many of the pp appear to want to set me up as the scammer instead or question the reliability of anything I say. I've already acknowledged that I was being naive and too trusting. I really don't need that kind of negativity right now.

I worked in a warehouse for a large online designer retailer that sold globally. Multiple times a week we would receive back replicas (usually quite good ones) in place of real returns. There was a whole team devoted to examining returns to weed out the replicas. You would be amazed at how much was replicated - whole collections of designer clothes and bags, every single season. I am presuming from OP's previous comments that this blouse was sold to a person in China, which is where most replicas are produced. So to me it's pretty believable that they'd have a replica of OP's item.

I do think that you need to careful about which countries you ship to on eBay. I will only ship to the EU, USA and Australia if offering international shipping, and haven't I experienced issues with these countries. I definitely wouldn't consider shipping to China.

Best thing you can do in this situation is to reply in the case that it wasn’t damaged when you sent it out and if it arrived with a hole it must have been damaged in transit. That way the buyer might do the return as arrived damaged which at least means EBay will pay her out and not you. She will still be a scammer but it will be the best option for you .

@ponderingthisthing

Sold a BNWT expensive designer blouse on eBay which has gone through the global shipping programme. The buyer messaged me with a picture to say that there's a hole on the sleeve. There is no hole in the one I sent!! The picture the buyer sent me is a zoomed in view but it looks like a terrible quality replica.

I made the terrible mistake of just uploading stock photos and can't believe I didn't take pics of the actual blouse. Does this mean I'm now doomed and will lose hundreds of pounds to this scammer, who will end up getting the genuine item for free? I know eBay almost always sides with the buyer so not feeling hopeful here. Also the buyer has over 2k ratings on eBay and is clearly business seller. Any tips at all on how I could protect myself? Feel so sick about this whole ordeal.

Aren't you told not to do that?

And as a buyer I want to see the actual thing I'm buying.
As a seller I make sure I take lots.

Stock photos are used by scammers too.

Don’t beat yourself up about it eBay is a joke. I sold a new but damaged designer handbag- brand new but had been scuffed in my wardrobe. I uploaded loads of pictures and someone also with great feedback bought it. They then left me a positive review saying exactly as described excellent condition. Then raised a case 1 day before the 30 days looking to return as not as described. I challenged eBay on this based on feedback and my numerous photographs ect and they said the buyer could change their mind. I then received a total fake back in the post and no amount of disputes would get eBay to listen. There advice was to leave them bad feedback. Of course they then listed my bag a couple of months later - I kicked off with eBay but they stated the seller had confirmed not the same bag - they even used my pictures. I can see my own hand in their listing but no eBay won’t do a thing!!!

Gosh @Confusednewmum1 !!! How ridiculous!! Some people are so rude!

Op hope this goes in your favour xx

Update: I called eBay to explain the situation but buyer has opened a dispute via PayPal so this is outside eBay's control now. I will contact PayPal tomorrow. I have already provided receipt for this item. Any ideas if PayPal operates any differently to eBay in these situations?

By the way, I now see where this person gets all the 5* reviews from. All the reviews she has as a seller are written in Chinese, many dodgy accounts with (-1) after their names. Some posters want to remind me that I could have sent a faulty blouse or it was damaged in transit and that I was somehow in the wrong, but I know a scammer when I see one. Just a shame I didn't investigate these reviews before committing to sell. I'm sure others have been cheated before by these stellar reviews.

@blueberrytea

I worked in a warehouse for a large online designer retailer that sold globally. Multiple times a week we would receive back replicas (usually quite good ones) in place of real returns. There was a whole team devoted to examining returns to weed out the replicas. You would be amazed at how much was replicated - whole collections of designer clothes and bags, every single season. I am presuming from OP's previous comments that this blouse was sold to a person in China, which is where most replicas are produced. So to me it's pretty believable that they'd have a replica of OP's item.

Thanks for sharing, though a pretty sad situation. So many posters don't seem to realise the extent of the replica problem and the number of professional scammers that make a living out of this, and instead want to shift the blame on me.

@Confusednewmum1 this is awful. I feel for you. I should give up on eBay after this.

@Confusednewmum1 That's outrageous.

I hesitate to use Ebay for anything major (over £100) these days, as Ive had so many bad experiences. Mainly due to people trying to palm shoddy or broken goods off as 'like new' or 'it was fine when i sent it (a broken clock, and when challenged, the seller said, well it makes a lovely ornament). Dirty trousers, sold as 'in excellent condition' (not with mud stains up the back they're not!) and not forgetting the BNWOT blouse with stains, a burn and a hole. Amazon is going that way too, they let any old counterfeit rubbish be sold.

That's good news OP, PayPal are better in my opinion. I hope you get your money (or original item) back.

You know what else tells me it's a scammer? The way the buyer thanks me for the item then points out the problem; politely asks to return it, then thanks again. Then in the next reply, they point out they have 100% positive feedback and "never cheat!".

Who in their right mind, if indeed they received an expensive designer item that's faulty and not described, would put it like this to the seller? It's as if they're just going through formality to get to the next part when they'll get their money back.

@TheBullfinch Thanks, I really hope so. I hope I get to speak to PayPal tomorrow and point out all the scammer alerts before they make a decision.

Is there a possibility the buyer will then open a dispute with eBay if PayPal doesn't side with them?

I can guarantee that my dispute was closed in 20 mins. The case was raised at 09:04, and closed at 09:27. So, 23 mins, if we’re being pedantic.
So, they do side with the seller. Quickly, apparently.

If the seller had sent it tracked then the case might have been closed if they provided the proof of that. At least that’s what happened when I provided photo of post office receipt and tracking reference number showing that the item had been delivered.

don't quite get why you are selling an item on eBay worth £ hundreds when you'd only tried it on briefly - why buy in the first place?

If you look on eBay the OP isn’t alone in selling expensive items of clothes. I came across Chanel jackets and suits being sold for up to £2000. I’m sure there must be many more designer brands on there. I’m
sure she’s kicking herself enough about the photos etc not to need another comment about it.

ive sold a phone years ago on ebay but never outside the uk-not worth the risk

good luck with paypal op

@ponderingthisthing

You know what else tells me it's a scammer? The way the buyer thanks me for the item then points out the problem; politely asks to return it, then thanks again. Then in the next reply, they point out they have 100% positive feedback and "never cheat!".

Who in their right mind, if indeed they received an expensive designer item that's faulty and not described, would put it like this to the seller? It's as if they're just going through formality to get to the next part when they'll get their money back.

I’ve read and re read

What’s the problem
Thanks for item and asks to return
You presumably say no
So calls your attention to fact that has extensive positive feedback and, like you, starts to sound a bit worried!

@Oftenithinkaboutit guess what, after some investigation on my part, 99% of positive feedback of the buyer are showing as given by "unregistered" users. I've reported to eBay who agree that it looks fishy and the safety team will take the next steps. This is good news as it means that if the buyer gets suspended for fraudulent activity, I'll be offered buyer protection. I have also reported to the PayPal safety team.

I know a scammer when I see one so if you haven't done the research, don't keep putting me in the wrong.

@ponderingthisthing buyer sounds like a total scammer. Well done for researching and not giving up, I hope eBay side with you.

Oh fingers crossed for you. Sounds like they search for sales like yours with stock photos as I guess it's easier to scam people
Rotten bastards. They must have done it before so hopefully ebay will do some digging. Hope you get it sorted.