scammed out of my laptop through ebay

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modder man

Active Member
Jan 19, 2015
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Shipped a laptop and a 750GB drive to a buyer in Australia 2 months ago via the global shipping program. Upon receiving the laptop he immediately had problems with many thing that I never had. He could not get the hard drive to work in the laptop though admitted it worked fine in his other computer. So because of that I refunded him for the drive no questions asked and told him to keep the drive. 3 days later I get an email from ebay saying buyer wants a return item is significantly different than described. And now we get to where I am now.

I requested the buyer ship back the drive with the laptop as that was the right thing to do though I didn't have any recourse through paypal. or course he kept it.....why would you keep a "defective" drive? And the laptop I received back has been completely destroyed by someone taking it apart that should not have. He kept the power cord, he knicked/gashed the laptop with a box knife. And lastly in taking it apart put the screws back in the wrong places causing them to come up through the palm rest. This was a relatively unused laptop in good shape now I have a turd worth maybe half of what that was.

Paypal issued the refund immediately when the tracking # showed delivered. At this point paypal will not appeal the claim without a police report. The police will not get involved as it was sold outside the country nor can the verify the condition it was in before hand.

Paypal has lost it and I am FUMING at this point.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Exactly the same thing happened to me about 3 times over the last few months... losing the $, and the item makes ebay a huge risk and not worth it at all.

I brought up to ebay this exact problem and they basically say as a seller you can't do anything. HUGE SCAM.
 

modder man

Active Member
Jan 19, 2015
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Cant say that I have sold alot but I have been a long time seller on ebay, Looks like that will be coming to a close. Cant afford to sell things I dont want to lose on ebay.


Really also looks like it will come down to me no longer accepting paypal payments
 

mstone

Active Member
Mar 11, 2015
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remember a previous thread with someone complaining about sellers who would deal with international sales?
 

modder man

Active Member
Jan 19, 2015
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Yes I do, and this is why. There is zero recourse what-so-ever. Paypals response was to take it up with the local police, who of course cannot do anything as they did not see the item beforhand nor do they have jurisdiction where the item was sold.

It is a completely broken process on paypals side.
 

izx

Active Member
Jan 17, 2016
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International sales on eBay are a minefield and even domestic is problematic now that Paypal allows up to 180 days for "not as described" returns.
 

pgh5278

Active Member
Oct 25, 2012
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Australia
Personally always do a thorough check on the buyer / seller ratings. from sellers if it is more than 1.5 negative comments per 100, dont buy from them..
2 and above go in and read the negative comments, to get an a feeling. being in Australia drives this as it is not worth the hassle to return to US etc..
Often see on some sellers that they wont sell to people with less than XX feedbacks, and can understand this..
 

izx

Active Member
Jan 17, 2016
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Often see on some sellers that they wont sell to people with less than XX feedbacks, and can understand this..
Yes, that's a good idea but technically it isn't enforceable. A legit low-feedback buyer could theoretically hold your feet to the fire to force the sale. My experience with this particular caveat (admittedly 5+ years ago) was that it worked fine as long as you quickly refunded any payment from the low-feedback buyer and explained why. For occasional sellers, it easier to deal with a negative feedback and try to appeal that rather than be out $$$.

As you said, screening buyers is always a good idea on high-value items. Set a high BIN price and allow offers.

For legit international buyers (again, a while ago), I made the item domestic only but left a note asking interested international buyers to send a message so they could be screened.
 

Fritz

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2015
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Last year I only did one transaction with an international seller. Bought a couple of X5670's from a seller in Indonesia. His price was by far the lowest so I rolled the dice. Sale when off without a hitch but as a general rule I don't buy from international sellers, it's not worth the risk.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
7,625
2,043
113
Personally always do a thorough check on the buyer / seller ratings. from sellers if it is more than 1.5 negative comments per 100, dont buy from them..
2 and above go in and read the negative comments, to get an a feeling. being in Australia drives this as it is not worth the hassle to return to US etc..
Often see on some sellers that they wont sell to people with less than XX feedbacks, and can understand this..
I've had issues with buyers who have 1000+ (100%) POS rating, and listed as "top Seller"... scamming pieces of shit abuse ebay to get what they want. ebay is great for buyers, as a seller its a risk!
 
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canta

Well-Known Member
Nov 26, 2014
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international buyer is "at your own risk".
I never deal with those.
I would like but need to protect myself..

mostly I am selling or giving free on my local linux mailinglist:D, 100% local and I know the person that dealing for.
craiglist is kind of ok, but.......... I see many scams/robbering on my local craiglist.. some of police stations give a space of parking space next to station for doing craiglist transaction(better than nothing :p).


if anyone lives on triangle area of NC, I can give free AIC 4U server case free(3 antec fans for backplane,No PSU, need generic 2U PSU model ):D. Plan to sell on ebay but to much works for me.
 

HWGeek

Member
Sep 30, 2015
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Last year I only did one transaction with an international seller. Bought a couple of X5670's from a seller in Indonesia. His price was by far the lowest so I rolled the dice. Sale when off without a hitch but as a general rule I don't buy from international sellers, it's not worth the risk.
As a buyer you're completely safe as you have all the rights on your side and can reverse it easily if not as described. All the real caveats are for sellers.
 

mstone

Active Member
Mar 11, 2015
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As a buyer you're completely safe as you have all the rights on your side and can reverse it easily if not as described. All the real caveats are for sellers.
That's true if your time has no value.