How to avoid being scammed as a seller

[brianborsch]

Hello all,

I have heard some stories where a seller will sell a high priced item and ship it with delivery confirmation, only to have a complaint filed from the buyer saying the item is not what they paid for, causing Paypal to take back the payment from the seller and then the seller gets back the garbage the buyer replaced the high priced item with. Outcome: Seller gets money taken from him AND loses his item, and gets crap in return.

How do I avoid getting ripped off like this as a seller?

BB

[shoremen44]

I think anyone who has collected and sold for a while has been ripped of at least once... Mine was a guy from Seattle

I think the only advice I can give is stay off eBay... Do business with guys you know or reputable auction houses... And if you are on eBay, don't sell to people with little or no feedback

[mad87man]

its funny you say that about the little to no feedback. I have about 4 feedback but have done a lot of business out side of ebay instead to avoid fees and such.

[lakeerie92]

You get that feeling when you are dealing with buyer like that and my best bet would be to wait for the package to come in and record it from receipt until opening to prove they sent you junk back. Then you can not only send the video to paypal, but send a message to the buyer letting them know that instead of going through paypal you would only be going through the local police.

It happened to me fortunately with some cheap football cards, but I didn't think to take the video. That didn't stop me from telling the buyer that I did take the video and they quickly became apologetic and sent me everything back.

Being in the Navy and therefore having to live in close quarters at times NOTHING makes me more furious than a thief. You buy something from me and try this I have your name and address and at that point means to track you down. One way or another that is bat for them.

[mlupo]

You get that feeling when you are dealing with buyer like that and my best bet would be to wait for the package to come in and record it from receipt until opening to prove they sent you junk back. Then you can not only send the video to paypal, but send a message to the buyer letting them know that instead of going through paypal you would only be going through the local police.

It happened to me fortunately with some cheap football cards, but I didn't think to take the video. That didn't stop me from telling the buyer that I did take the video and they quickly became apologetic and sent me everything back.

Being in the Navy and therefore having to live in close quarters at times NOTHING makes me more furious than a thief. You buy something from me and try this I have your name and address and at that point means to track you down. One way or another that is bat for them.

I like the idea opening the package on video, but I don't know that paypal would see that as proof, you could have opened the package already, switched the item and sealed it back up and then "opened it" on video. Its not like packing tape is taper proof, or you could have just opened it from the bottom switched the item and then the top is still untouched. Again, you have a great idea, I just dont know if it actually holds up as proof.

[Lokee]

Here is my post we went through sorta the same thing you are mentioning.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=32034&highlight=barbie

[trsent]

You get that feeling when you are dealing with buyer like that and my best bet would be to wait for the package to come in and record it from receipt until opening to prove they sent you junk back. Then you can not only send the video to paypal, but send a message to the buyer letting them know that instead of going through paypal you would only be going through the local police.

It happened to me fortunately with some cheap football cards, but I didn't think to take the video. That didn't stop me from telling the buyer that I did take the video and they quickly became apologetic and sent me everything back.

Being in the Navy and therefore having to live in close quarters at times NOTHING makes me more furious than a thief. You buy something from me and try this I have your name and address and at that point means to track you down. One way or another that is bat for them.

Twice I have video taped myself receiving the package from the post office clerk (I have a post office box) and opening a package from rude and unprofessional buyers who had refused to return my item without making the issue much wore than it was, and each time the original item was there.

The video idea is great, but I doubt PayPal would watch it. How do you email a video to PayPal? The truth is PayPal customer service is much, much more professional and educated than most of eBay customer service.

If you are a Gold PowerSeller on eBay you get great customer service, but when you slip down to Silver PowerSeller they give you operators who read from a compute screen. At least PayPal has educated operators for everyone.

Why can't eBay offer this?

[Lokee]

Paypal/Ebay will ask you to upload the video and provide them a link. That is what happened in my case. I used youtube.

[trsent]

Paypal/Ebay will ask you to upload the video and provide them a link. That is what happened in my case. I used youtube.

That is too cool. So they will watch a video now. PayPal may have flaws, but at least they are trying to get with the times.

[b.heagy]

I used a Notary public when I was being scammed on ebay. In the end I was refunded the purchase price after paypal had taken it way instantly. Ebay paid me out of their pocket. Sad part was buyer had full refund, opened the box of 1975 Topps mini baseball cards, kept the stars and sent me the commons.