eBay, selling high value item how do you avoid being scammed?

[wolfmankurd]

I mostly sell refurb'd consoles or custom paint consoles but always worry about being scammed. My margins are thin as this is a hobby not a job, still it would hurt to have what I consider art stolen!

Any advice for the "Box was empty", "Box was full of bricks not item" or just "returns" when they send nothing back scams?

Currently what I do is manually cancel 0 feedback new buyers but this is not fair to those buyers if they happen to be new, and not fair to the person who unexpectedly is returned to the winning bid. I always make clear that I will cancel the auction if need be.

I have no issue with newbs but when it's a one of a kind and worth several hundred dollars I suggest you start your ebay buyer life elsewhere!

 

[thealgorithm]

I mostly sell refurb'd consoles or custom paint consoles but always worry about being scammed. My margins are thin as this is a hobby not a job, still it would hurt to have what I consider art stolen!

Any advice for the "Box was empty", "Box was full of bricks not item" or just "returns" when they send nothing back scams?

Currently what I do is manually cancel 0 feedback new buyers but this is not fair to those buyers if they happen to be new, and not fair to the person who unexpectedly is returned to the winning bid. I always make clear that I will cancel the auction if need be.

I have no issue with newbs but when it's a one of a kind and worth several hundred dollars I suggest you start your ebay buyer life elsewhere!

I am afraid you will have to make do with not allowing people with low feedback or 0 (even if it is unfair - as everyone at some point started from this)

 

[migles]

Currently what I do is manually cancel 0 feedback new buyers but this is not fair to those buyers

i happen to buy like 1 thing off ebay like every 2 or 5 years xD so you are right about not being fair xD

commenting because i also ask this question myself and want to know opinions!
i would say to make a video of you closing the item, and put a signed sticker or something.. but i don't know if ebay even listens or would care about thoose..

 

[DeoNaught]

I would suggest not giving refunds until you get the Item back.

 

[wolfmankurd]

I would suggest not giving refunds until you get the Item back.

Of course I wouldn't but eBay will refund (and charge me) if the buyer has proof of postage of sending something back. And if they claim to have received a brick they can also mail that brick back to you.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

i happen to buy like 1 thing off ebay like every 2 or 5 years xD so you are right about not being fair xD

commenting because i also ask this question myself and want to know opinions!
i would say to make a video of you closing the item, and put a signed sticker or something.. but i don't know if ebay even listens or would care about thoose..

Yeah I did consider the video thing but you're right as far as I can tell eBay isn't interested. The police might but I doubt they'd be interested.

 

[FAST6191]

"Any advice for"
Yeah ebay and amazon are the lowest rung on the internet selling tree, some might point at the likes of gumtree and craigslist and while they are far from a pleasure to deal with they have not yet sunk to amazon and ebay levels. Avoid them both if you can, or only sell things on there you can afford to lose or are unlikely to be complained about. You could try collection only type setups but watch your market shrink for that one unless you are somewhere big.

Beyond that "My margins are thin"
Make them fat enough to push through the scammers. This, and the fees, are the bigger reasons for why you probably looked at something and thought "why are you selling this for that".

 

[Quantumcat]

As above. If you sell on ebay you are going to get scammed eventually - make your prices so that you can afford to lose 1 in 20 or so.

Or, stick to selling locally with online classifieds. If someone interstate wants you to post your item, then insist on back deposit only. It's the only way to avoid being scammed. Cash is king.

 

[Zero72463]

If you are afraid of getting bricks or nothing in return for the refund then the buyer claims you took it out/replaced it you can get a cop to be with you when the package arrives and open it in front of them. If you were scammed the police can deal with the scammer and get your item/money back.

 

[Thesolcity]

Funny enough, I've sold exactly 1 thing on eBay and only eBay gave me problems. I ended up arranging for payment and shipping outside of eBay. My advice would be to raise the price, people can/will take advantage of the system, unfortunately. Even if you record yourself sealing/shipping the product there are a ton of BS reasons they will take the customers' side on.

 

[Quantumcat]

If you are afraid of getting bricks or nothing in return for the refund then the buyer claims you took it out/replaced it you can get a cop to be with you when the package arrives and open it in front of them. If you were scammed the police can deal with the scammer and get your item/money back.

The police do not give a toss about people getting scammed in online selling. You can open a case in the small claims court or nothing.

 

[jefffisher]

take detailed pictures of your items including packaging and the shipping label save those for at least 90 days after the buyer has received the item
that's for ebay
whenever possible like say a standard refurbished console use amazon with fulfillment by amazon instead it takes way longer to get paid but amazon has never done me wrong
other than that you are way safer using your own website but you'd have to sell way more than just a few things every once in a while to even consider that

 

[Zero72463]

The police do not give a toss about people getting scammed in online selling. You can open a case in the small claims court or nothing.

https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/lawEnforcementReporting.html?_https2httpredirect=false

 

[Quantumcat]

https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/lawEnforcementReporting.html?_https2httpredirect=false

You can file all the reports you want, they won't investigate. Trust me, I know.
Edit: maybe they would if it was tens of thousands of dollars. But less than that, unlikely.

 

[Zero72463]

You can file all the reports you want, they won't investigate. Trust me, I know.

It really depends on the seller/buyer and the item price. Some big companies have seen there stolen items listed on eBay and have used this. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try though. Safety precautions are just there in-case anyways (even if there isn't a good chance it will help).

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I mostly sell refurb'd consoles or custom paint consoles but always worry about being scammed. My margins are thin as this is a hobby not a job, still it would hurt to have what I consider art stolen!

Any advice for the "Box was empty", "Box was full of bricks not item" or just "returns" when they send nothing back scams?

Currently what I do is manually cancel 0 feedback new buyers but this is not fair to those buyers if they happen to be new, and not fair to the person who unexpectedly is returned to the winning bid. I always make clear that I will cancel the auction if need be.

I have no issue with newbs but when it's a one of a kind and worth several hundred dollars I suggest you start your ebay buyer life elsewhere!

- Always send expensive items tracked and insured, with signature confirmation and properly padded. That way they can't falsely claim it was broken in transit, and on the off chance it does get broken in transit anyway (it happens), you can file an insurance claim. If there is no tracking number and they open a claim, they automatically win. And if it's over $250 in value, even if it was sent tracked, if there's no signature confirmation, you automatically lose the claim.
- Take pictures of everything in working order. It might be useful in the event of an insurance claim.
- Take a picture of the box with the items inside or better yet, make a video of packing it up (preferably both), so you have proof in case they open a claim. This is also useful in the case of an insurance claim.
- This one may be more relevant to buying than selling, but if you open a case against someone, never close it until the issue is resolved 100%. Once you close it, that's telling eBay that you came to a solution and you can't open a new one and eBay won't help you out.
- Like Zero said, if you get a return on a valuable item, have a police officer with you when you open it. Record the whole thing so that you have proof, and if need be, have the contact info if eBay don't take your word for it or consider the video as proof enough. Fraud is no laughing matter though and the officer should take it seriously.
- When sending refunds, do it through the refund option in PayPal (or better yet, through eBay if there's an option for it there) That way, it's registered as a refund and he can't claim that he didn't get the refund or anything like that. Same goes for when you receive refunds for other people. When it's registered as a refund, a fraudulent seller can't open a claim or get a chargeback through PayPal or eBay.
- Follow eBay policies. This one is rather important, since if you don't, the odds may not be in your favor.
A lot of that actually came from this video:
And some from this video:

 

[nero99]

Set your listings to immediate payment, no low feedback buyers, post detailed pictures and even videos of your items, list all defects, if any, set your listing to no refunds or returns (deters some scammers), offer email or eBay messaging support if something goes "wrong" with the items. That's how I've always done it. Recently someone tried to scam me out of their payment with a i7 pc I sold on eBay. Told them either send it back to me or follow my advice on what to do to reset their bios. They purposely removed the cmos battery and demanded a refund for that. Ebay took my side and banned them!

 

[Hells Malice]

If you have good feedback, and the buyer has little to no feedback, then you will most likely win if someone tries to scam you. Ebay isn't going to suddenly suspect a 5* seller suddenly decided to scam one random dude with no feedback. A person does get involved in disputes if it escalates.

Ebay is fine. The scamming thing is massively blown out of proportion.

 

[Quantumcat]

- Always send expensive items tracked and insured, with signature confirmation and properly padded. That way they can't falsely claim it was broken in transit, and on the off chance it does get broken in transit anyway (it happens), you can file an insurance claim. If there is no tracking number and they open a claim, they automatically win. And if it's over $250 in value, even if it was sent tracked, if there's no signature confirmation, you automatically lose the claim.
- Take pictures of everything in working order. It might be useful in the event of an insurance claim.
- Take a picture of the box with the items inside or better yet, make a video of packing it up (preferably both), so you have proof in case they open a claim. This is also useful in the case of an insurance claim.
- This one may be more relevant to buying than selling, but if you open a case against someone, never close it until the issue is resolved 100%. Once you close it, that's telling eBay that you came to a solution and you can't open a new one and eBay won't help you out.
- Like Zero said, if you get a return on a valuable item, have a police officer with you when you open it. Record the whole thing so that you have proof, and if need be, have the contact info if eBay don't take your word for it or consider the video as proof enough. Fraud is no laughing matter though and the officer should take it seriously.
- When sending refunds, do it through the refund option in PayPal (or better yet, through eBay if there's an option for it there) That way, it's registered as a refund and he can't claim that he didn't get the refund or anything like that. Same goes for when you receive refunds for other people. When it's registered as a refund, a fraudulent seller can't open a claim or get a chargeback through PayPal or eBay.
- Follow eBay policies. This one is rather important, since if you don't, the odds may not be in your favor.
A lot of that actually came from this video:
And some from this video:

• Insurance is only a good deal if you've worked out how often people scam you and the cost is less than what you lose from the scamming. For example if it costs $2 per $100 insured then you need to get scammed more often than 1 in 50 times for it to be worthwhile.
• Neither ebay nor PayPal will look at any videos you make so they're a waste of time. They will generally just believe the buyer if they make any significantly not as described claim. Even if the buyer supplies no photos.
• The police are not going to spend any time with you watching you open a package. They'll let you file a police report if you do get ripped off (which you can use for an insurance claim), but they're not going to investigate anything.
• Don't just randomly give refunds, whether through PayPal or whatever. Wait until the buyer opens a claim and you are specifically instructed to and you understand exactly what your obligations are and what the buyer's obligations are. Otherwise you'll just be giving them free money and they won't have to return it. You always have the choice to pay for them to return it, or you can just give them a refund without added postage cost and they keep it.

 

[wolfmankurd]

"Any advice for"
Yeah ebay and amazon are the lowest rung on the internet selling tree, some might point at the likes of gumtree and craigslist and while they are far from a pleasure to deal with they have not yet sunk to amazon and ebay levels. Avoid them both if you can, or only sell things on there you can afford to lose or are unlikely to be complained about. You could try collection only type setups but watch your market shrink for that one unless you are somewhere big.

Beyond that "My margins are thin"
Make them fat enough to push through the scammers. This, and the fees, are the bigger reasons for why you probably looked at something and thought "why are you selling this for that".

While you can decide your margins you can't decide the market. Bigger prices mean that what I make up in profits I would loose in sales.

 

[Quantumcat]

While you can decide your margins you can't decide the market. Bigger prices mean that what I make up in profits I would loose in sales.

If you have lower margins then you're vulnerable to bring scammed or just anything going wrong. You need to balance all the numbers and decide if it is worthwhile even being in the business you're in.