WARNING EBay guarantee = No money, you pay shipping, never get item back!

[Ronnie]

I saw this in my email box this morning and decided to post it here. eBay and PayPal are or at least were tied at the hip. I would not sell out an enemy for $10 but I get the feeling this is or will be a successful campaign for PayPal.

 

[Julian]

We've been using venmo and cashapp vs PayPal when we can. Now I will try harder to avoid paypal.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

This article pretty much sums up what EBAY is doing:

How Buyers Scam Sellers on eBay (A Decade of Scams)

eBay quickly became and has remained one of the largest selling platforms online, but is it safe? This article discusses some of the ways eBay sellers get scammed.

turbofuture.com

1. Sellers cannot leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers, but buyers can still leave any feedback for sellers. Also, if a seller receives too much bad feedback they will be suspended from eBay.
2. Sellers must accept payment via Paypal or an eBay approved program. Sellers are no longer allowed to accept cash, check, or money order.
3. Buyers can now file disputes against sellers if they feel that an item was not as described, which would be fine except that a buyer doesn't have to provide any proof that the item was not as described.
4. Sellers have to accept returns. Yes, you can state "no returns" in your auctions, but that means nothing. If someone wants to return something, you have to accept it.

Who is John Galt?

 

[Evil Sports]

Its not just Ebay, they have figured out how to scam sellers on Amazon. I own the Evil Sports softball brand. We sell some of our inventory through Amazon. People have figured out they can buy a dozen softballs, use them for a weekend and return them to Amazon for a full refund. Amazon takes the $$ back from my seller account and deems the dozen unsellable, then they charge me to send the used balls back to me. Im out the $ and a dozen of my inventory. Not so easy to earn an honest buck these days.

 

[Ronnie]

Its not just Ebay, they have figured out how to scam sellers on Amazon. I own the Evil Sports softball brand. We sell some of our inventory through Amazon. People have figured out they can buy a dozen softballs, use them for a weekend and return them to Amazon for a full refund. Amazon takes the $$ back from my seller account and deems the dozen unsellable, then they charge me to send the used balls back to me. Im out the $ and a dozen of my inventory. Not so easy to earn an honest buck these days.

@Evil Sports , that is F’ing terrible. I assume their is a retailer’s association fighting to change/fix this but its Amazon, so David and Goliath Only The retailers don’t have a sling or a rock. this makes me change the way I think about and sometimes use amazon‘s and even costco’s liberal/loose return policies.

 

[Julian]

So many scams out there....its sucks.

The buyer is now extorting me as I expected....but I may get some money back - since I've moved on and written it off to my own stupidity for not keeping up with Ebay policies. I'll be happy to not have it cost me money.

 

[Evil Sports]

Lol @Ronnie, heres an even better one. We ship dozens to their warehouse for prime shipping and Fulfillment by Amazon. For some reason the Tennessee warehouse was breaking open my dozens and sending people 1 ball for $70. I got so many bad reviews they Locked my account. That means they freeze the $20k of your inventory and dont pay you the $$ they owe you until I, get that, I resolve the problem. You get an email asking you to tell them how you are going to resolve the issue, and there is No number or person to call to discuss this with. Now how am I going to stop the fools in Tennessee from opening my dozen and sending 1 ball. So I lost 3 weeks of the selling season and a few brain cells from frustration just because they are so inept. I never want to be a giant company as I see how poorly run they become.

 

[Ronnie]

Sometimes, seemingly a lot of times lately the bummer symbol just isn’t enough.

@Julian you are a better man than I. I would pay up to the sales and shipping amount just to get the broken drone back so the scammer would get nothing and I’d put it on a shelf as a reminder of what not to do ever again. Not that I’d need a reminder but the thought of the scammer getting any benefit at no cost ….

 

[jocolo21]

Ive been selling on ebay since 2000 and sell a couole of 100k a year, the problem is they use a matrix not and actual person. You have to call and get an actual person to read all the messages and the description. Once the buyer says not as describe the matrix favors the buyer , ive been yelling at them for years about this shit. Jjst yesterday i call about it she decided in my favor. Its frustrating as hell.carefull the buyers can ship an empty box and when the tracking shows delivered ebay will refund the buyer, you will have to prodyce a police report to get your money back.

 

[Julian]

Ive been selling on ebay since 2000 and sell a couole of 100k a year, the problem is they use a matrix not and actual person. You have to call and get an actual person to read all the messages and the description. Once the buyer says not as describe the matrix favors the buyer , ive been yelling at them for years about this shit. Jjst yesterday i call about it she decided in my favor. Its frustrating as hell.carefull the buyers can ship an empty box and when the tracking shows delivered ebay will refund the buyer, you will have to prodyce a police report to get your money back.

Ebay refunded them BEFORE its even shipped, let alone arrived!!! The buy can charge me any shipping they want!

@Ronnie I felt that way initially....I've moved on to "live and learn". I even went so far as to look up where he lives on Google to go get it personally....but it looks like a sketchy neighborhood outside Philadelphia....so not going there! Yeah I hate that this guy "wins"....but I got shelf space back!!! (Keep thinking of the positives).

Ebay.....dead to me for selling unless I accept that I'm willing to pay to give something away.

 

[rovalin]

How can you trust sellers if some of them cheat? I can imagine how many people have suffered because of this and lost their money. It shocks me that this could happen to me or someone I know. I would instead buy from trusted sellers who have many good reviews, and I can get a coupon from DontPayFull: Coupon Codes, Coupons, Promo Codes, Free Shipping and Discounts. In other cases, I never buy things from sellers precisely because I'm afraid of such claims, especially if something is quite expensive. I'd probably instead buy it offline then risk it. I think that would be the right choice.

 

[Cas1986]

Like all aspects of life, people love playing the system. I think there are a good percentage of buyers who dispute everything they buy even though there is nothing wrong with it. For most sellers of lower cost items, most of the time it isn't worth paying for shipping back so they just refund and let them keep.

Me on the other hand, I always make them ship it back, even if I loose money. Most of the time the buyer never returns the item(because they didn't really want to return it). And the case closes, I win.

 

[Julian]

Like all aspects of life, people love playing the system. I think there are a good percentage of buyers who dispute everything they buy even though there is nothing wrong with it. For most sellers of lower cost items, most of the time it isn't worth paying for shipping back so they just refund and let them keep.

Me on the other hand, I always make them ship it back, even if I loose money. Most of the time the buyer never returns the item(because they didn't really want to return it). And the case closes, I win.

You are better than me....its barely worth my time selling things on ebay....getting it back to try and sell a 2nd time??

Nope.

EBAY IS DEAD TO ME....PAYPAL TOO. SCAM CENTRAL.

 

[adrianp89]

I noticed someone mentioned CashApp.... they are scam central too. My friends app got hacked, took several hundred dollars from his bank account and they scammed someone else using his account. His CU returned the stolen money. The other person who was scammed call CashApp. They give out my friends personal information (phone number/address) and they called him demanding their money back.

 

[Julian]

I noticed someone mentioned CashApp.... they are scam central too. My friends app got hacked, took several hundred dollars from his bank account and they scammed someone else using his account. His CU returned the stolen money. The other person who was scammed call CashApp. They give out my friends personal information (phone number/address) and they called him demanding their money back.

Apps and accounts get hacked all the time, so that to me is a "depends" situation - but handing out personal information.....that leads to problems (including easier hacking).

Cashapp has decent feature to prevent hacking and un-approved usage - both Dual Factor authentication and transaction PINs. Using both of those seriously makes it much harder to nefarious use of your account (not impossible...especially if you fall prey to any of the linked scams in the attached).

This gives you some ideas on the scams out there, and the ways to use P2P money solutions:

Cash App Scams and Fraud Are On Increasing Be Careful

If you need to speak to someone from Cash App, you will need to contact support through the mobile app. You can call: 855-351-2274

www.blackhawkbank.com

(haven't validated any of the links in this article)

 

[adrianp89]

Apps and accounts get hacked all the time, so that to me is a "depends" situation - but handing out personal information.....that leads to problems (including easier hacking).

Cashapp has decent feature to prevent hacking and un-approved usage - both Dual Factor authentication and transaction PINs. Using both of those seriously makes it much harder to nefarious use of your account (not impossible...especially if you fall prey to any of the linked scams in the attached).

This gives you some ideas on the scams out there, and the ways to use P2P money solutions:

Cash App Scams and Fraud Are On Increasing Be Careful

If you need to speak to someone from Cash App, you will need to contact support through the mobile app. You can call: 855-351-2274

www.blackhawkbank.com

(haven't validated any of the links in this article)

This was a few years ago, but in my experience this has been the only known financial hack I have heard about from personal friends or acquittances. That is one thing, it happens..... but giving out personal data is 100% wrong (if not illegal).

Pair this with all the OfferUp/Craiglists scammers only use CashApp.... It leads me to believe the app is primarily for scamming. I stick to Zelle, Apple Pay, and Venmo.

 

[tabbibus]

Cash App is one that just seems sketch. I've used it a few times and doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies. May be just a perspective thing. Who knows. Agree with adrian on those 3 as my go to services. I only sell locally on FB marketplace. Don't ship. Too much hassle.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

My eBay account goes back to 1999, but these days I seldom use it. Between the lack of honesty by some buyers and high shipping costs, it just wasn't worth it to me any more. As a hobbiest, couple of years ago, right before Covid, I sold a bunch of my O gauge trains locally instead. Took out Craigslist listings in the three local Craigslists and used a couple of the on-line apps. If I were doing it today I would probably use Facebook Marketplace.

I have always disclosed any issues with stuff I was selling, and I preferred meeting someone in person, getting cash, and not having to ship stuff anymore.

At one time, there were very few controls on sellers, and it was easy to get screwed as a a buyer. Had a couple of instances, fortunately not big ticket items, where we paid for items and the sellers collected their money and closed their accounts. eBay did nothing to refund the lost dollars and wanted us to contact the seller (how the hell do you do that when they intentionally take your money are run?) Then eBay swung the pendulum over to the buyers at the detriment of the sellers. There should be a happy middle-ground, but eBay hasn't found it, or doesn't care.

Jim