Ebay Vent

[DisneyMomJen]

Ebay was successfully sued by LV to the tune of $63 million dollars for all of the fakes it allowed to be sold. Since Ebay doesn't actually sell anything who do you think gets the blame for that? The buyers? So now when someone claims fake, especially when LV is involved, Ebay is hypersensitive. Thank unscrupulous sellers for that.

I have 127 feedbacks on Ebay, 100% rating atm, but I have bought hundreds more than that and I also have had a few negative feedbacks. The hundreds of extras were the feedbacks not left by sellers who were only interested in the money, not the process, and the negatives were retaliatory. In fact so many negatives from sellers were retaliatory it was the main reason the option was eliminated. If sellers have a problem with Ebay they can look in the mirror for someone to blame.


So the buyer obviously feels strongly enough to mail the wallet back and you feel they should get nothing, as in not even the wallet back if Ebay rules in the seller's favor? Buyers have also been leaving Ebay in droves. Read your statement again and wonder why.

The buyer has the money already from Ebay, no questions asked. I have not read anywhere in this thread that the buyer should get nothing. She had the original checkbook she purchased, used and damaged it, maybe that is why she changed her mind. I would gladly send it back to her because I cannot do anything with it now.

 

[Kit'smommy]

So the buyer obviously feels strongly enough to mail the wallet back and you feel they should get nothing, as in not even the wallet back if Ebay rules in the seller's favor? Buyers have also been leaving Ebay in droves. Read your statement again and wonder why.

Wow ! Seriously, I can't believe this post.

The seller sells an authentic wallet and gets it back USED after 5 weeks. Yeah, I would have a problem with giving her a refund too.

For over a decade I have sold on eBay and had very limited issues until the last couple years. Unfortunately, buyers get buyer's remorse and pull these stunts because they can.

OP, check on the LV and eBay sections of the purse forum and you should be able to get a good deal of help from people who have dealt successfully with these kinds of stunts. I won a similar battle over a Coach, but it took a while and a good deal of effort on my part but it was worth it for more than the money to me.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

Wow ! Seriously, I can't believe this post.

The seller sells an authentic wallet and gets it back USED after 5 weeks. Yeah, I would have a problem with giving her a refund too.

For over a decade I have sold on eBay and had very limited issues until the last couple years. Unfortunately, buyers get buyer's remorse and pull these stunts because they can.

OP, check on the LV and eBay sections of the purse forum and you should be able to get a good deal of help from people who have dealt successfully with these kinds of stunts. I won a similar battle over a Coach, but it took a while and a good deal of effort on my part but it was worth it for more than the money to me.

Thank you, this is where my red flag went up as it would with most people.

 

[Purseval]

I do understand what you are saying about ebay being "hypersensitive" to items such as LV. So as far as all the lawsuits go, I completely understand but there comes a time when an honest seller gets screwed.

I'm sure that's true but it's tough to blame Ebay for that. How would you react if you had already lost a few lawsuits and knew lawyers were watching and waiting for the next chance to whack you?

As far as the buyer goes, red flags go up when you hear that they waited over 1 1/2 months to contact the seller to advise them that they say the wallet is a fake. Then the seller receives a damaged/used wallet back. Don't you see something wrong with this? So, there are honest buyers and not so honest buyers.

You are a Coach fanatic so you know that Coach stores are pretty easy to find. I can think of 2 regular Coach stores and an outlet within easy driving distance of my house. It's not quite so simple to find an LV Boutique. So the lady is happily using her wallet, she shows it to a friend. Friend says "that's not genuine" The lady takes a drive to the big city and finds a store. Person at the store says it's fake. You don't think that process is possible or would take longer than finding the nearest place to verify a Coach wallet? All of that could happen with the wallet still being completely genuine, LV store personnel aren't infallible. Why are you so quick to judge the buyer? If you personally had the same situation where you honestly thought something you bought was fake what would you do?

I too am a power seller with 19500+ positive feedback, 1 neutral and no negatives.

So I can understand how you would so quickly blame the buyer. But I'm sure you know that some power sellers were selling fakes on Ebay for years and were the most likely to get away with it since they generated so much revenue. That was one of the main reasons LV sued Ebay, not over some soccer mom trying to sell 1 bag she didn't use anymore.

 

[Purseval]

The buyer has the money already from Ebay, no questions asked. I have not read anywhere in this thread that the buyer should get nothing. She had the original checkbook she purchased, used and damaged it, maybe that is why she changed her mind. I would gladly send it back to her because I cannot do anything with it now.

I directly quoted Coachfanatic and was asking that of her, not you. I realize you already had to refund the money.

Wow ! Seriously, I can't believe this post.

The seller sells an authentic wallet and gets it back USED after 5 weeks. Yeah, I would have a problem with giving her a refund too.

You are assuming the wallet was authentic and I already wrote about how difficult it is to find a LV store compared to more common brands. Only LV sells LV items so the Ebay seller has to be reselling. I already stated that LV employees aren't infallible, is it your position that a reseller is?

 

[sunnyday123]

I would suggest future sellings to include "all sales final." Also, did you advertise as a genuine authentic LV wallet? I work in CC disputes and we see this all the time. If the seller doesn't advertise as that and a buyer says, "Hey my purse/wallet/etc isn't real!" We can't do a thing about it. If they do advertise as authentic and the buyer can't get a letter from an authorized dealer saying it's fake, same deal. Was it Visa or Mastercard they purchased with? Any merchant ( you ) accepting MC doesn't have to disclose their return policy. And unless you said they can return it, you didn't really have to accept it back one way or the other.

You have every right to be annoyed with this buyer, and I'd make sure everyone knew about it, but what it comes down to now is that you have their money and the merchandise. That could be something that they might pursue against you in the future. You could mail it back to the buyer and say sorry no refunds, but what if they say they didn't get it? They can dispute that with their cc. I think you may have to suck it up and give the money back.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

I'm sure that's true but it's tough to blame Ebay for that. How would you react if you had already lost a few lawsuits and knew lawyers were watching and waiting for the next chance to whack you?



You are a Coach fanatic so you know that Coach stores are pretty easy to find. I can think of 2 regular Coach stores and an outlet within easy driving distance of my house. It's not quite so simple to find an LV Boutique. So the lady is happily using her wallet, she shows it to a friend. Friend says "that's not genuine" The lady takes a drive to the big city and finds a store. Person at the store says it's fake. You don't think that process is possible or would take longer than finding the nearest place to verify a Coach wallet? All of that could happen with the wallet still being completely genuine, LV store personnel aren't infallible. Why are you so quick to judge the buyer? If you personally had the same situation where you honestly thought something you bought was fake what would you do?



So I can understand how you would so quickly blame the buyer. But I'm sure you know that some power sellers were selling fakes on Ebay for years and were the most likely to get away with it since they generated so much revenue. That was one of the main reasons LV sued Ebay, not over some soccer mom trying to sell 1 bag she didn't use anymore.

Ok are you done yet. As I stated before and I will state it again, there are certain red flags that go up when a situation arises. End of story.

I am not quick to blame the buyer nor the seller. I read a story, my red flag went up and I came to my own conclusion. If there is more information to the story I would be happy to read it but until now, this is where it stays. If that were me I would have just refunded the money and been done with it as there really is nothing that I could have done at that point. Does it make it right that the wallet was sent back used and damaged not at all but that's they way it goes. Have a magical day.

 

[CarolJ]

I had the same situation happen to me. I took my money out of my Paypal account, but then I heard that Paypal reports the seller to a credit bureau. This was several years ago, I do not know if Paypal still does this, but I did not want to take a chance with my credit rating so I just refunded the money. I then resold the item- less than the first bid, but enough so I wasn't stuck with an item I no longer wanted.

 

[nunzia]

Here's what I was thinking last night as well. The OP sent the buyer an authentic LV wallet. Said buyer emails almost 1 1/2 months later stating it's fake. What happens if the buyer then sends a fake one back to the seller and now the seller is out of an authentic wallet as well as the money. This is so wrong in every way to be thinking like this but there are people out there that will do this and ruin the reputation of a terrific seller.

OP it truly breaks my heart that you have to jump through hoops to prove that you are the innocent one in this case. I hope the buyer gets what's coming to them which is nothing. Now they sent the wallet back to you and you wiped out your PP account. Keep us posted, Please.

Not so rare..there was a spate of this going on a few years back with hallmark ornaments. Buyer would buy nice new one and say it was beat up and then send back broken beat up one...

 

[nunzia]

I would suggest future sellings to include "all sales final." Also, did you advertise as a genuine authentic LV wallet? I work in CC disputes and we see this all the time. If the seller doesn't advertise as that and a buyer says, "Hey my purse/wallet/etc isn't real!" We can't do a thing about it. If they do advertise as authentic and the buyer can't get a letter from an authorized dealer saying it's fake, same deal. Was it Visa or Mastercard they purchased with? Any merchant ( you ) accepting MC doesn't have to disclose their return policy. And unless you said they can return it, you didn't really have to accept it back one way or the other.

You have every right to be annoyed with this buyer, and I'd make sure everyone knew about it, but what it comes down to now is that you have their money and the merchandise. That could be something that they might pursue against you in the future. You could mail it back to the buyer and say sorry no refunds, but what if they say they didn't get it? They can dispute that with their cc. I think you may have to suck it up and give the money back.

Ebay really won't support that. You pretty much have to accept returns and give refunds. The one that made me mad was a guy got a book he didn't want, ok, so I told him send it back and I'll give you a refund.. He wanted a refund without sending it back..huh??? so he stared a big dispute and left negative. At the end of the dispute he had to send the book back and I gave him the refund.. What was the point?
Anyway..I'm pretty quick to block buyers who throw up red flags. I had one guy who wanted to buy outside of Ebay..for me to shut down the aution and just sell to him. I said No, it wasn't fair, so he blasted me for it. Then after the auction he wrote me something like "HA! You would have made more if you'd just sold it to me..I was going to offer more so you lost out."..I wrote back he should have bid and he would have gotten a bargain...obviously a problem person, so I blocked him.

 

[Purseval]

I don't agree with this. As a seller it is my job to get you the item that you won. I can either leave feedback or not, but my choice, as well as your choice as to whether you want to leave feedback. My feedback was 100%. I didn't need anymore feedback and it drove me NUTS when buyers would hound me to leave feedback.

So it's ok if you are new and trying to build up you reputaion but when it gets to a certain point you couldn't be bothered? I also don't need it but since I always leave it for the seller it would just seem to be a common courtesy of doing business on Ebay.

I used to read the sellers forums and there were sellers on there that if they were pressed to leave feedback, would leave a NEG stating, buyer asked for feedback. Here it is!.

And you wonder why they eliminated negs for sellers

I don't sell on ebay anymore at all. It definitely became slanted towards buyers. I had to cross my fingers everytime I sold an item that it wasn't going to be someone who was going to either dispute, or reverse the charge.

Regular businesses have to worry about that also, as well as shoplifters, vandals, paying rent whether or not business is good, etc. It would be a wonderful world if you could only get the benefits of selling without the bad stuff.

 

[horseshowmom]

December 15th I sold a brand new Louis Vuitton check book holder that my DH bought me years ago. It has been sitting in the original box, packaging and shopping bag in my closet ever since. The seller received it and left positive feedback on December 17th. Around January 25th (over 5 weeks later) I get an email from the seller that it is fake and she filed a complaint. There is absolutely NO WAY this is fake since I was there when my DH bought it at the LV store at our mall here.

They said that I had to accept the return, but if the item did not come back as I originally sent it, than they would not find in favor of the buyer. I get the item back and it is now used and scratched up.

I notified ebay and they just emailed me back that they are not changing their mind in this case and I have to pay back the $153 which was the buyers original purchase price.

I think the buyer in this case just has buyers remorse or her Christmas bills were coming in and she does not have the money to pay them.

You are assuming the wallet was authentic and I already wrote about how difficult it is to find a LV store compared to more common brands. Only LV sells LV items so the Ebay seller has to be reselling. I already stated that LV employees aren't infallible, is it your position that a reseller is?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but why wouldn't we assume the wallet was authentic. The seller was there when her husband bought it at the store. It's not like he tried to sneak a fake in on her, and she sold it unknowingly (no offense to the OP's husband ).

I agre with the OP. The buyer used it for awhile (used and scratched up) and now would rather have her money back than to keep the wallet.

Ebay seems to be much more dishonest than it used to be. I do still buy there, but I have stopped selling at this point just because of issues like this.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but why wouldn't we assume the wallet was authentic. The seller was there when her husband bought it at the store. It's not like he tried to sneak a fake in on her, and she sold it unknowingly (no offense to the OP's husband ).

I agre with the OP. The buyer used it for awhile (used and scratched up) and now would rather have her money back than to keep the wallet.

Ebay seems to be much more dishonest than it used to be. I do still buy there, but I have stopped selling at this point just because of issues like this.

I just started selling stuff on e-bay again, after getting burned by a buyer. I've only put up a few things. I have bought more off of e-bay than I've ever sold. Hoping for the best.

 

[horseshowmom]

I just started selling stuff on e-bay again, after getting burned by a buyer. I've only put up a few things. I have bought more off of e-bay than I've ever sold. Hoping for the best.

Good luck!

My son-in-law recently started selling and is having a lot of fun with it. He has a lot of things from his uncle who died awhile back (like shoes that sold new for $500-$600). He's doing very well so far.

He's done so well that I've considered starting back myself, but I do worry about situations like this where you don't hear about a problem until weeks later. It's really a shame because ebay used to be a really good place to buy and sell. Of course, there's always been bad buyers and sellers, but it does seem to be worse now.

It used to be that you could consider things okay after you got your positive feedback, but not now. There was another post recently about someone who sold a gift card (something like $500) and then was told 5 weeks later that "they didn't get it". Nobody would wait that long if they were expecting that expensive. In my experience, nobody would wait that long on anything they bought.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Good luck!

My son-in-law recently started selling and is having a lot of fun with it. He has a lot of things from his uncle who died awhile back (like shoes that sold new for $500-$600). He's doing very well so far.

He's done so well that I've considered starting back myself, but I do worry about situations like this where you don't hear about a problem until weeks later. It's really a shame because ebay used to be a really good place to buy and sell. Of course, there's always been bad buyers and sellers, but it does seem to be worse now.

It used to be that you could consider things okay after you got your positive feedback, but not now. There was another post recently about someone who sold a gift card (something like $500) and then was told 5 weeks later that "they didn't get it". Nobody would wait that long if they were expecting that expensive. In my experience, nobody would wait that long on anything they bought.

Thanks!

I agree with you. The time frame does matter, a lot. It casts suspicion right away. Once I sold a leather handbag and after the woman got the bag she said it wasn't leather. It wasn't labeled as such, but I knew it was and so did she. I ended up just giving it to her. She was pushy, demanding, and I just wanted to be rid of her. She left fb for me stating "great buy!", yeah, because I paid shipping to give it to you! I blocked her and some others that were troublesome. I put the worrisome bunch on "saved sellers" so I wouldn't ever forget. Recently, I did look at this woman's feedback. She's still up to her scamming tricks. Scamming and leaving negative fb now.

I'd say my experience overall has been great. But you do tend to remember the ones that try to pull a fast one.

 

[horseshowmom]

Thanks!

I'd say my experience overall has been great. But you do tend to remember the ones that try to pull a fast one.

I was really fortunate and never had a real problem as a seller. Once somebody did try to claim an issue with the condition of a box of items but "was willing to consider a discount" to make things right. I told her the package didn't leave in the condition she described. Fortunately, I had shipped UPS which included insurance, and they said they would go pick it up. She suddenly decided everything was fine and left me glowing feedback (no doubt concerned that I might put her scam in my feedback - which I couldn't do now ).

 

[Purseval]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but why wouldn't we assume the wallet was authentic. The seller was there when her husband bought it at the store. It's not like he tried to sneak a fake in on her, and she sold it unknowingly (no offense to the OP's husband ).

The seller might have been there but the buyer wasn't. Every fake that has ever been sold on Ebay was sold by someone who claimed to get it from either an LV store or a trusted source. You and I know the OP bought it like that but odds are the buyer isn't a Disboards member.

I agre with the OP. The buyer used it for awhile (used and scratched up) and now would rather have her money back than to keep the wallet.

Ebay seems to be much more dishonest than it used to be. I do still buy there, but I have stopped selling at this point just because of issues like this.

You see here is the basic problem. You are 100% convinced that the buyer is trying to scam out of a purchase just based on what you have heard from one party but you can't see that the buyer may have shown the item to other people who are just as convinced that the item is fake. Now put yourself in the shoes of an Ebay rep who doesn't know either party.

 

[DisneyMomJen]

I'm sure that's true but it's tough to blame Ebay for that. How would you react if you had already lost a few lawsuits and knew lawyers were watching and waiting for the next chance to whack you?



It's not quite so simple to find an LV Boutique. So the lady is happily using her wallet, she shows it to a friend. Friend says "that's not genuine" The lady takes a drive to the big city and finds a store. Person at the store says it's fake. All of that could happen with the wallet still being completely genuine, LV store personnel aren't infallible. Why are you so quick to judge the buyer?

Purseval,

The buyer is also from NJ. I originally asked her which LV store she took it to and there was no reply. I did a search and from what I remember there were at least 4 stores in NJ. She could have taken it somewhere alot sooner if it was a concern.

 

[bonoriffic]

Is Craig's List an option? We sold furniture there, and had an easy experience. Although the scammers there are quite high, and our first contact was from someone working a scam.

For eBay is there anything preventing you from selling an item of low value, such as a sock, and "include for free" the high priced item you are really intending to sell? Then if anything goes wrong, they are returning the very over priced sock they bought. The "free" item included in the box was not for sale and can't be disputed.

 

[Rosiekins]

Purseval, I have never sold a thing on Ebay only bought. The instant I read this my red flag went up and I am not a seller. I think what this buyer did was uncalled for and wrong, end of story. Your extreme defense of this person makes me wonder what kind of stunts you pull on Ebay.