Hey all! So, I’ve been clearing out some of my collection on eBay and all was going well except for this one incident. Someone bought a ROTF Voyager Longhaul a while back and it was delivered and everything (USPS tracking) fast forward 4 months and they filed a dispute with PayPal saying that it was never delivered. They purposely waited until after eBay’s and USPS’s record keeping to file the complaint. PayPal credited them back using out funds. We never took a screenshot of the proof of delivered package and USPS no longer has it in their system. Is there any recourse I can take?

edit: wasn’t sure where to best post this but if it needs to be moved elsewhere, I would much appreciate it if the mods can help me with it!

 

Sorry to hear that man. That's shady AF. So paypal just refunded them without your consent? Depending on how you paid for shipping, maybe you can use that as proof that you shipped the item.

 

If it was delivered four months ago, and I'm not sure how current/accurate this information is, but apparently USPS keeps an archive of tracking numbers up to six months old. I don't think it's accessible online - you will have to contact a post office to access it.

MIKE
engledogg

 

Sorry to hear that, I hope things work out for you. Now I need to take screenshots of things I've sold and communications.

 

Oof PayPal allows refund within 180 days, tracking info deleted after 90 days?

It's a he said she said.

I would lodge a complaint with PayPal suggest their current system is open to abuse. Provide what evidence you can - even if it is to say you were never contacted about any issues despite ebay marking it as being delivered (presuming it did that) for x days. Ask them what evidence you would need to guarantee protection for yourself in the future in such circumstances... You'd at least be able to hold this over them in future...

Perhaps try filing a complaint/claim against usps if you at least have a number. They'll probably reject it but you never know they might be able to retrieve a record to prevent a claim.

... Eitherway, worth highlighting you refute the situation. Might help you. Will hopefully count against scammer, even if he got away with it this time...

 

Shit like this is why I haven't sold anything on Ebay in almost 20 years....

Good luck!

 

Yup. To me ebay selling is one step above donating to goodwill. Expect to be giving some of it away and paying for the privilage. I havent done it yet but when i do it will be about clearing space and any money i get back is a bonus.

 

go to post office w/that trackign number and ask if they have internal tracking info which is different from the online info, it might still be available.

 

Just another reason to screenshot EVERYTHING. Really sorry for you, man. What a crap system. Once an item is delivered, paid for, there should not be an option dispute. that's just ridiculous. Paypal needs to give you your money back.

 

Take the $$ out of your paypal as soon as you can so IF they try this, nothing there to take.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. 99% of Paypal accounts have a verified bank account or credit card associated with the account. This allows the user to easily transfer funds into their bank account from Paypal once they have received payments. It also lends credibility to the user as they are displayed as "Verified". The ability to transfer is a two way street. Not only can you transfer funds to the bank account, funds can be taken out of your bank account. For example, if I have a balance in my Paypal account of $25, and I make a purchase online using Paypal of $30 they will first use the Paypal balance they transfer the remaining $5 from my bank account to cover the difference.

The same thing would occur in this situation. If a dispute gets filed against me for a transaction and I have no balance in the Paypal account, the funds will get taken out of my bank account to settle the dispute.

The only other way to request funds without having a bank account associated to the Paypal account is to request a paper check which takes like 6 weeks.

 

You didn’t input the USPS tracking number into the order details at eBay when you shipped the item?

 

This shit is why Ebay sucks. It’s too easy to get burned by people who abuse the system.

 

I don't get not seeing tracking info. I can see USPS tracking on items delivered last year.

Anyhow, since you can submit that info to PP, you should call them and appeal it. Make sure to call, and ask for a supervisor if need be.

Lastly, if anyone feels they won't sell on eBay due to things like this, for international selling eBay did institute their infamous "Global Shipping Program" which makes things easier on sellers by having you ship an item to a processor, who in turn ships to the buyer. In a situation like the OPs, the buyer would have to dispute the processor shipping it; not the seller, and the seller is protected.

As a buyer, though, I avoid sellers who use it, as the buyer pays for all shipping costs; even from the seller to the processor. It can often make an item not worth buying from an overseas seller.

 

Another huge downside of the Global Shipping Program is that they keep and apparently destroy any item that gets returned to seller for whatever reason.

I recently had this issue with an item I'd ordered, as it was returned to seller by the post office for no apparent reason. Instead of simply returning it to the seller so I could pay some extra shipping to resend it, Ebay said they had to refund me and keep (and most likely destroy) the item. Even if I offered to pay extra to have the item sent to me, they just couldn't because it wasn't part of their process.

For this reason, I will now always avoid GSP items out of principle. It kind of disgusts me that Ebay has this set up in place that just disposes of rare, difficult to obtain items as a matter of convenience for them.

 

Go to the post office talk to them. This sucks but thanks for posting it good to know

 

Unfortunately, even if the post office does have proof, PayPal is just going to go "hur dur wes cant be taking money teh back again cuz raisins."

As I've been through online selling on a semi-pro level, the advice I would give everybody is to open a fake bank account to hook up to these payment processors. Find somewhere (probably a credit union) that has low balance/activity requirements and use them as a middleman. Once money lands in that account, transfer it out to your real account. When somebody decides to scam you, just close the middleman share/account. eBay, Amazon, PayPal, if they want to refund a fraudster will have to do it out of their own pocket.

Going a step further, if I were going to do pro sales again, I'd open half a dozen different accounts at every marketplace. That way, when they decided to aid and abet fraud, and close my account until I "agree," I would be able to keep selling on the other accounts. They let the Chinese do it so why not?

 

How long ago was this item sold on ebay? Don't think this can happen now as paypal doesn't pay you directly anymore. They changed this option in March. I haven't sold anything before the change lately. You can use paypal to pay for stuff, but it pays ebay...then ebay pays you after taking their cut. So now if they file claims saying they didn't get item, they have to deal with ebay not the seller. And ebay will fight like hell to not pay money to someone trying to fraud them.

 

Hi OP, out of curiosity, was this ever resolved?

I just had this happen to me for an auction that ended in AUGUST! So fucking stupid there's even a dispute.


Reason: The buyer did not recognize the transaction

Shipped Aug 20th, delivered Aug 25th and I took a screenshot from USPS.com

But seriously? How the hell is this dispute even being entertained?

 

Thats bs....I have been selling stuff last month because I had to raise money for the increased property tax bill at end of year they now said I owe...I am gonna go back and screenshot on my phone all the items where they say delivered. and store them in my records. People are becoming such scumbags trying to cheat and steal stuff from others.