How do you avoid scamming buyers?

[Mayhard]

Hello,

I have never had this situation because it does not apply to the items I sell, but the situation is the following:

A seller sells some items in electronics category, lets take good old cell phones.

1) the buyer buys the cellphone
2) seller ships it
3) buyer gets the item, opens the return or whatever case (item not as described/broken)
4) seller accepts the return and gets the cellphone back. After a while he notices that the speaker or some other part has been removed from the device. Or instead of the device he gets a bag of stones.

What do you do in these kind of cases?

[nickopedia]

I once shipped a roll of silver coins worth about $600 to a buyer in New Jersey. The day he gets it he opens a Return Request. I get back a box with two rolls of toilet paper taped at the ends with rocks inside them.

I immediately called eBay and PayPal and explained the sitaution. Ebay told me to file a police report. The local PD (in SF Bay Area) did absolutely nothing, which is expected anyway. I did send the police report to eBay they were able to make a "Seller Protection Claim" on my behalf.

It took a bit of work, phone calls, and some nagging, but it's worth a shot.

Unfortunately not all cases of return fraud have a happy ending.

[Mayhard]

that's what I thought.
There just does not exist certain procedures and plan of actions from ebay side to protect sellers in these cases.

at least you live in the US and you can file a police report because its still an internal event, but what to do for those which experience such issues when shipping items overseas?

[nickopedia]

OP: I wish there was a more cut & dry procedure for dealing with return fraud. Clearly eBay's current system is flawed as the only option for sellers on the Return Request is to "Report" the buyer. You already know this doesn't work.

Since your flag shows as Belize, I'm not sure what you can do other than call eBay and ask.

[hackteck]

a month ago a buyer purchased a phone from me same day he received it he opened a claim ebay accepts the return and he sends me back an empty box with bubble wrap in it took me about 3 weeks or so but i finally got my money back from ebay after filing a police report and sending it to them

[nickopedia]

Originally Posted by hackteck

a month ago a buyer purchased a phone from me same day he received it he opened a claim ebay accepts the return and he sends me back an empty box with bubble wrap in it took me about 3 weeks or so but i finally got my money back from ebay after filing a police report and sending it to them

How about going to your local pet shop and buying a big box of feeder roaches and sending your scamming buyer a care package?

[hackteck]

Originally Posted by nickopedia

How about going to your local pet shop and buying a big box of feeder roaches and sending your scamming buyer a care package?

lol i might just do that

[CryptoSalV2]

Scamming buyers is part of the game. Going into this you are going to have to accept the fact that you will get scammed a few times. For something expensive, there is a certain form that eBay makes you fill out to get your money back. I remember this happened to me once and was told to fill out a what I think was some sort of Federal form and then send them screenshots of the completed form... I was then refunded the full amount.

[nickopedia]

Originally Posted by CryptoSalV2

Scamming buyers is part of the game. Going into this you are going to have to accept the fact that you will get scammed a few times. For something expensive, there is a certain form that eBay makes you fill out to get your money back. I remember this happened to me once and was told to fill out a what I think was some sort of Federal form and then send them screenshots of the completed form... I was then refunded the full amount.

That was likely a Fraud Affidavit or "Affidavit of Loss" which is a legal form that basically certifies the fact your suffered some sort of loss or were the victim of a criminal act. This form usually needs to be notarized, and can also be obtained from most Police Departments, Courthouses, or an Attorney.