Print Page - Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.

TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 18, 2019, 06:31:12 PM

Title: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 18, 2019, 06:31:12 PM

Edit - Here are the eBay account names of the reseller:

Main account they tried flipping Rapunzel with - junkdrunk151
Account they bought Rapunzel with - vaubon-0

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So, before I start just know that this isn't a transaction I have anything to do with, but one I have been keeping a close eye on from the sidelines and have gotten information about from both the seller directly, as well as a close friend of theirs!

In this, I will leave out names. I will refer to the people involved as "seller", "friend" (the seller's friend), and "reseller" (the person I'm warning about). I do wish to ask the mods and admins permission to post the eBay account names of the reseller though, so that people can avoid selling to them or buying from them. If I get permission to do so I'll edit this post afterwards and post the account names!

Alright so, on February 27th this Rapunzel was initially listed by the seller. Her listing ended on March 9th and she sold for $1,225, but the highest bidder retracted (at the time you could see they had one retraction, and one item bid on in the past 30 days), and the person who was right behind them was that sketchy bidder some of you may remember bid on 20+ ponies from that MIB/MOC storage locker seller. So, because both top two bids were sketchy, the seller relisted Rapunzel, on March 12th. The listing ended at $785 on March 22nd.

Somewhere around March 26th (maybe was before but this is when I found out about it), she was seemingly listed again, but on an entirely different eBay account, with the same images from the original seller. I was suspecting it was a scam listing, and that this person stole the photos from the seller and wasn't actually selling a Rapunzel and just wanted money. So, I messaged the original seller, and she sent me back the following messages in response:

Spoiler

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Not sure if her friend she refers to here is the same friend who's been giving me updates in the Discord server that I'll be posting later, I would assume so? Since the friend in Discord was wanting to warn people about it.

In any case, this confirmed that this was an instance of someone reselling before they even received the item, rather than someone trying to scam buyers with an nonexistent pony by stealing images. Which seemed better then, but then the situation worsened. The reseller used a completely different account to bid from the one they bought with (they were trying to resell her with an account with positive feedback that's been around since 2014, and bought her on an account they used specifically to bid on her with 0 feedback).

So with the updates from the seller's friend. I'm a member in a Discord server focused around thrifting, and her friend is a member here as well, one of the channels is about MLP since a lot of us there collect it. Swearing is allowed on the server and there has been some from people in the conversation (myself included) so I have censored that, as well as avatars and usernames of everyone who isn't me. I have color coded everyone so you know who's who. Seller's friend is red.

Update #1 - April 2nd

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So to summarize. The reseller was trying to return Rapunzel to her original seller, while at the same time having their own resell listing of her up. This listing was thankfully taken down the same day. The reseller's excuse for this was that she wasn't in the condition they expected her to be in, despite the seller's photos (the very same photos the reseller put in their own listing) clearly showed the pony's flaws. And also why would you buy something for this much money without discussing it with your fiance first lol.

Update #2 - April 3rd

More people involved in the conversation beyond just me and the seller's friend this time. Again each person has their own color I've used to hide their identity.

Spoiler

Summary: Reseller is now trying to claim the pony is fake, leaves a negative feedback (previously the seller had 100% positive and now no longer does because of this liar).

Update #3 - April 7th (this one's a short one)

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Reseller starts playing the victim because people rightfully called them out on their nasty behavior.

Update #4 - April 13th (very small update, just one screenshot here)

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Reseller continues to play victim and takes it to the extremes of threatening suicide (can someone say "yikes"?) and harassing the original seller. Tries doing a PayPal charge back and misses ship back date.

Update #5 - April 18th (today)

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pasted the last message in so I didn't have an entire separate screenshot for my one small message.

Original seller has received Rapunzel back from the reseller, but damaged. It looked like they tried getting the mark that was on her symbol and instead took off some paint. Gonna be honest, I think they did it on purpose, given all their past behavior.

So, with that, can I publicize both eBay accounts of the reseller? Both the one they bought Rapunzel with and the one they tried to resell her with? I want people to be able to avoid selling to this person at all costs.

Edit -

Update #6 - April 22nd

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Reseller successfully got money back from reopening the case on PayPal. Absolutely disgusting. Terrible human being.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Loa on April 19, 2019, 12:01:26 AM

Yes you can list the names!

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 19, 2019, 06:35:50 AM

Quote from: Loa on April 19, 2019, 12:01:26 AM

Yes you can list the names!

Thank you! I've added them to the beginning of the post! :)

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: banditpony on April 19, 2019, 07:26:46 AM

I blocked both, thanks.

Just a small two cents, no one should of contacted the buyer at any point besides the seller. :/ I don't think that helped. It's like poking a bear.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 19, 2019, 07:31:03 AM

Quote from: banditpony on April 19, 2019, 07:26:46 AM

I blocked both, thanks.

Just a small two cents, no one should of contacted the buyer at any point besides the seller. :/ I don't think that helped. It's like poking a bear.

I don't know who did, I certainly didn't. Someone did I guess.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: banditpony on April 19, 2019, 07:34:45 AM

Quote from: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 19, 2019, 07:31:03 AM

Quote from: banditpony on April 19, 2019, 07:26:46 AM
I blocked both, thanks.

Just a small two cents, no one should of contacted the buyer at any point besides the seller. :/ I don't think that helped. It's like poking a bear.

I don't know who did, I certainly didn't. Someone did I guess.

Ah I see. >_<; the whole thing sucks. I feel really bad for the seller...

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 19, 2019, 08:28:50 AM

Quote from: banditpony on April 19, 2019, 07:34:45 AM

Ah I see. >_<; the whole thing sucks. I feel really bad for the seller...

It sounded like she was the seller's childhood pony, too. :crazy:

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Taffeta on April 19, 2019, 01:50:26 PM

The stupid of the stupid come out when dealing with expensive ponies. The whole thing sounds like a nightmare.

I feel like if this was just a cynical scam designed to buy and flip, you wouldn't choose Rapunzel and you'd find another way to return the pony - or fake return it. I suspect there probably is a toxic domestic situation on the other end of this, which has spilled over onto the poor original seller who did nothing more than put the pony on ebay to make some cash :/

It wouldn't surprise me if the new bidder account was not made to shill but to hide the fact the purchase was being made, then all the panic over it getting there fast or trying to cancel it...and then all of this blowing up...it seems like the seller got into the middle of something and got the worst of it as a result.

Glad Punzie was retrieved. Sad she lost a bit of her symbol but it could've been worse. I think if he had wanted to really ruin the pony he would've cut off the pony's hair. Slight damage on the symbol which removed the ink mark seems more an attempt to fix the problem rather than deliberate vandalism out of spite.

BUT there is a large dose of not taking personal responsibility on the buyer/flipper end of this debate.

And the pony community reporting stolen images and such is just the community doing its job to protect each other, as has happened for more than 20 years. It's common sense to report suspicious behaviour over a transaction. If that's a problem, don't be suspicious. Simple as.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 19, 2019, 03:13:51 PM

Quote from: Taffeta on April 19, 2019, 01:50:26 PM

Glad Punzie was retrieved. Sad she lost a bit of her symbol but it could've been worse. I think if he had wanted to really ruin the pony he would've cut off the pony's hair. Slight damage on the symbol which removed the ink mark seems more an attempt to fix the problem rather than deliberate vandalism out of spite.

I'm baffled that they would try to do anything to result in changing her condition, be it good or bad, after they already decided they wanted to return her.... like you'd think that if the seller's shipped you something, and you decide you want it returned before you even get it, you'd want to return it to them in the condition you received it, not try to fix anything with it...

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on April 19, 2019, 03:45:54 PM

Thanks for.letting us know! As soon as I can get back to my desktop I will add to the bad trader list.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Ringlets on April 20, 2019, 02:32:46 AM

Ugh what an absolute nightmare :yikes: :( thanks for letting us know the details and the IDs of the dodgy person :bigups: . I'm so sorry the original seller got her childhood pony ruined as well as having to deal with all of that :mad:

(I suppose it could be possible that the dodgy buyer/reseller didn't know how to remove the mark on the symbol and tried to get it off to resell for a higher price and/or to resell under the other ID hoping the original seller or any of the previous watchers wouldn't notice , but then messed up the symbol instead *sigh* ..... then again ... the pony was relisted with the original pics including the mark on the symbol , also the person tried to claim they'd been shipped a fakie by using pics of a completely (obviously) different pony :facepalm: . So given those added facts I wouldn't trust the person not to have deliberately messed up that symbol :awake: :sad: )

Not someone to be trusted and this is definitely not someone I'd ever want to deal with personally. Adding both of those accounts to my blocked bidder/buyer list now too.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Eternia on April 20, 2019, 04:17:45 PM

I had been watching all those auctions and was wondering what was going on!! Geez talk about insanity!!

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: kitkatvintage on April 21, 2019, 01:46:19 PM

The reseller also posted about that Rapunzel multiple times in the "Vintage Toys & Action Figures" group on Facebook while he had her listed as an auction on eBay as well (first week of April). Apparently the group admins kept removing his posts, then he would just post again. At one point he even posted several pics of himself kissing the pony & rubbing her on his face to "prove he had her in hand". :shocked: :X That group is mostly made up of guys who collect action figures, so he was getting an assortment of negative replies on his multiple posts. The way he kept posting over & over, and the language he used in posts & replies definitely didn't give any indication that he'd be a reliable person to send $800 - $1,000 to. :|

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 22, 2019, 07:21:50 AM

Quote from: kitkatvintage on April 21, 2019, 01:46:19 PM

The reseller also posted about that Rapunzel multiple times in the "Vintage Toys & Action Figures" group on Facebook while he had her listed as an auction on eBay as well (first week of April). Apparently the group admins kept removing his posts, then he would just post again. At one point he even posted several pics of himself kissing the pony & rubbing her on his face to "prove he had her in hand". :shocked: :X That group is mostly made up of guys who collect action figures, so he was getting an assortment of negative replies on his multiple posts. The way he kept posting over & over, and the language he used in posts & replies definitely didn't give any indication that he'd be a reliable person to send $800 - $1,000 to. :|

Eewww! Yeah alright this is 100% the type of person who would have intentionally damaged her, absolutely no doubt in my mind now.

Post Merge: April 22, 2019, 05:09:48 PM

New update :/

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PayPal gave the jerk some of the money back, so he got half of the money he spent on her back when all he did was lie about it being fake to ruin the seller's feedback rate, and damage the pony. I hope karma gets this guy good. What a thoroughly awful and disgusting human being. Editing the OP to include this update too.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on April 22, 2019, 08:17:56 PM

Ewwwwww what a mess

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: NightGliderSA on April 23, 2019, 02:14:43 AM

Oh my, I was watching the listing and re-listing and re-re-listing of this pony and wondering. I must say that I am extremely disappointed in PayPal for their decision: it makes no sense at all. It is one thing to have a nasty individual out there doing their best to get what they can out of other people but quite another for a company to go and back them up like that. I am truly sorry for your friend; can she not query the decision? Surely once they have seen all the facts clearly and correctly they can reverse it?

What a horrible mess :(

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Sweet Stuff on April 23, 2019, 03:20:41 AM

This was so heartbreaking to read! I feel bad for the original seller. What a scum bag that person is.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: bluerose9978 on April 23, 2019, 05:37:08 AM

I'm sure because the scammer got only half back and the OP's friend received the pony back, Paypal feels that neither party has won or lost, that it they evened out the playing field. Because Paypal is a company and aren't collectors and don't understand what the OP's friend has actually lost in the damaged pony and refunding the scammer half the money, they don't get that she's actually lost this battle.

If I were her, I may try to dispute Paypal's decision and explain why and document it with everything the scammer has done. You never know, they may reverse their decision in the end. It doesn't hurt to try.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 23, 2019, 07:14:38 AM

Quote from: NightGliderSA on April 23, 2019, 02:14:43 AM

Oh my, I was watching the listing and re-listing and re-re-listing of this pony and wondering. I must say that I am extremely disappointed in PayPal for their decision: it makes no sense at all. It is one thing to have a nasty individual out there doing their best to get what they can out of other people but quite another for a company to go and back them up like that. I am truly sorry for your friend; can she not query the decision? Surely once they have seen all the facts clearly and correctly they can reverse it?

What a horrible mess :(

Well, the seller's not my friend, I don't know her, I just had a short conversation with her via eBay messages when this all began. I'm just in the same Discord server that a close friend of hers is in so they've been updating us there on all of this.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Taffeta on April 23, 2019, 10:58:33 AM

The whole thing is disgusting from start to finish, but I also wonder whether it's worth the seller continuing to invest emotion in fighting this. What he did sucks, but it must be upsetting the seller to continue dealing with this garbage as well.

I agree with bluerose's assessment, paypal are clinical and nonemotional and would see this as a valid settlement. I don't know whether all the other material would have a lot of effect on their judgement. I imagine it might have to be taken to a minor court setting (not sure what US law is like on this) and dealt with as a civil suit which would just drag the thing out longer and cost more money.

It sucks to concede but I worry now for the seller's emotional health going forward if she has to spend any more time and energy on this guy.

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: banditpony on April 23, 2019, 05:15:59 PM

Honestly -- with the exception of the damage -- this isn't the worst resolution. Worst resolution would of been getting back a fake, or a credit card chargeback that wouldn't of given a partial refund.

The buyer got a refund because they didn't have the pony, nor their money. Paypal isn't going to reverse the funds the buyer received.

But if I was the original seller -- If the value of the pony is less than $400 I'd fuss up a storm about SELLER protection. No refunds are fine -- that doesn't waive protection. The buyer opened a INAD case, when it was buyer's remorse and that is CLEARLY documented. Therefore, she should be covered for the full amount of the loss.

But really. If an ebay buyer had cold feet and wants to cancel a transaction for a highpriced item... play it safe...

Title: Re: Not a transaction I was a part of, but I want to warn people about this buyer.
Post by: Ringlets on April 25, 2019, 05:35:11 AM

:( this update.. it kind of makes it even worse. I think in this sellers case it might be worth trying to get Paypal to re-consider the decision since she has all that info on the buyer

Quote from: kitkatvintage on April 21, 2019, 01:46:19 PM

The reseller also posted about that Rapunzel multiple times in the "Vintage Toys & Action Figures" group on Facebook while he had her listed as an auction on eBay as well (first week of April). Apparently the group admins kept removing his posts, then he would just post again. At one point he even posted several pics of himself kissing the pony & rubbing her on his face to "prove he had her in hand". :shocked: :X That group is mostly made up of guys who collect action figures, so he was getting an assortment of negative replies on his multiple posts. The way he kept posting over & over, and the language he used in posts & replies definitely didn't give any indication that he'd be a reliable person to send $800 - $1,000 to. :|

eww ewww eeeewwwwww!!!! Sooo glad I blocked him. so.glad. :X :X :X :X

The MLP Arena

TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on April 18, 2019, 06:31:12 PM