Advice needed! My first sorta shady seller on Ebay (not pony related)

[all4fun]

Hi all,
This isn't pony related but I need some advice. I made a purchase of a used lot of mini figures on ebay. The seller was new and claimed they needed to get a new account because the old one was hacked. I bid rather high (over $100) because there were some older, harder to find figures in the auction.

After I paid, the auction was marked as shipped. 3 days after the seller contacted me upset that the funds were placed on hold by paypal since s/he was a new seller and asked if I could mark as received so they could get the funds or I would have to wait until their payday, a week later. (eta: this is when they informed me about the getting a new account after being hacked thing.) I agreed to wait politely and since this was the first I had learned about funds holding for new sellers, assured s/he I would leave feedback quickly (I always do!)

On Tuesday, 5 days past the one agreed on for shipping the items finally showed as shipped. That doesn't bother me too much, I don't mind waiting for shipping. Last night I got a message asking if I had received the package and I said no, but based on where the tracking showed I should received it the next day (today). This got me a response of frustration at the Post Office and could I just go ahead and mark as received so they could get the money? I hate to mess around with ebay policies to begin with, but I felt uneasy by this time so I decided when I got the package I would leave feedback quickly and hopefully everyone could be happy.

So I did get the package today. 6 of the figures shown pictured in the auction are not included. These include the older, harder to find ones I really wanted and thus bid higher for. 7 different ones that were not pictured are included. The total lot is 1 short of the number promised. I just messaged them through ebay asking what's up (politely, I always try to be polite!) and I'm feeling uneasy about the whole situation and feel like I am going to be screwed somehow.

I am hoping this is a misunderstanding, and this person isn't really shady and will work with me, and I need to know what can I do to document/prove my end of the store for ebay as I have no experience with this sort of thing. Many thanks for any advice, it's very appreciated!

[achab1984]

Yes ebay does this now so the buyer is able to get there money back if something is not right.

I would contact the seller telling them you did not get all the ponies that you bidded for. They either give you a refund and pay on there own to have the ponies shipped back to me. If they are not going to work with you, then open a case. Open one for the item is not as discribed and have ebay get into it also. You will get your money back. They seem shady to me. That is most likely why they had to open a new account.

Do not leave feedback and I am happy that you did not mark it as received. They are trying to get away with something!

[MacabreDarling]

I would definately contact them with your concerns, and make certain to send copies of everything to yourself. If the response you get isn't 'hey I'm sorry I made a mistake , here I'm sending the pieces you were suppose to have', or 'oh gosh I'm so sorry, let me send your money back and pay for you to ship them back to me', then i'd take the matter to ebay, and ask to have your money given back.

[RockinPrettyBeats]

This guy sounds really unprofessional. I would hope to just send them back and get a refund. I know you would lose out on your return shipping but this looks like a headache from a mile away. Best of luck. Let us know how he responds.

[ponylady]

I think you have handled it very well from the beginning.  It's best no matter what to not let anyone buyer or seller talk you into anything that seems shady or is against ebay's policies.


If she does not respond to your email then I would open an Item Not As Described case and let ebay handle it. I would also recommend that if she is not willing to work with you to contact ebay by phone and let them know about the emails you received about marking it as received so that her funds would be released. That's a big no-no.  They will access your account and read the messages that have went on between the two of you and it will help your case.   

Just seems funny to me that she went to great lengths to try and get you to mark that as received.  And then it is not even the right figures.    I really hope you can get this resolved.

[all4fun]

Argh, so I got a response. It was, in summation: Not sure why you didn't get the figures you wanted. I will refund $15 for the 3 you didn't get. I am new to this and someone else did the packing. Sorry.

It was 6 figures not received as described in the auction, and I stated so in the response email. Also, $15 doesn't really cover the cost of 1 of the figures much less all of them. So RockinPrettyBeats, you called it, this is a headache I should have seen coming a mile away 

This person does not accept returns. So I tried to open a "item not as described" case and ebay told me I needed to wait? I guess I am about to call them. I responded to the seller with "Thanks for the offer but I would prefer to return for a full refund."

Thank you guys for the support, I've never had to deal with anything like this and I am pretty paranoid this person may try to accuse me of something I haven't done to try to get away with this. Ugh ugh ugh. I'll keep you posted!

[ponylady]

 If a buyer pays with PayPal, a seller MUST accept returns, no questions asked.  It does not matter how many times you state in your auction that you do not accept returns, or all sales final, or items as-is or whatever.  If a buyer(I am assuming you did) uses PayPal and decides they want to return the item, she has no choice in the matter. 

[all4fun]

Thanks ponylady! I did pay with paypal. That is reassuring to know. I am still a little worried this person will do something else sketchy. Because this keeps getting sketchier.

I called to talk to ebay customer service, because I was not able to open an "item not as described" claim online. The reason I could not was because this person took out 2 tracking numbers on the shipment. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but this is another borderline sketchy thing in a long line of borderline sketchy things, as you have all read

Here is what I observed about the multiple tracking numbers: The day after winning the auction, Sept 28, the item was marked as shipped. It was two days after that I got the first message about not being able to ship due to lack of funds, etc. I wondered why s/he (think this is a woman, but not sure) was able to get a tracking number but figured a label was started through paypal...I'm not familiar with that entirely. Then, on the 9th when I saw the item was shipped I noticed there was a second tracking number and figured they had to get a new one when they finally shipped & paid. If you guys tell me that getting 2 numbers like the way I am assuming they did is not how it works...I'm going to have to lie down

So I called ebay and they manually opened a case for me. Now I get to wait for the seller's response. Fingers crossed they just complain but let me return without too much more hassle! Oh, please no more hassle.

Also I described the nature of the ebay messages that were sent requesting I just mark the item as received to release the funds, but the ebay person didn't seem too bothered by that. But it was noted, and he read the messages.

Post Merge: October 12, 2012, 04:43:09 PM

Question: I should have asked the nice ebay person this, but my kids were distracting me and I forgot-should I go ahead and send the items back even if I do not hear from this person after my request for a refund? Or wait until I hear from them? With delivery confirmation, of course...

[ponylady]

I would not send anything back yet until she either responds to the case or ebay gives you the go ahead to ship back.  But when you do send them back ebay will require you to send them back with tracking.

[Maniah]

Looks like you are getting some good advice, and you are using your brain. Just keep being logical, and heed the advice here and you will be fine It may take a while, but it will work out in your favor.

Post Merge: October 12, 2012, 05:28:52 PM

Also, if your seller continues conversation with you, make sure YOU do not bring up feedback to them. They might try and tell ebay you were trying to extort them for feedback.

[Ringlets]

Oh wow , that does sound like something is off 
 You handled it really well though, and contacting ebay/opening a case was definitely the right thing to do   Like Ponylady said, dont return anything just yet, wait and see what happens with the case first.  Please let us know how it goes 

[all4fun]

Thanks everyone for the hugs and great advice Maniah, thanks for pointing out the feedback thing. I do not plan to mention or leave feedback at this time...the only time I brought it up was in the first message about the seller's payment being on hold, when I said I did not mind waiting for them to get their paycheck to have the funds to ship the item, and I would be sure to leave feedback quickly after I got the item so they could get their funds. I hope that doesn't bite me in the rear...it probably sounds bad out of context :/  Ah well, lessons learned..

[tulagirl]

I just want to add some information having talked with ebay about just this very thing.  Ebay(Paypal) does not hold funds due to feedback not being left.  They hold the funds until they have proof the item was delivered.  Secondly, they want to see that a case was not filed within I think it is 3 days of delivery.  If a case is opened against a seller then the funds will be held until the case is resolved.  If a case is not opened against a seller and tracking shows delivery, then funds are released after a waiting period of three days. Don't quote me on the waiting period as I might have it wrong.  This is also only for new sellers. 

My point for bringing this up to you is that feedback issues have nothing to due with the release of funds.  Ebay recognizes that many people do not leave feedback and they told me directly on the phone that they do not withhold funds based on that fact.  So its all about delivery and no complaint against the new seller.

So this whole feedback thing, put it out of your mind because Ebay doesn't care about that.  Also I would like to add that you should never be told to leave feedback let alone leave it quickly.  Once you leave feedback a case can't be filed. I can't help but wonder if this person was kicked off their seller account perhaps for bad selling and opened a new one and knows very well what they are doing. I hate to think that, but .... ya know....I don't trust people that are pushy.

[Dragonflitter]

Ugh, why is it always the people who ask you to do something for them, that's always the auction that doesn't work out as you expected? Good job sticking to your guns and not doing what they wanted before you got the item!

Too bad this turned into such a headache... One of the pitfalls of buying on ebay, to be sure.

Let us know how it turns out!

[RockinPrettyBeats]

Ugh, why is it always the people who ask you to do something for them, that's always the auction that doesn't work out as you expected? Good job sticking to your guns and not doing what they wanted before you got the item!

Too bad this turned into such a headache... One of the pitfalls of buying on ebay, to be sure.

Let us know how it turns out!

I actually think that most of Ebay is fairly headache free...as least for buyers. I rarely have any problems. However, I am scared away from new sellers so maybe that's why I haven't experienced as many messes.

So, I take it you are returning the lot OP? Is that why you opened a case to try and get it all settled and get your refund as soon as he gets it?

I don't know what's going on with this guy. I don't like how he asked you to mark it as received. How could he mess up so many figures as well?