Ebay and other online Scammers

GeeWillikers wrote:
Personally, I'm now on my fifth attempt at trying to buy the TBL Imperial Guardian sculpt from 2019 - because every. single. previous. attempt has ended with "Sorry Friend, this item is out of stock/damaged, you want something else? I will give you discount Friend." This is of course after they've taken the money. Even one of my usually reliable regular sellers has stiffed me on one of these (but at least they canceled the order and I was refunded quickly, so they get a pass and shall remain unnamed in this thread of shame).

Usually sellers do this if the auction didn't reach the amount they wanted. You'll find the same thing up for auction from the same seller again next week.

Here's an example just this week of what I've posted previously. The seller can't supply the item, but rather than just cancel and refund me, he's asking me to *confirm* the refund process. In effect, he's asking me to cancel the order so that the cancellation is a blemish on my eBay record, not his.

"Hi xxxxx,
Good day. Kindly accept our sincere apologies for not being able to fulfill this particular order xx-xxxx-xxxxx for you at this time due to a stock error in our suppliers’ inventory.
We are able to process a refund.
Please contact us back if this is your preferred method.
Thank you & best regards,
Xxxxxx
"


I won't respond but wait until a day after the last expected delivery date and raise a dispute for non-delivery instead.

Sick of these shonky tactics from eBay sellers
Maybe I'm being too cynical, but if he can't supply the order why does he need me to give him the authorization to process the refund especially when he offers no alternative to the "preferred method"?

Are cancellations really a 'blemish' on one's ebay record? I was never aware of that.... O.o

skywalkersaga wrote:Are cancellations really a 'blemish' on one's ebay record? I was never aware of that.... O.o

Reading thru' eBay forums apparently, it is.

(I just had a quick google to re-confirm)
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Shipping-Returns-Q-A/How-many-cancellations-before-e-bay-penalize/qaq-p/25186122?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5336728181&customid=&toolid=10001

Sandron wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Are cancellations really a 'blemish' on one's ebay record? I was never aware of that.... O.o

Reading thru' eBay forums apparently, it is.

(I just had a quick google to re-confirm)
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Shipping-Returns-Q-A/How-many-cancellations-before-e-bay-penalize/qaq-p/25186122?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5336728181&customid=&toolid=10001

Thanks for that, I always just assumed they were just a normal part of transactions. Guess that is ebay wanting to make cancellations something users avoid so they don't have to refund things....

Seller SC_STORE9999 has not responded to my request for a refund or to eBay initial contact attempt. Today I was able to "escalate" the process... whatever that means. I guess eBay will step in and "investigate."

davidd wrote:Seller SC_STORE9999 has not responded to my request for a refund or to eBay initial contact attempt. Today I was able to "escalate" the process... whatever that means. I guess eBay will step in and "investigate."

Yup, Dave... Ebay will now take care of it all. I would hope that you'll get a refund in the next couple of days..

londonroadhog wrote:

davidd wrote:Seller SC_STORE9999 has not responded to my request for a refund or to eBay initial contact attempt. Today I was able to "escalate" the process... whatever that means. I guess eBay will step in and "investigate."

Yup, Dave... Ebay will now take care of it all. I would hope that you'll get a refund in the next couple of days..

I finally received a refund, but it wasn't easy.

After reviewing the information after I "escalated" the case against SC-STORE9999, within a few hours eBay ruled in favor of the seller. Item was sent with tracking, and tracking indicated the item was delivered. This was despite my providing photos of the small padded envelope and the letter, which was obviously not of sufficient size to contain an action figure.

I was informed that I had an option to appeal the decision. The "appeal" link on the eBay site, however, is circular. It leads back to the general information page about escalating cases. There is no direct link to file an appeal.

I contacted eBay customer support via chat. After I explained the situation - I did not receive the item I purchased, I received a letter instead - the eBay customer service representative provided me a link - a link for filing a seller claim against a buyer. I explained, politely and clearly, I thought, that the link she was providing was for a Seller case, but I was filing as a Buyer. She insisted that was the correct link, and was the link that they use themselves to submit appeals. I tried again, and was directed to a Seller page. When I asked again for a link to submitting a Buyer appeal, the customer service representative disconnected me.

After more looking around for an "Appeals" link on eBay, I decided to try using the general "Contact eBay" email link. I typed out exactly what had transpired, explaining yet again that the item I received was not the item that was ordered. I received a letter in a tracked envelope, not an action figure toy. I reiterated that the seller had not responded to my queries. There was no option to attach photos, so I included URL addresses for images of the letter and the envelope.

I re-read my message several times, writing it in clear "bullet points" and taking care to limit any language indicating emotion, anger, or frustration.

The following day I received a response from eBay Customer Service requesting that I fill out, sign, scan, and return a physical claim form. I printed out the form from the link they provided, filled it in and signed and dated it, scanned it, and sent it back using a document submission link eBay provided in their response.

What followed corroborated my suspicions that eBay is covering for their China-based sellers: within a few hours, eBay responded again, saying they had reversed their denial of the claim. They stated:

"After reviewing this case, we decided to refund you for this purchase. We did this because we determined that the item was stolen during delivery."

The next day the refund was initiated through my PayPal account. It took a couple of days to process once it was out of eBay's hands, but I was somewhat on edge until the refund was fully processed and credited to my account.

I got my money back. That's what matters, I guess.

My days of purchasing from China-based sellers on eBay are over for good. This might be a minor inconvenience when it comes to outfitting hobby figures, but maybe it will save me some money as it will put a damper on impulse buys.

Obviously the item was not "stolen during delivery," as those of you who have received these letters know full well. But by saying so, eBay protects one of their high volume China sellers.

I've noticed that the negative feedback I left for the seller has not shown up on the site. I see that someone else has reported receiving the letter and "small gift" in a negative feedback comment, so it's happening on a regular basis; likely on a much more regular basis than the seller's feedback profile would indicate. It appears there are two options for those who feel slighted by these sellers. Leave negative feedback and take the loss. Or file a complaint, jump through hoops, maybe get your money back if you check all the right boxes in the right order (with no real help from eBay), but not be able to post feedback.

davidd wrote:
I got my money back. That's what matters, I guess.

My days of purchasing from China-based sellers on eBay are over for good. This might be a minor inconvenience when it comes to outfitting hobby figures, but maybe it will save me some money as it will put a damper on impulse buys.

Obviously the item was not "stolen during delivery," as those of you who have received these letters know full well. But by saying so, eBay protects one of their high volume China sellers.

On one hand I'm glad you won your case against the seller and that eBay cough up the money. On the other hand, how many of this is happening to others and eBay doesn't do jack and %)@& because of the money their raking in through these sellers. I'm in the same boat after the hassle of my last few purchases on eBay so no more, I'll spend a little bit more here domestically or elsewhere but not going to do busy with China-based eBay sellers agin.

Good news that you got your money back. Ebay was useless when sc store ripped me off. But it saved me in the long run as I'll cut down on spending on 1/6 and save my poor bank account haha

I got one of those letters from Iwstore2013 about a pre-ordered head sculpt.
I've been a repeat customer for a couple of years so I'm going to sit it out and hope they'll come through. If they do I'll let you know.

Today was sirprise day. I got a head from sc9999 which i preordered like 8 month ago. (My last preorder i did on ebay)

Speaking of scammers, anyone know of dealings with 7toys7? I bought one in stock figure from them and got that fine, but also have a preorder that's already out on giantoy, but not for them. Emails have gone unanswered so that worries me.

Theflyingman wrote:Speaking of scammers, anyone know of dealings with 7toys7? I bought one in stock figure from them and got that fine, but also have a preorder that's already out on giantoy, but not for them. Emails have gone unanswered so that worries me.

http://www.7toys7.com/

They are are good seller imo, some dealers get their stuff later than others. You could ask customer service on their page

Thanks buddy I've emailed them again hopefully I get a reply this time.

7toys7 has been around a long time. I wouldn’t personally put them in the same category as the eBay scammers.

Now take a look at this mess!

Go on Ebay and Type PL2021-175A into the search bar. More than half of the results are still the cancelled Asian looking figures.

Only some 1/3 is the recent elf version.

Beware of a new-ish Chinese seller called hokobeh. I won an SWToys Alice figure, a figure that has been out for a few years now, only to receive a message from them that they're supplier wouldn't have it in stock until two weeks later.
I canceled that order real quick. Don't have the patience for that kind of BS anymore.
And looking at their feedback, I wasn't the only one who got that message either...

In ordered a 1/6 Afire princess Leia Figure in April, I was messaging them monthly for updates and finally requested a refund at the end of August.

Obviously reading this I have been scammed.

How do I cause mass problems for this low life, he marked it send in june, told my daughter, as it was a birthday thing. Gutted to read this now.

I reported it not received, refund requested on eBay.

He keeps telling me PayPal are delaying bit because of problems....

I'm not great with eBay, any help to try and report, remove this account from eBay, anything would be greatfuly appreciated/received. As I doubt I'll get the £101 back. Other than chargeback via bank.

Thanks
Julie

paladin337 wrote:In ordered a 1/6 Afire princess Leia Figure in April, I was messaging them monthly for updates and finally requested a refund at the end of August.

Obviously reading this I have been scammed.

How do I cause mass problems for this low life, he marked it send in june, told my daughter, as it was a birthday thing. Gutted to read this now.

I reported it not received, refund requested on eBay.

He keeps telling me PayPal are delaying bit because of problems....

I'm not great with eBay, any help to try and report,  remove this account from eBay, anything would be greatfuly appreciated/received. As I doubt I'll get the £101 back. Other than chargeback via bank.

Thanks
Julie

Welcome Julie!

I've been ordering in stock items from them for around 2 years now and never had problems. Got very kind and patient (cause: my bad) service.

BUT...

I pre-ordered that Kiyoha head sculpt with purple eye shadow. (I got the previous one from them, too, but that wasn't a PO.) I got a letter that just basically said "We'll send it to you as soon as we have received it from the manufacturer. Here, have a coupon!", and when sending off this letter they marked the product as shipped. Supposedly they have to, because production time is longer than the time Ebay protects buyers for. But the listing no longer speaks of pre-order... and I'm so far the only buyer. Makes no sense, but at least it doesn't suggest a massive scam...

I've ordered 19 items from them. So I'm still hoping they are NOT burning such a big account and sending it when they can.

I 'pre-ordered' a Limtoys Connor figure from springwindblowing in June 2020. This was long before the Collector Freaks post was started. There was some communication at the time, but, as it was a PO I just assumed all was well and left it alone.

When I discovered the name was on the list in the thread, it dawned on me that I will never see the figure or my money. It's way too late to do anything now and I pay by debit card and there's zilch you can do in that case. The figure is still up for PO on eBay now, but listed by EVERYONE on the scam list.

OneSixthKit do sometimes get spare units, so, I'll see what happens when Limtoys eventually release him.

Do not tar 7Toys7 with the same brush, I've dealt with them for years and have had nothing but good service from them.

Ended up requesting a refund on something I bought from scstore that turned out not to be in stock after reading this thread out of precaution. No issues getting my money back whatsoever; seemed like decent people from my interaction, at the very least.

They like to do that on occasion, keeps their reputation up. If something looks too good to be true, it usually is. If you use eBay long enough, it is possible to build up a core group of sellers you know you can trust. None of these would ever be on it!

I agree, even though i didn't deal with 7toys7 in recent times, they always delivered what i ordered from them in the past, without reason to complain. were it lose items or whole figures.

Rogerbee wrote:They like to do that on occasion, keeps their reputation up. If something looks too good to be true, it usually is. If you use eBay long enough, it is possible to build up a core group of sellers you know you can trust. None of these would ever be on it!

Maybe. I've used eBay since the late 00s, but honestly, I can't really say; I just think things here are probably a lot more complex than something black/white like "it's a scam", you know? Not that they don't exist, of course, but at the same time, it's hard to imagine someone all the way in China picking such a niche hobby for some sort of mass scale fraud.

Well, they have and it's been hitting us hard in the wallet. My loss didn't really impact me, but, it may do others. That's why it's important for threads like this to exist, forewarned is forearmed.

I think much of it goes down to aggressive sales practices that would not be considered appropriate for most of us -- pushing products without clearly admitting they are pre-orders, then asking you to wait for months on end until it actually becomes available, at which point you would no longer be covered by eBay protection, sending you a "gift" in the meantime, which gets them off the hook as they could prove to eBay that they sent something with tracking (or that you agreed to their proposal, whatever), etc. Then if you want to cancel your order, first they try to get you to exchange for something actually in stock (and then there is more guesswork and back and forth), or they cancel the order at the customer's request, something that apparently has a slightly negative effect on one's account's standing. I suppose that if one bears out with it, in most cases it will not turn out to be an outright scam (as in you would probably get your product in the end), but the practice -- and the process -- can be very disconcerting.

I recently tried to purchase something from a seller I have worked with before without problems. The information literally advertised that it is "ready to ship" and the product year was "2019," so I figured it was safe to order. Then they get back to me with a message about it being a "pre-sale" item and am I willing to wait, or buy something else, or get a refund, and offering to send a gift with a tracking number. I had read enough about this here to know where this was going (whether or not they meant to cheat me in the end), so I ended up requesting and getting a refund. I don't know if they were just being sloppy copy-pasting the information containing "ready to ship" (etc.) or purposefully trying to get people to buy in the hope they don't get mad and stick with it, but it was annoying. This -- and the sorry, this is actually out of stock, do you want something else routine -- seems to be getting increasingly common. It is probably a typical enough practice when looking at stuff in a shop or a market and then haggling over it, but it still seems inappropriate for eBay to me. Yet, as has been discussed by others, eBay is generally looking the other way and remarkably ineffective in enforcing its own policies.

GubernatorFan wrote:I think much of it goes down to aggressive sales practices that would not be considered appropriate for most of us -- pushing products without clearly admitting they are pre-orders, then asking you to wait for months on end until it actually becomes available, at which point you would no longer be covered by eBay protection, sending you a "gift" in the meantime, which gets them off the hook as they could prove to eBay that they sent something with tracking (or that you agreed to their proposal, whatever), etc. Then if you want to cancel your order, first they try to get you to exchange for something actually in stock (and then there is more guesswork and back and forth), or they cancel the order at the customer's request, something that apparently has a slightly negative effect on one's account's standing. I suppose that if one bears out with it, in most cases it will not turn out to be an outright scam (as in you would probably get your product in the end), but the practice -- and the process -- can be very disconcerting.

I recently tried to purchase something from a seller I have worked with before without problems. The information literally advertised that it is "ready to ship" and the product year was "2019," so I figured it was safe to order. Then they get back to me with a message about it being a "pre-sale" item and am I willing to wait, or buy something else, or get a refund, and offering to send a gift with a tracking number. I had read enough about this here to know where this was going (whether or not they meant to cheat me in the end), so I ended up requesting and getting a refund. I don't know if they were just being sloppy copy-pasting the information containing "ready to ship" (etc.) or purposefully trying to get people to buy in the hope they don't get mad and stick with it, but it was annoying. This -- and the sorry, this is actually out of stock, do you want something else routine -- seems to be getting increasingly common. It is probably a typical enough practice when looking at stuff in a shop or a market and then haggling over it, but it still seems inappropriate for eBay to me. Yet, as has been discussed by others, eBay is generally looking the other way and remarkably ineffective in enforcing its own policies.

Can agree to all of this. Preorders on Ebay are absolutely a terrible idea, and if it weren't for some of the... questionable decisions made on their end as of late (direct bank account link to even sell, for instance), I'd be surprised that they hadn't already made it against policy.

Well said Gubernator!