Ebay and other online Scammers

Rogerbee wrote:
I hope it's what you wanted, just be prepared for it not to be. if it's not, take pics of everything, you'll need it to file a case.

Oh, yeah. Normally I wouldn't get my hopes up AT ALL. I know the tricks of these sellers by now. But this store send me a HS which I bought 9 month ago, so my expectation weren't zero. I mean why send a package after 1,5 years instead of just nothing and blocking me?

In the end, I got four cool bird watching telescopes today.  Well, that is certainly nice, if you are into birds!
At least he responded and is in for a solution so lets see what happens next

They sent you telescopes when you ordered a figure!? I'd be having words.

LOL I am into birds -- to a point -- but the feeder is quite close to the patio and no telescopes needed. Well... I hope you enjoy it.

My latest 'sorry friend it is damaged' template letter, from a seller named szly1_63 (they have a fairly good feedback score to be fair, but I'm so sick of this **** now from ebay sellers):

"Dear friend
Sorry to bother you , there is a situation i should let you know:
Just now we received this item from the manufacture, but when we opened it, we found it was defective and the manufacture said the new bulk need a long time, sorry for this.
But please don't worry, there have many other item in our shop, you can choose a replacement, is it okay?
Waiting for your news.
Best Regards"

Almost word-for-word the exact same message I've received now from at least a dozen (seemingly) different sellers on ebay and aliexpress, for up to around 15 different transactions (mostly head sculpts), over the last six months or so.

Each time, we will do a week-long dance where I will insist on a refund which they will eventually give, but then claim that I requested a cancellation on a sale they made in good faith - leaving any stain on my buying record rather than their selling record - with no redress or appeal for me.

It's a bizarre business model on the seller's part. Sure it might keep them afloat for a few more weeks in these uncertain times, but it actively discourages return buyers.

Ebay, meanwhile? Well ebay is just broken, possibly beyond repair. I think I'm done buying from Chinese ebay (and aliexpress) sellers now.

One for the 'burned out' thread, possibly.

That really sucks, GeeW. I don't have anything encouraging to say, since this seems to be an incredibly widespread issue and a lot of it ends up as 'luck of the draw'. :/

Makes me glad I got out of the 1/6 figure game. If you're on FB, follow OneSixthKit and KGHobby, they post whenever a PO goes live. Jump on board as soon as they do and they won't let you down. Kit will also post if there are spare units available, jump on them as soon as too!

I'd stick with them and avoid eBay, certainly for figures. I'm into garage kits and have a very high hit rate when it comes to them on eBay, as long as you avoid Thailand!

Well in a fit of righteous indignation, I messaged the seller thus:

"Hello,

Following a protracted processing time for this item (purchased 6th October 2021), you have sent a message (dated 16th October 2021) about the item being 'defective' and offering what amounts to 'store credit' rather than a full refund of the purchase price.

For your information, I am fully aware that this particular 'selling practise' is now becoming very common with items of this type on Ebay.

As you have already informed me that I will not be receiving the above product which I purchased in good faith from you, and which your listing suggests is 'in stock', I am considering your message as notice of 'item not received' and informing you of such. I would now like an immediate refund in full, or I will be escalating the matter with Ebay at the earliest opportunity.

I should also like it to be noted that I am *not* asking that the transaction be canceled, and I have not done so at any point in our communications. You, the seller, are the party who is unable to fulfill their side of this purchase agreement.

Thank you."

A bit snotty, but still within the bounds of legally-formal politeness. I don't really care if they understand the nuances or not, but I look forward to him cursing my descendants and my ancestors soon.

I bypassed Messages, and sent it through the order details page using 'Ask the seller a question',  which will hopefully give me the option to escalate after 7 days. The most important thing is that Ebay will see the above message if it does escalate. So we'll see what happens. I don't want to wait until January 2022 to sort out this shenanigans.

But yeah, this is feeling very much like the last time I'll be using unfamiliar sellers on Ebay and AliEx, even if the list of trusted sellers is near-microscopic.

You tell 'em!

I remember once getting a bust from Thailand and it was taking a long time to arrive. Messages were sent back and forth, the item wasn't on tracking anywhere, so, eventually, the seller and I agreed that the parcel had gone well and truly AWOL and he gave me a refund.

Well, you could imagine my surprise when, about a week or so later, the bust actually turned up! The listing was closed so I couldn't leave feedback or anything, so, I basically got the item free and left it at that.

However, I highly doubt it will be the same story where these chancers are concerned. Oh no, they've well and truly left us up the creek and claimed that the paddle is either damaged or lost in the post!

Hope you get your money back.

Rogerbee wrote:You tell 'em!

I may make it a template

I don't bother replying any more. As soon as I get a message like that, I escalate it immediately. Ebay's systems only flag bad sellers if they have low review ratings and cases get escalated.

Rogerbee wrote:You tell 'em!

I remember once getting a bust from Thailand and it was taking a long time to arrive. Messages were sent back and forth, the item wasn't on tracking anywhere, so, eventually, the seller and I agreed that the parcel had gone well and truly AWOL and he gave me a refund.

Tracking is for the seller, not the buyer. If they skimp and don't use tracking, then they run the risk of cases like this where they have to refund even though the parcel is still en route.

At least I got what I ordered, which is more than anyone will this time. With the Limtoys figures, they all got delayed by Covid, so it played right into the scammer's hands. They knew they could take the money and run before any figure ever showed up. It will only be now that their Arthur Morgan is coming out that some buyers will realise that the figure they 'pre-ordered' won't be on their doorstep anytime soon.

So... that message to the seller seems to have worked... ish.

Woke up to this in my inbox:

"Really sorry to make you so worried, friend, we just cancelled it and refunded to you
Hope we can give you more help in the future"

I love their use of the term 'worried'.    

The money is already refunded.

BUT: The seller has of course claimed that I requested to cancel the transaction.

I'm reporting him to Ebay (because I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Not Going To Take This Anymore ). Not that I expect they'll penalise him in any way, but if I kick up enough fuss I can, hopefully, get it struck from my buying record.

Excelsior!

Sounds like a plan,

I hope you kept copies of all your transactions and correspondence, that way you have proof to show eBay what they've been up to. Glad you got your refund.

A lot of collectors rate Loontentoys and I have pre-ordered the Hot Toys Wonder Woman Golden Armor on Ebay from them reasoning that I always have Paypal's 6 months protection.

The problem is I am coming up near the 6 months limit now and there is still no definite date on the release.

WW Golden Armor is pre-sold out everywhere except for some ridiculous pricing with some unknown sellers.

Do you guys think I should hold on or is it very unlikely Loontentoys will honour the order once the 6 months protection is passed?

Has anybody else preorder from them beyond the 6 months and still got their orders ok?




I did post this question in another forum and got just two positive feedback for Loontentoys so I am still very unsure. I am hoping members on this board will have more experience with Loonten ...

Don't risk it. Get a refund. The popular items will be offered again.

I’ve never ordered from them before, but I’ve also never heard anyone complain about them. In this day and age, however, that doesn’t mean much. I would take shazzdan’s advice if you’re worried about it.

I suppose I was really waiting for at least one or two people to confirm they got scammed by Loontentoys.

But so far, I have had two positives on the other forum from people that pre-order frequently from him (even 2yrs before!) and got their orders no problem.

In fact, in all my google search I have not found even one person that claim they got scammed by them which seems reassuring.

With the more popular figures, surely you have to pre-order.

Look at the Hot Toys Harley Quinn - this is frequently fetching well beyond £500 on EBay now.

That would definitely price me out of the market (not that I actually pre-ordered Harley as that was way before I began getting into this hobby).

There have been a dozen or so Harley Quinns already from various companies. If you want a Hot Toys one then just wait for the next movie, HT will release another one.

Not heard back from Ebay on the above, but here's my latest adventure from AliExpress, transferred from the 'shipping' thread to here where it belongs:

Kit chen wrote:

GeeWillikers wrote:Is it usual for a package to travel from China to the UK using USPS?

I'm having all kinds of 'fun' with an AliEx seller who has run his 'processing time' for an order down to the last hour twice without 'allowing' me to cancel the order after the first time, effectively giving me the runaround for four weeks before finally (allegedly) sending the items ordered last week. I strongly suspect he didn't have one of the items I ordered, and has just been stalling for as long as possible since to string out the process of refunding me for as long as possible.

Now he has given me an effectively useless USPS tracking number (I have never seen USPS tracking progress beyond 'label created, not yet in system' even after I've received the goods concerned).

Thanks to AliEx's terms of sale I will be unable to claim a refund until December, because he has, allegedly, now shipped the order.

AliEx's processing and delivery estimate times for all their sellers have grown insanely long recently. Ebay might have its own particular issues, but AliEx is becoming equally ridiculous now, just in a different way.

Anyway, this guy. Baby Wonderland Store, if anyone's taking notes. Possibly one for the 'Ebay Scammers' thread, with the byline 'including AliExpress'. I guess I'll let you know by December.


I think I'm done buying from AliEx now unless it's a seller I've dealt with before who I know is reliable. Stuff may be cheaper on there but it's becoming such a hassle it's no longer worth it.

Can’t you claim with a fault tracking?

I don’t know how Ali express works but I often buy on taobao, most are same sellers on both taobao and Ali express I guess as they both belong to alibaba

In the old days I buy from seller who offer cheapest price on same item but now I only buy from stores that I dealt before or I will select the store with most expensive price, learnt it through a hard way, not many reliable sellers there

Rather than wait until December, once it was clear there was no movement whatsoever on the false tracking that Baby Wonderland Store had supplied, I took a chance on opening a dispute on the above using the faulty/false tracking argument kit suggested above. As there is no actual 'False tracking given' dispute option however, I had to use the "I haven't received it" option and then explain further. To my surprise my claim wasn't refused outright on the grounds that the delivery window was still open.

Opening the dispute gave Baby Wonderland Store five days to respond. For whatever reason, they didn't care to. On day six, I got an uncontested automatic full refund.

There's a (theoretically) different seller called Bodies Wonderland Store on AliEx who I've bought a few things from and never had any issues with, but from now on, I will be avoiding Baby Wonderland Store like the plague.

Oh don't even get me started on AliExpress...
Aside from the Insane! slow terrible shipping times, I've never seen a  site with more shady sellers.
I was interested in getting a CCToys Drake figure awhile back, but had a suspicious hunch and thought I'd contact two different sellers first.
Turns out neither of them even had the figure in stock. Lol
I also ordered a stack of paint brushes with tracking that shows they landed in my country via arimail on August 30th. I'm Still waiting for them to show up.
I've lost too many 1/6 scale items with AE, so now I just try to avoid buying from them altogether. Just isn't worth the hassle.
I did however manage to snag an SW Sherry Birkin figure once for $138 CAD (which surprisingly even showed up!). Only good deal I've ever gotten from them. Lol
Unfortunately a lot of the sixth scale sellers on AE are also the same ones on eBay.

I just finished dealing with a scammer on ebay.
I sold an expensive Pokemon card on ebay for £56. I put the card into protective card sleeve, placed that into a protective hard plastic toploader, taped it closed, taped that into a stiff strong greetings card to disguise it from postal workers, put that into envelope and posted it signed for first class.

Day after buyer purchased they received it, only to open a claim stating they received nothing in the packet and that there was tear in the back of the packet.

"Hello iv now received you letter addressed to me but it as come with no pokeman card in it and damaged there was a birthday like card in it but no pokeman card please could you explain and weresy card ?????"

They supplied photos of tiny tear on back side of envelope then photo of envelope ripped in half and the greetings card (in perfect condition, untorn) with nothing inside. They initiated a return stating they were returning the packaging for full refund.

I immediately noted that the rip on the back of the envelope was a: too small for contents to fall out, b: on the back side so not possible for card to fall out as tear would need to be on the edge for a chance for the contents to fall out and c: contents was taped in to prevent it falling out even if there was a tear....
Additionally, the photo showing the envelope ripped was not even a photo of the envelope I use (mine are plain white inside and out, the one in the buyers photo had blue pattern inside the envelope).

I saved the photos the buyer sent, added notes and red circles pointing out all the inconsistencies, added photos of my packing process and the materials I use to post cards and added it all to the case.

I had spoken to several ebay reps and they all agreed I was in the right and that once the 3 business days were up I would be able to ask ebay to step in and they would close the case in my favour.

The buyer responded to all my evidence:
"Rubbish I have not signed for nothing send my signed for it come through my letter box not sealed you have not sent me my pokeman card I have paid for I do not wont to send you an empty envelope there was nothing so ebay will decide am sick of people trying to ripe people of bye"

then again:
"I dont care what you say that was not my envelope you have put red righting on I did not receive what I payed for end off"

So now the buyer knew the evidence proved they were lying they claimed it wasn't even their photo despite them having sent it via ebay messages (so there is proof they sent that pic) and all the objects in the background as well as the carpet matched the other photos they sent.

Ebay rep agreed 100% that they were lying. They said I would win the case 100%. I also reported the buyer then once the deadline arrived I asked ebay to step in and immediately they closed the case in my favour.
And refunded the buyer.
After an initial panic they confirmed that the refund would be covered by them (my money was safe) but I was still shocked that a clear scammer was getting a full refund. I asked why and they just said that due to volume of cases they do not make such judgements and instead refund and that they only investigate when an ebayer is reported, something I had done a couple days prior with no visible result. I explained that rewarding scammers will only encourage them to do it more but they didn't seem to care (no wonder ebay fees are so high, I am paying 20% per sale to cover refunds to scammers!) :/

So, that scammer has the expensive trading card plus a full refund and is free to scam again at a later date.

Where is the deterrent?? There is none. If you are a scammer you are gonna get the item plus full refund whether you win or lose the case. Ridiculous. Scammers are only going to become more common as time goes on, especially for collectibles.

I am nostalgic for old ebay... ability to leave negative feedback for buyers (saved me from bad buyers many a time before they did away with it), more options for listings, worldwide visibility at no extra cost, freedom to choose how you wanted to be paid, multiple ways to pay, low fees, easy to navigate seller pages with full options, ability to set how long buy it now listings ran for etc etc etc. Ebay sucks now. it is a trash platform. We need a viable replacement. Rant over.

I'm glad things worked out for you in the end, but you are right, this is very troubling.

I'm having all kinds of 'fun' with an AliEx seller who has run his 'processing time' for an order down to the last hour twice without 'allowing' me to cancel the order after the first time, effectively giving me the runaround for four weeks before finally (allegedly) sending the items ordered last week. I strongly suspect he didn't have one of the items I ordered, and has just been stalling for as long as possible since to string out the process of refunding me for as long as possible.

Now he has given me an effectively useless tracking number

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Thanks for this post GeeWillikers. I'm having a very similar experience with a seller on AliExpress even tho' it's only early days yet. 'Details' page shows that I can raise a dispute in early January if I don't receive the item - but like you, I'll be raising a dispute way before then (using your tips) or contacting Paypal for a reversal.

Sandron wrote:I'm having all kinds of 'fun' with an AliEx seller who has run his 'processing time' for an order down to the last hour twice without 'allowing' me to cancel the order after the first time, effectively giving me the runaround for four weeks before finally (allegedly) sending the items ordered last week. I strongly suspect he didn't have one of the items I ordered, and has just been stalling for as long as possible since to string out the process of refunding me for as long as possible.

Now he has given me an effectively useless tracking number

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Thanks for this post GeeWillikers. I'm having a very similar experience with a seller on AliExpress even tho' it's only early days yet. 'Details' page shows that I can raise a dispute in early January if I don't receive the item - but like you, I'll be raising a dispute way before then (using your tips) or contacting Paypal for a reversal.

I would wait until around 12 days after purchase (which should cover you for their "tracking information may not always be available immediately, please wait 5-10 days" disclaimer). After that if there's still no tracking info it'll depend on if the seller wants to contend the issue or not (I was lucky there). Good luck!

GeeWillikers wrote:

Sandron wrote:I'm having all kinds of 'fun' with an AliEx seller who has run his 'processing time' for an order down to the last hour twice without 'allowing' me to cancel the order after the first time, effectively giving me the runaround for four weeks before finally (allegedly) sending the items ordered last week. I strongly suspect he didn't have one of the items I ordered, and has just been stalling for as long as possible since to string out the process of refunding me for as long as possible.

Now he has given me an effectively useless tracking number

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Thanks for this post GeeWillikers. I'm having a very similar experience with a seller on AliExpress even tho' it's only early days yet. 'Details' page shows that I can raise a dispute in early January if I don't receive the item - but like you, I'll be raising a dispute way before then (using your tips) or contacting Paypal for a reversal.

I would wait until around 12 days after purchase (which should cover you for their "tracking information may not always be available immediately, please wait 5-10 days" disclaimer). After that if there's still no tracking info it'll depend on if the seller wants to contend the issue or not (I was lucky there). Good luck!

OK. Will do.

I purchased three pairs of Trinity boots yesterday, from xx02, commitmenteam and 5thlj.
Not only were the listings nearly identical, but the responses came at the same time and were identical, too. First they needed my phone number for shipping. Fair enough.
Then they offered a refund, because the item (all three of them??) are damaged and getting a replacement from the manufacturer may take a month.

Or they realized they sold them too cheap? I asked for a photo of the damage, since I may not mind, and that I would rather wait for the replacement to come in. Nice try. We'll see.

Well, apart from these being possibly (possibly!) different incarnations of the same seller, they may be "getting" the product from the same warehouse or business, and relaying the standard excuse of the month for being out of stock. Just like many of these sellers have gotten sloppy about indicating whether or not a product is actually in stock or just on pre-order (they now use the term "pre-sale," but usually only when they write to you to see if you are willing to wait a long time more than specified in the listing), they likewise make it seem like they have something in stock, when it is just a matter of having it theoretically available from somewhere else -- and when it turns out it is not actually available, the excuses follow.

[quote="Diana"]I purchased three pairs of Trinity boots yesterday, from xx02, commitmenteam and 5thlj.


Ah yes, xx02.
I ordered the Sariah throne from them on eBay early last year and without any communication, they canceled my order.
For over a year they still had it up for auction starting at my original purchase price.   
The reason they gave for the cancellation? "Buyer asked to cancel" which is BS.

(I received the refund OK, and eventually got one from MonkeyDepot for about the same price)  

So yeah, add xx02 to the list of those eBay sellers that can't be trusted.