Ebay and other online Scammers

Commitment team I also ordered many times from without problems. OK prices on single parts like coo knights after release.

I’ve pretty much ordered from all of these eBay sellers, generally without issue — but as others have mentioned: don’t PO from eBay (especially anything costly). EVER. I POd the female gloved hands with the middle finger from one of the above mentioned (a PO), last year when they first came up, but I kept on them every few weeks after the first couple months asking about the order, and they always responded. Of course, due to the Virus, everything was backlogged, so I get that there is little many of these sellers can do. Shipping containers are hard to come by, ports are backlogged, more people than ever are buying online (causing mail and other courier services to fall behind — and with a shortage of people willing to work, or able to work, we have delay after delay after delay. This hobby has always required a serious amount of patience due to long lead times on POs, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that EVERYTHING is even slower than it was before. Very few companies have a proprietary factory at their disposal, and this is something everyone needs to take into consideration— not that the initial point of this thread has anything to do with “in stock” items suddenly being told they are not available— this type of scam needs to be reported to eBay immediately. But POs are a whole other animal, and if patience is not in your behavioral repertoire... this is probably not the hobby to be in. I myself am guilty of impatience, especially when it comes to things getting released, and some folks get their items, while others are wondering where the F our stuff is — but it’s hardly fair to call every eBay seller a “scam artist” due to factory backlogs, and other worldwide issues out of everyone’s control. Every one of the mentioned sellers in this thread (regardless of how many they truly are) has provided good service, at least to me, in the past — so it’s hard to pinpoint where the troubles are actually coming from without absolute insider knowledge.

Yes, Stryker, I know what you mean. If the issue is so widespread, I would presume that there may be an *actual* logistical problem going on behind the scenes rather than some kind of ebay-wide scam.

This 'out of stock' thing hasn't happened to me yet, so I can't really contibute to that side of it, but perhaps those who encounter this message could just outright ask the seller(s) in question what is going on?

Ephiane wrote:Mhhh.... You Guys are right. It´s not like before. Had problems with nygc_61 now. Not the best behavior, never had problems before. Something changed. Maybe all that names a one company ? Can not be a chorona problem because of they made big partys as the wold best chorona politics

I'm currently having issues with sunnymayhair regarding another pre-sale item. It seems they've once again blocked me from messaging them. :S
My 180 days aren't up yet, so I'm hoping paypal will be able to resolve things.

Stryker2011 wrote:I’ve pretty much ordered from all of these eBay sellers, generally without issue — but as others have mentioned: don’t PO from eBay (especially anything costly). EVER. I POd the female gloved hands with the middle finger from one of the above mentioned (a PO), last year when they first came up, but I kept on them every few weeks after the first couple months asking about the order, and they always responded. Of course, due to the Virus, everything was backlogged, so I get that there is little many of these sellers can do. Shipping containers are hard to come by, ports are backlogged, more people than ever are buying online (causing mail and other courier services to fall behind — and with a shortage of people willing to work, or able to work, we have delay after delay after delay. This hobby has always required a serious amount of patience due to long lead times on POs, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that EVERYTHING is even slower than it was before. Very few companies have a proprietary factory at their disposal, and this is something everyone needs to take into consideration— not that the initial point of this thread has anything to do with “in stock” items suddenly being told they are not available— this type of scam needs to be reported to eBay immediately. But POs are a whole other animal, and if patience is not in your behavioral repertoire... this is probably not the hobby to be in. I myself am guilty of impatience, especially when it comes to things getting released, and some folks get their items, while others are wondering where the F our stuff is — but it’s hardly fair to call every eBay seller a “scam artist” due to factory backlogs, and other worldwide issues out of everyone’s control. Every one of the mentioned sellers in this thread (regardless of how many they truly are) has provided good service, at least to me, in the past — so it’s hard to pinpoint where the troubles are actually coming from without absolute insider knowledge.

I've pre-ordered smaller/cheaper things as well, and sure, they do show up most of the time...if you keep bugging the seller.
And while I'm not calling every seller a scammer, you do have to ask yourself whats going on here??
I'm currently counting 14 sellers that all have the same VAT numbers. And I have my doubts that its purely coincidental. lol

skywalkersaga wrote: ..but perhaps those who encounter this message could just outright ask the seller(s) in question what is going on?

The question is, how to message them if they've blocked you from messaging them?  

glitch -- I didn't realise they had all been blocking you, that is indeed very dodgy.  I guess I'm just shocked because this hasn't really happened to such an extent before. At least, not all at once? I mean people do get scammed on ebay all the time, but this seems a particularly strange situation, with ALL of these sellers having the exact same kinds of 'problems' all at the same time. I'm not disbelieving your experiences whatsoever, I just have to wonder if there is something additional going on as well. It's possible they are having supply issues *and* also trying to get out of having to refund people.

Either way, I hope you can resolve it soon....

skywalkersaga wrote:If the issue is so widespread, I would presume that there may be an *actual* logistical problem going on behind the scenes rather than some kind of ebay-wide scam.

This 'out of stock' thing hasn't happened to me yet, so I can't really contibute to that side of it, but perhaps those who encounter this message could just outright ask the seller(s) in question what is going on?

I think you're right about the logistical problem rather than a scam. I've always gotten a refund, usually within a day or two, so an unsuccessful scam at best.  

I did ask 2 sellers what was going on. One item I bought was an M4 rifle set that I actually only wanted the scope from and didn't care if the rest was "damaged". After getting the cut and pasted form email, I responded by telling him/her the item belongs to me and I wanted it shipped damaged. The response was a "buyer requested" canceled order. If they actually had the item, why not keep my money and send it to me?
Another time, I was buying a Kimi toys h/s and asked the seller to send me photos of the damage. Again, response of a "buyer requested" canceled order.
They don't seem willing to explain, at least not to me.

Annalise wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:If the issue is so widespread, I would presume that there may be an *actual* logistical problem going on behind the scenes rather than some kind of ebay-wide scam.

This 'out of stock' thing hasn't happened to me yet, so I can't really contibute to that side of it, but perhaps those who encounter this message could just outright ask the seller(s) in question what is going on?

I think you're right about the logistical problem rather than a scam. I've always gotten a refund, usually within a day or two, so an unsuccessful scam at best.  

I did ask 2 sellers what was going on. One item I bought was an M4 rifle set that I actually only wanted the scope from and didn't care if the rest was "damaged". After getting the cut and pasted form email, I responded by telling him/her the item belongs to me and I wanted it shipped damaged. The response was a "buyer requested" canceled order. If they actually had the item, why not keep my money and send it to me?
Another time, I was buying a Kimi toys h/s and asked the seller to send me photos of the damage. Again, response of a "buyer requested" canceled order.
They don't seem willing to explain, at least not to me.

Hmm, very strange situation -- thanks for attempting to find oiut more. I guess there could indeed be some kind of widespread shortage or production/distribution issue. Wondering if they are avoiding talking about it due to government controls over what they are permitted to say online.

Sorry to ask another ebay question but I won some auctions on pre-orders last May and I have not received any of the items even though they have been released for quite a while. To be honest, I got confused by the seller's ID and thought I had ordered from them, before ( a while ago) but now I am not so sure.

I am out of the time periods of Pay-Pal and ebay so I guess I have lost my money? The seller is still on ebay but has only a single telescope for sale. Any advice (apart from "don't be so stupid in future!")?

Who is the seller? Maybe someone here has had a positive experience with them?
Not everyone receives the product at the same time, so they could just be late. Though of course I don't know what "quite a while" means. ^^

Diana wrote:Who is the seller? Maybe someone here has had a positive experience with them?
Not everyone receives the product at the same time, so they could just be late. Though of course I don't know what "quite a while" means. ^^

Hi Diana, I see that Redstar2013 is already well known here! Oh well, live and learn! I got it confused with another seller who has Red in their name and was always reliable.

Have you tried sending them a PM asking them about the item with the order number? (I haven't run into that issue specifically with that seller, though my eBay purchases have slowed considerably -- but the ones I have ordered from, if I keep sending them emails they tend to respond).

Stryker2011 wrote:Have you tried sending them a PM asking them about the item with the order number? (I haven't run into that issue specifically with that seller, though my eBay purchases have slowed considerably -- but the ones I have ordered from, if I keep sending them emails they tend to respond).

Hi Stryker,

I have tried to message him. The problem is that because it was a pre-order I had to wait beyond the time limits of Pay-pal and ebay's dispute system for the items to be released. I think that this seller is craftier than the previous ones I encountered and he sells items he has in stock to keep up his reputation as a good seller but he scams people on the pre-order stuff. We have to wait months for pre-orders to be released and, because of Covid, I was expecting a further delay.

So I have learned a painful lesson and I will never pre-order on ebay again!

Oops. I posted my previous reply without seeing the previous replies. Hadn't refreshed the page it seems. ^^

lwstore2013 is one of my go-to stores. Nothing but good experiences with them. They've also been great and patient with the customer service when I had problems, which turned out to be my bad.

I've ordered in-stock items from redstar_2013 with no problems.
TOTOTOYS2015 sent me the wrong head sculpt once, and then sent me the right one for half price.

The only PO I placed was for those hands with springwindblowing. They immediately got back to me making sure I understood that this was a pre-order item, and then they sent them to me with no further nagging from me. I think I was even among the first to receive them. Maybe a week behind.

But I've never ordered anything big from Ebay, unless it was from the Giantoy store.

Onesixthkit’s eBay store is trustworthy, as well. But, yeah— large preorder items on eBay from other than those two is a MASSIVE NO-NO. Please, folks — don’t EVER PO expensive items through eBay.

I've had some luck using a Chrome browser plugin called Fakespot Guard that runs on Amazon and Ebay. Sometimes even if I see a Fakespot Guard warning on Ebay, I'll roll my dice and buy anyway.

KamenRider2049 wrote:I've had some luck using a Chrome browser plugin called Fakespot Guard that runs on Amazon and Ebay. Sometimes even if I see a Fakespot Guard warning on Ebay, I'll roll my dice and buy anyway.

Hello and welcome! : )

Curious how something like that works?

skywalkersaga wrote:Hello and welcome! : )
Curious how something like that works?

Thanks for the welcome! Been lurking a while and finally decided to actually register an account.

Here's a description from the developer:

The Fakespot Guard badge will let you know if: A seller has sold counterfeits. A seller has committed shipping fraud by not shipping items or scamming users. A seller account got hacked and is now listing fake listings. Many more detection methods that utilize our powerful Fakespot artificial intelligence analysis.

On Amazon, the Fakespot plugin tells you whether the reviews are generally reliable or unreliable through a familiar letter grade system.

That’s great info, KamenRider2049. And welcome aboard (or registering). Always glad to see folks join up.

Yes, thank you for the explanation, that could indeed be very useful.

Another non show from red_star2013 . Pre Ordered a nude figure , back in September . He has blocked me messaging him , and I can not even leave a negative feedback now either . eBay not recognising order number , so can not open dispute. Bye bye £20 notes . I would avoid this seller if I were you . Really gets me he`s got 99% feedback , what a joke . eBay need to get a grip on this . Thief seller . be warned .

I have an item pre ordered with sc_store999 . See his title above , has anyone had raw deals with them ? I really want the item , but would hate to lose more money .

Sorry this seller turned out to be so untrustworthy. Is it possible to report sellers to ebay?

I've had mixed experiences with the sc_store.... for small items, usually everything has arrived without issue. But I preordered a larger item from them several months ago and then cancelled the order after I changed my mind, and it was very difficult getting a refund, with a lot of back and forth. I did get the refund in the end, thankfully. I would avoid preordering anything worth more than $20 from them and from pretty much ANY ebay seller.

These days, I only pre-order from GianToy or other websites.

Chip wrote:Another non show from red_star2013 . Pre Ordered a nude figure , back in September . He has blocked me messaging him , and I can not even leave a negative feedback now either . eBay not recognising order number , so can not open dispute. Bye bye £20 notes . I would avoid this seller if I were you . Really gets me he`s got 99% feedback , what a joke . eBay need to get a grip on this . Thief seller . be warned .

 I have an item pre ordered with sc_store999 . See his title above , has anyone had raw deals with them ? I really want the item , but would hate to lose more money .

The only two times I didn't get an article on ebay was with red_star2013 and SC_9999

I would avoid preorder alltogether on ebay.

It`s getting to look that way with Pre orders , what a shame . My advice is to contact eBay even if your out of time for a dispute . I just have and they are still willing to investigate . Don`t just give up , at the very least let eBay know , you may save someone else down the line . I was told by an official eBay advisor that .

" Within 30 days after the estimated delivery date eBay has the authority to submit the dispute with your payment method or the institution that processed the payment " .

I feel so frustrated these sellers have such good feed back ratings , and eBay tells you this if you click on their feedback .;

eBay Top-rated seller:
One of eBay's most reputable sellers.
Consistently delivers outstanding customer service.

Makes you wonder about what they consider bad sellers don`t it ?

Well, to play “devil’s advocate” it’s not uncommon for seller’s accounts to be hacked and stolen by absolute $#@t people. I’ve bought from many of the sellers listed in the past, things slowed down of course thanks to the China Virus on my end — so it could be that many of these once reputable sellers had their accounts stolen... just a thought.

Regarding the seller's ratings -- it is also possible that something has happened to the seller(s) in the last year (as Stryker noted, the pandemic has affected things), and either they have run into financial issues, or the original seller is no longer 'manning' the shop and has been replaced by someone else.

I mention the possibility that there could be more than one person behind each 'seller', because when I was contacting the sc_store about my refund, it seemed like there were multiple people involved (well, at least two). In that case, it seemed to be a situation where the person running the ebay store was working for someone else higher up the food chain, and thus they were being pressured to make many sales and to not have too many cancellations/refunds. They insinuated that they would be 'fired' if they gave too many refunds. Now, this could have been something they made up to dissuade me from canceling the order, but I also think it sounds plausible. Given the fact that some people here have noted that many of the ebay sellers that sell 1/6 items seem to be connected, and the recent situation where suddenly many sellers were claiming items were 'out of stock' all at once, it does make me wonder....

I don`t think there is any excuse for theft , and at the end of the day , in black and white that`s what is happening . I have been blocked as has someone above by the seller , if that is not guilt and sneaky what is ? If they were honest , you would either get your money back or your item , simple as . I personally think eBay should give cover till the seller has delivered , if pre order dates are to far away to cover , then don`t let sellers sell that way .

I don't think the accounts were stolen - if so, they would get so many bad reputations in no time, because they wouldn'T be able to deliver ANY item. They just seem to do it if it is a preorder where you aren't able to get your money back or give negative fedback because it is 6 month or longer since ordering
I ordered from tototoys without problems for instock items.

I also think there are multiple people working for these stores on ebay.

Yes, I'm not 'excusing' anything whatsoever, just offering some possible explanations. In this case, I agree that the accounts are probably the same as before, but I do think they are run by multiple people. Again, it's not an excuse, I'm just saying that this might explain why similar things keep happening with supposedly 'different' ebay sellers.

Further thought regarding pre orders , it seems many manufacturers seem hidden regarding contacting them direct , it would be reassuring to know that at least the manufacturers themselves aim to make the stock available by the dates provided by sellers . I bet a lot of fake selling of items could be weeded out this way . It is the time lapse that can prevent you getting your money back through eBay , that`s what needs to be addressed by eBay , if they not willing to back up buyers over a certain time period , then don`t let sellers give dates that surpass it , or maybe prevent them taking funds till the item has shipped , seems an easy enough fix don`t it ?