Has anybody been swindled by an Ebay seller and what actions can one take after the event?

My wife uses Ebay all the time. She has a Paypal account and has had no problems with selling and collecting money.

The biggest problem with sites like Ebay, is security and trust. Many people have been swindled, just like you.

These type of sites really have no security for the seller, since transactions are handled from state to state. Prosecution is difficult, since long distances are involved and prosecuting would probably cost more than the amount of money that was mishandled. Swindlers know this theft of your money will never be prosecuted, so they go for it.

We have never had a problem with Ebay.

Until this latest episode I’ve also never had a problem, having bought loads of stuff from Ebay, the distance thing isn’t a problem in my case, both myself and the seller are in England and
probably not separated by a very great distance, I would love to be able to get his details and go and pay a little visit but of course Ebay just aren’t interested in supplying his details.

You might start at their Resolution Center. It isn’t clear whether you’ll get your money back, but at the very least you can report this seller and help others avoid this problem. Did you look at the seller’s feedback prior to the transaction?

I’ve never had an issue with it before, and I’ve probably done 50–100 transactions in the last 10 years.

You definitely should have used Paypal for starters. But ignoring what we can’t change… Check out the sellers profile, is it extensive? Has he sold/bought lots of other stuff? He likely has a credit card linked to the profile and you can complain to ebay and they may be able to do something in that manner. It could very well be a fake account set up to defraud people, in which case the linked credit card is probably also fake… and you’re out of luck.

I’ve been through the Resolution Centre thing, Ebay don’t want to know because I didn’t use PayPal. The seller has been a member since 2001 with a 100% feedback before this, now he has a 24% feedback and 12 negative results so I guess I’m not alone in having been swindled. I have his bank account details because I paid by bank transfer but I don’t know where to go with this information. The money involved is really quite significant so some expense to reclaim it would be justified, I just don’t know where to start.

If it was a large sum of money you could file a police report. It may be complex though since I’m assuming this is inter-state?

If he had a 100% rating when you paid him and it’s suddenly dropped to 24%, its not impossible to think his account may have been hacked. Does Ebay have a number you can call?

@tedd that is a great suggestion. @thetas49,. the fact that you have the seller’s banking information might be helpful to police in tracking him down.

Its not interstate, we’re both in England.

@thetas49 I have zero familiarity with the laws in the UK, but I imagine you could still file a police report of some kind. The complexity might vary pending the province (you guys use provinces right?) if you live in different ones.

Yes, I purchased one of those two story bed units with a study desk underneath from an ebay seller. Never received the unit nor heard another word from the seller. I filed a dispute with Pay Pal and found that that was pretty much like spitting in the wind because about the only way they can collect money is by taking it from the sellers account, and if the seller has folded up and disappeared without leaving any funds in the account you are pretty much screwed.

That being said, I have purchased many hard to find hobby items from ebay sellers and for the most part have had no problem.

The seller has been a member since 2001 with a 100% feedback before this, now he has a 24% feedback and 12 negative results

That is probably a case of eBay identity theft. People get the password of a reliable account and use it to steal whatever they can and move on.

As people mentioned above, I guess you have to ask eBay, the police and your bank what your options may be.

In over a decade, I’ve not had any problems with buying through ebay but I specifically search only for items selling through paypal. The very few times an item I wanted wasn’t offered through paypal, I contacted the seller and asked if they would and the answer was always, yes. Contact the seller again via email and say you would like to leave only positive feedback and see if they respond.

For any ebay purchase in which amount of purchase is greater than the amount you are willing to lose—-> NEVER use any payment method other than paypal. You are SOL with this purchase. The only thing that you can do now is learn a lesson from this mistake. Write your negative feedback if you please—->BUT also be prepared to get retaliatory negative feedback from the seller.

I have been caught in this trap too.. a seller in France who did not accept paypal and requested a bankers draft. In return he sent me an empty box and I am so annoyed that Ebay keep saying I should have used Paypal when I have explained the seller would not accept it… why do they not understand??. They are happy to take their commission though! I have gathered all correspondence and will be lodging a complaint with the Police and Fraud investigation unit.. In the mean time, Ebays customer service is as useful as a kick in the groin!!