Sometimes this is a rotten hobby.

[Ryanfromindiana]

Why, oh why does this hobby seem to attract such an amazingly horrible amount of shady, scamming, ****tards. There are many reliable, and honorable people that I have dealt with in my collecting, but the number of scammers and horrible individuals I've come across are amazing. Most of the time you can sort them out, but occasionaly you are just bound to get burned. I've been burned here, I have now been burned 3 times on eBay and it is really frustrating. I am confident I will get my money back this time, but still I'm really kind of fed up with this crap. This is a hobby where you are pretty much forced to deal with individuals on occassion and such was the case here. I am a powerseller on eBay, and have been there since 1999, I have been around the block. The latest fiasco involved a rare piece and was expensive. I talked to the individual on the phone. I was sent pictures of the actual item. It was listed on eBay and paid through paypal, for both of our safety as he put it(he had a confirmed address). He printed a label through paypal and gave me the tracking number the night I bought it. The number didn't update for a couple of days, so I emailed him and he said he dropped it off the day after I bought it. He said he would check on it and email me back the next day after work. The next day he emailed me and said they lost his package and issued me a refund through paypal.That was the last time I heard from him. The refund failed of course. His email address is now gone(bounces) as is his phone number. I reverse looked up the confirmed address given and called the phone number there....an older gentleman answered and had no idea who or what I was talking about, though he did have the same last name as the "seller". He is most likely a victim too. I can't even say I am angry as much as just disappointed. I am truly sick of the crappy breed of person we are forced to deal with in this hobby. It is supposed to be fun right? Sorry for the rambling post, but please be careful all. :emperor

 

[Mesa]

How is your paypal setup? Because of advice from others, I use my credit card now to make paypal purchases.

I was sent something broke once, and paypal tried to get me a refund, but could only get 80% because that's all the guy had in his PP account.

What was the item? How was the seller's feedback? Your story sound interesting enough, update with outcome.


Edit: As a seller myself, those USPS online tracking things never get updated in real time. They aren't accurate for the duration of the trip. You can depend on them to know when item has been scanned for departure, and when it arrives at final location. Nothing in-between. It's not like the UPS or Fed Ex tracking system.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

I use a cc for this reason. I'll get the money back. His feedback was 100% and he had sold several statues without incident. I don't want to talk about the piece.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

The label was UPS not USPS. It should have updated when he dropped it off.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

Oh by the way...I do not enjoy having a chunk of cash tied up for months with nothing to show for it when it is all over. Sorry I just got a paypal update email and it got me annoyed again.

 

[nash]

sorry to hear that dude. but anytime you deal with strangers you risk this kind of stuff happening. no one is really safe, but most people get "lucky" in dealing with the right people.

 

[KitFisto]

Yeah. It blows for sure. I like think MOST people are stand up and don't intend to scam you. There are some real douche bags out there though. When I sell something I am always straight forward and if something goes wrong i always try to work it out properly.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

sorry to hear that dude. but anytime you deal with strangers you risk this kind of stuff happening. no one is really safe, but most people get "lucky" in dealing with the right people.

I completely agree, but i really feel like the sharks are circling the water on this kind of stuff. I had problems with music equipment occasionally but not even in the same ballpark as the scammers I've seen with collectibles. We musicians are notorious dirtbags too!

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

I'm sorry for you Ryanfromindian, that is heavy ++++. How can someone have a confirmed PayPal address, a telephone number, and even provide you with tracking info... and then just disapear? I don't understand. Is there no way to trace that person? Police?

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

I don't get it either.....I am not even sure what state I would go to to contact the police. Like I said I called the confirmed address and they had no clue what I was talking about. I'm pretty sure paypal will cover part of it and my CC company the other part, so maybe one of them can find him.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

For anyone interested, this is still being investigated by paypal. Ugggg.

 

[Mesa]

I have a similar situation under investigation. Bought a Frazetta Egyptian queen statue for ~$250, preorder. Confirmed seller with lots of positive feedback. Then, just by chance I check on "won" items, and see that seller is no longer registered, the item description is gone, and unable to make contact with him. The sale may still be valid, but with a pre-order, and now no longer any sort of tracking history, I became skeptical. Filed a claim back on 3/23, still waiting to hear back from paypal. The longer paypal waits, the further I think this guy is running.

I would think Ebay would have sent me a heads up that a pending sale had the buyer become an unregistered user.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

Uggg...good luck. My guy is definately gone. He did buy a bunch of electric stuff before he disappeared too, so feedback shows up, but electronic delivery gives no address. GRRRRR

I have a similar situation under investigation. Bought a Frazetta Egyptian queen statue for ~$250, preorder. Confirmed seller with lots of positive feedback. Then, just by chance I check on "won" items, and see that seller is no longer registered, the item description is gone, and unable to make contact with him. The sale may still be valid, but with a pre-order, and now no longer any sort of tracking history, I became skeptical. Filed a claim back on 3/23, still waiting to hear back from paypal. The longer paypal waits, the further I think this guy is running.

I would think Ebay would have sent me a heads up that a pending sale had the buyer become an unregistered user.

 

[Ryanfromindiana]

From Paypal,
After careful review, this claim has been decided in your favor and $200.00
USD has been credited to your account.

This is the maximum amount covered by PayPal. If your claim was for more
than the amount recovered, the outstanding balance is due from the seller
and we will make our best effort to recover it for you.


Well, that is what I expected...not even close to the total. On the plus side that 200$ came from paypal not the seller, and when paypal pays they seem to be pretty relentless in trying to get their money back. I hope they crush this guy. Now on to my cc company and filing the fraud claims.