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Let's get proactive about LEGO scams on eBay.


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Guest TabbyBoy

I emailed lego about counterfeit figures and this is the response:

"Thanks for getting in touch with us.

 

The LEGO Group has become aware that many LEGO

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  • 3 months later...

It's just a freight forwarding company and/or relative who is forwarding their packages. Provided eBay and PayPal show you the "okay to ship" information to the address they give you, and provided you follow the shipping rules for seller protection (tracking number, signature confirmation over $250), you'll be fine like with all other domestic shipments.

 

I am noticing that some sellers on Amazon started to put "WE DO NOT SHIP TO FREIGHT FORWARDING ADDRESSES", beside the usual "No shipping to PO/FPO/APO"(which I do understand, especially in case of heavier items) . Are there some known common scams related to freight forwarding?

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I am noticing that some sellers on Amazon started to put "WE DO NOT SHIP TO FREIGHT FORWARDING ADDRESSES", beside the usual "No shipping to PO/FPO/APO"(which I do understand, especially in case of heavier items) . Are there some known common scams related to freight forwarding?

I am thinking this is because of either the added cost or reduced tracking guarantees with protection from A-to-Z claims with shipping to those addresses. If you read through Amazon's terms and conditions, anything that an Amazon seller ships themselves essentially needs signature confirmation (even for low value items, delivery confirmation is not enough) in order to be covered by Amazon's seller protections against an A-to-Z claim.

 

This is another reason why if you are selling on Amazon, FBA is probably the way to go because Amazon will handle all these issues and ship to PO/FPO/APO/freight addresses for you.

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We Canadians use these addresses all the time. Many ebay auctions have free US shipping, which combined with your already low prices and not having to pay customs duties, makes it much cheaper to buy than to have it mailed here. I would not see this as having any undue risk at all.

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We Canadians use these addresses all the time. Many ebay auctions have free US shipping, which combined with your already low prices and not having to pay customs duties, makes it much cheaper to buy than to have it mailed here. I would not see this as having any undue risk at all.

I was not even sure how can one reliably decide if particular address is a freight forwarding company... there are certainly tells, but it is certainly not as clear cut as PO/FPO/APO

 

BTW, anyone familiar if shipping restrictions mentioned in the listing on Amazon have any bearing on possible conflict resolution? I.e. if someone states that no shipping to PO, but customer does places order shipping to PO, seller does not ship citing the restriction, but who is going to cancel the order? cancelling from seller sounds like a hit on rating, right?

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So, it looks like I may have hit another scammer. I purchased a SC from them about two weeks ago. When I finally received the item, after about 10 days, it had been shipped directly from Amazon, 2 day shipping, as a gift... from me. The paper in the box literally said that I was receiving a gift from myself. Obviously this all looked very suspicious. I hadn't noticed before, but there is one negative feedback, out of 1740 that claimed they had been drop shipped something.

 

I contacted Amazon to see if I could figure out more, but it was a waste of time. Since it was a gift, they couldn't tell me anything. The only thing I could force out was that the item's purchase price was regular retail (I had paid $86). They said I could return it if I wanted to and the $99.95 would be credited to my account.. *sigh*.

 

Not sure what to do now. There is no way to prove anything. I know if I talk to ebay, that will probably be fruitless as well.

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

This is the seller, btw: http://www.ebay.com/usr/thinktank80

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Did you tell Amazon you believed the order might have been paid for with a stolen credit card?

 

When you find a "too good" deal on eBay, pay special attention to the feedback. The one in there that the item was dropped shipped to the customer with a stolen credit card and the police had come and taken back the item was a bit of a giveaway.

 

Plus, the seller's based in Australia - did the shipping cost on the item you bought indicate to you it was being shipped internationally?

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I told Amazon exactly that: that I feared that the item was purchased with a stolen credit card. It didn't seem to make any difference to them. I even started using more dumbed-down terms "I think this might be a bad guy and I don't want anyone else to be hurt by this bad guy", thinking that, perhaps, it would sink in. Didn't matter....

 

I noticed the dropship negative feedback after the fact. I naively thought that with so much positive feedback it was on the up-and-up. The listing itself said the item was located in the U.S. and shipped from the U.S. It isn't until you look at the seller's profile that it says they are in Australia.

 

I suppose there is a chance that it is legit, but it sure doesn't seem like it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, his terrible photos next to his ugly couch are all consistent, so I sincerely believe he had at least one of all those sets in stock at some point. Where he's getting stacks of them to sell at MSRP without taking a bath on fees and shipping, I have no idea.

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Not a scam.  There are ways of getting the exclusive at a discount (e.***., LEGOLAND 10% off for annual pass holders).

 

Of course, they're not making any money on it after tax and shipping.  So they might have a slightly better discount on them (employee discount?)

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Lol just because you received your product doesn't mean it's not a scam.

Fair enough, what I mean is I paid him and received a non-drop shipped product that wasn't filled with books and megabloks, so for me that is enough to consider it legitimate and have no qualms over the seller

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Not a scam.  There are ways of getting the exclusive at a discount (e.***., LEGOLAND 10% off for annual pass holders).

 

Of course, they're not making any money on it after tax and shipping.  So they might have a slightly better discount on them (employee discount?)

or as we call it five finger discount

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