Are fruitcakes running rampant on eBay lately? Selling, buying, listing, feedback, etc...

[fuzzy_bricks]

1 hour ago, bigfanofnu said:

You can intercept delivery through USPS, but it costs $. Not sure if eBay will reimburse or not. I have a case pending where eBay cancelled transaction because of possible fraudulent funding and suggested I intercept the package because I had already shipped it, I intercepted it, then the Scammer buyer filed a claim because he did not receive the item.  Now his (0) feedback account does not exist. Not sure where this will end up, but I did receive item back through USPS.

So I should have searched before asking, but here is some info for anyone else.  https://www.usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm

Looks like it will be $17 plus some postage back.  Considering the cost of the item $55, I've having a hard time justifying spending my own money to try and get this back, when eBay should cover this.  I know that's a crappy way to look at it, but I need to see some of the benefit of the fees paid over these years.

Edited August 29, 2023 by fuzzy_bricks

[Keyser Soze]

5 hours ago, brickvoyeur said:

Yea, I'd say more than half of them at this point come in with this email. The other's ask for proof, which in all but one case the tracking was enough. That last case from my last message took a call.  

But no matter what, the rates have went up considerably. Expect eBay to make it right by raising fees to compensate. 

I've had three of these recently. For the first two, the set had already been delivered when I received the email. I've wondered about waiting a couple of days to ship, risking negatives for being slow.

I thought about messaging the buyer's account before shipping, but I guess in these cases it is the account that's being hacked, so the message would just go to the scammer, right?

Edited August 30, 2023 by Keyser Soze

[brickvoyeur]

16 hours ago, fuzzy_bricks said:

So I should have searched before asking, but here is some info for anyone else.  https://www.usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm

Looks like it will be $17 plus some postage back.  Considering the cost of the item $55, I've having a hard time justifying spending my own money to try and get this back, when eBay should cover this.  I know that's a crappy way to look at it, but I need to see some of the benefit of the fees paid over these years.

I only intercept on high dollar items, or items that I believe still could make significant growth that would more than cover the lost postage and intercept fees. 

 

10 hours ago, Keyser Soze said:

I thought about messaging the buyer's account before shipping, but I guess in these cases it is the account that's being hacked, so the message would just go to the scammer, right?

They won't message back at all, as I doubt they are re-logging into an account. You're still on the hook to ship it within your handling window. At that point they're just hoping the seller sends the item before the account holder notices the purchase email or bank transaction. 

[Bricklectic]

Sold my first 1k+ set on ebay, this threads got me worried. Whats best shipper / shipping insurance to use for seller protection?

[scratchdesk]

9 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Sold my first 1k+ set on ebay, this threads got me worried. Whats best shipper / shipping insurance to use for seller protection?

I don't "waste" money on insurance.  If I am worried about it I send it expedited.  Otherwise just pack the heck out of it and cross your fingers.

If you read all the packaging guidelines you must follow you will see it's tough to follow.  They can ding you on many different requirements.  I've not had a domestic package lost in decades using eBay USPS/ UPS.

[Bricklectic]

17 minutes ago, scratchdesk said:

I don't "waste" money on insurance.  If I am worried about it I send it expedited.  Otherwise just pack the heck out of it and cross your fingers.

If you read all the packaging guidelines you must follow you will see it's tough to follow.  They can ding you on many different requirements.  I've not had a domestic package lost in decades using eBay USPS/ UPS.

Thanks, Im not concerned about the delivery per se but the creative claims the buyer may hallucinate. Perhaps there are more effective defenses when certain guidelines are followed. for example on amazon, if u purchase shipping through them you are protected against non delivery claims

[fuzzy_bricks]

19 hours ago, Bricklectic said:

Thanks, Im not concerned about the delivery per se but the creative claims the buyer may hallucinate. Perhaps there are more effective defenses when certain guidelines are followed. for example on amazon, if u purchase shipping through them you are protected against non delivery claims

Not much you can do about that.  You are supposed to purchase signature delivery for orders over $750, which can be a pain for buyers so you may want to give them a heads up.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behavior-policies/signature-confirmation-policy?id=5154

[scatmanjack]

Sold a $500+ item...

 

Really hate having to wait 30 days to be clear of some sort of claim by the buyer and eBay siding with them...

 

[jaybinx73]

Sold Cole's Tread Assault, listed as not complete/missing pieces.  I took off the wheels for shipping, but otherwise shipped assembled like the first picture.  Buyer initiated a return due to missing pieces/unable to put back together.  I guess some pieces fell off during shipping as he sent the second picture as "proof" in the claim.  He was either too stupid or too lazy to figure out how to put the wheels back on and the other pieces?  Or, didn't read the description about being not complete and had buyer's remorse.  I chatted with a very friendly ebay agent who just closed the case with ebay refunding buyer and me keeping my money.  Very annoying, but glad Ebay took the hit and closed the case for me so fast.

Edited September 27, 2023 by jaybinx73

[oneknightr]

1 hour ago, jaybinx73 said:

Sold Cole's Tread Assault, listed as not complete/missing pieces.  I took off the wheels for shipping, but otherwise shipped assembled like the first picture.  Buyer initiated a return due to missing pieces/unable to put back together.  I guess some pieces fell off during shipping as he sent the second picture as "proof" in the claim.  He was either too stupid or too lazy to figure out how to put the wheels back on and the other pieces?  Or, didn't read the description about being not complete and had buyer's remorse.  I chatted with a very friendly ebay agent who just closed the case with ebay refunding buyer and me keeping my money.  Very annoying, but glad Ebay took the hit and closed the case for me so fast.

Glad you didn't have to take a hit but it's annoying nonetheless. 

I protect myself when I sell used Lego sets by adding the following in my description: "For ease of shipping, the set will be shipped mostly disassembled. If you want to receive a built AT-ST, do not purchase my item."

[fuzzy_bricks]

I've never tried to sell an assembled or partially assembled set.  I did have a guy ask me if I would build it for him and ship it to him.  No dude...I just took it apart to ship it, I'm not putting it back together so shipping will be higher.

[jaybinx73]

Most of the bulk lots I buy are always missing a few random pieces and fairly cheap.  So I build them and substitute pieces from my collection - usually the same piece but in a different color or a piece that's similar and "works".  Most of the time it doesn't affect the build too much.  There are times when the set is just missing some pieces and I'll take pictures and call it out.  Lots of work sometimes but I enjoy building and its basically a free way to build and make some money on the side.  I'll keep the ones I like as well - which my wife hates since space is running tight

[Pseudoty]

On 8/29/2023 at 11:48 AM, brickvoyeur said:

Buyer went "I don't recognize this transaction" route

Got 3 more of these in the past 2 days on the same set all for under $50. eBay covered me but not sure what the end game will be on this. 

[BillyBricks]

1 hour ago, Pseudoty said:

Got 3 more of these in the past 2 days on the same set all for under $50. eBay covered me but not sure what the end game will be on this. 

I've gotten 3 of these in the past week on sets after having gone well over a year since my last one. 

[LegoPup]

Got a bunch of buyer doesn't recognize transactions this month.  eBay doesn't make them send the item back - I think that just encourages people to do it.  Why not get a free set? 😠

[BillyBricks]

On 9/30/2023 at 8:08 PM, BillyBricks said:

I've gotten 3 of these in the past week on sets after having gone well over a year since my last one. 

I've now gotten 4 more of these since this post. Normally, I wouldn't care due to the seller protection, but for my last two, I have been required to respond while my funds are on hold. I am super small time, so I can only imagine how many of these disputes bigger sellers are getting. Is ebay hoping I don't respond in time (I've been given 5 days each time) so they don't have to pay out of their pocket anymore?

[ravenb99]

1 hour ago, BillyBricks said:

I've now gotten 4 more of these since this post. Normally, I wouldn't care due to the seller protection, but for my last two, I have been required to respond while my funds are on hold. I am super small time, so I can only imagine how many of these disputes bigger sellers are getting. Is ebay hoping I don't respond in time (I've been given 5 days each time) so they don't have to pay out of their pocket anymore?

the only ones you have to respond on are the ones still in transit or that haven't shipped.  If they are in transit just put the tracking in the response and say shipped to confirmed ebay address,  once it is delivered it changes over to the you are protected and you get the message.

I started doing that on the ones that hadn't shipped as well because if you don't it messes up your shipping metrics as they have a glitch and you can't cancel it because of the open chargeback.  So just ship it and then when it gets delivered you will get the seller protection notice again.  If you don't want to ship the item you could just ship the invoice and state item chargebacked and it will still work as the tracking is in there.  Not like its going to the registered account holder anyways.   I personally just ship it and let them cover the chargeback until they get a fix that lets you cancel it.   No reason a payment that comes overnight and gets a chargeback by morning can't have an easier fix.

Seeing they can't figure out a way to fix the glitch on the unshipped ones I don't have any sympathy anymore and they can cover them.  That's what the fees are for and they are the sole payment provider these days so there system should be better at catching these.  Pretty easy as the name is usually different than the registered ebay account and they all have the 0 feedback last 6 months.

Typically they are cheaper items too so that seems to be the trend as most are $50 and under that I see come over.   Getting a few daily lately.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by ravenb99

[BillyBricks]

2 hours ago, ravenb99 said:

the only ones you have to respond on are the ones still in transit or that haven't shipped.  If they are in transit just put the tracking in the response and say shipped to confirmed ebay address,  once it is delivered it changes over to the you are protected and you get the message.

I started doing that on the ones that hadn't shipped as well because if you don't it messes up your shipping metrics as they have a glitch and you can't cancel it because of the open chargeback.  So just ship it and then when it gets delivered you will get the seller protection notice again.  If you don't want to ship the item you could just ship the invoice and state item chargebacked and it will still work as the tracking is in there.  Not like its going to the registered account holder anyways.   I personally just ship it and let them cover the chargeback until they get a fix that lets you cancel it.   No reason a payment that comes overnight and gets a chargeback by morning can't have an easier fix.

Seeing they can't figure out a way to fix the glitch on the unshipped ones I don't have any sympathy anymore and they can cover them.  That's what the fees are for and they are the sole payment provider these days so there system should be better at catching these.  Pretty easy as the name is usually different than the registered ebay account and they all have the 0 feedback last 6 months.

Typically they are cheaper items too so that seems to be the trend as most are $50 and under that I see come over.   Getting a few daily lately.

 

 

Thanks for the thorough response. I actually got a message about 1 tonight that I'm protected on after I sent the confirmation that the package had already been delivered.

I like the messages that say, if I can, I should contact the postal service to intercept the package. Okay...because I'm going to pay a fee for something I did nothing wrong on. No thanks.  

[Pseudoty]

10 hours ago, ravenb99 said:

Typically they are cheaper items too so that seems to be the trend as most are $50 and under that I see come over.   Getting a few daily lately.

I have gotten them up to $59 not including sales tax and the prevalence has really increased in the last 2 weeks. Like you said mostly dormant accounts with some positive feedback and it looks like these accounts are being used for multiple purchases from various sellers. 

Interesting thing is I have multi-buy discount setup and the buyer will make multiple single purchases shipped to the same address and forgo the discount to run their fraud. I just ship them as singles instead of combining them. The item i am getting hit the most on is $15 above the going price but $1 below the amazon no BB listing so not sure if there is some kind of amazon drop shipping going on as well. 

Also of interest is how many do not get reported to ebay so the real account holder never looks at their charges or recognizes them as unfamiliar. All of these chargebacks have been won by the banks. 

[Darth_Raichu]

I foresee increase in fees in 2024 by the way eBay is covering for these unrecognized charges.

[HollyS]

1 hour ago, Darth_Raichu said:

I foresee increase in fees in 2024 by the way eBay is covering for these unrecognized charges.

I wonder if the credit card shares the fees is this a possibility?

[weemsc54]

Seller Protections are holding, but It's a mess lately. Lot of free sets to be had and petty sums to be eaten.

Several recent users have been banned before I could ship, and eBay advised to ship regardless to preserve my metrics. Doesn't seem sustainable. 

[brickvoyeur]

So eBay is giving out money, great. If we are being told to ship anyways even after a chargeback has initiated... why give a thief a free item versus sending them an empty package. Infinite money glitch. 

If you want to clear your conscience of the ethical issue, donate the set you sold to charity. Rumor is the economy is bad, so a lot of children might be happy with the holidays coming up. Actually, this is a good idea. It's not like anyone can challenge it at that point. I get paid, a child in trouble gets something decent, a thief gets nothing (perhaps a crudely hand drawn picture), and eBay gets boned still. Everyone wins.

Edited October 27, 2023 by brickvoyeur

[ravenb99]

1 hour ago, HollyS said:

I wonder if the credit card shares the fees is this a possibility?

depends on the contract with Ayden which very well could offer them some protections as they are supposed to be vetting the transaction, although with a think like ebay and being able to ship as gifts and to other people having multiple shipping addresses other than the account holder name it makes it a bit harder to be right every time.

 

52 minutes ago, brickvoyeur said:

So eBay is giving out money, great. If we are being told to ship anyways even after a chargeback has initiated... why give a thief a free item versus sending them an empty package. Infinite money glitch. 

If you want to clear your conscience of the ethical issue, donate the set you sold to charity. Rumor is the economy is bad, so a lot of children might be happy with the holidays coming up. Actually, this is a good idea. It's not like anyone can challenge it at that point. I get paid, a child in trouble gets something decent, a thief gets nothing (perhaps a crudely hand drawn picture), and eBay gets boned still. Everyone wins.

problem with that is they aren't all a scam.  There are legitimate item not recognized ones where the customer just doesn't realize the charge the way it comes over and those still get sided in your favor and the customers bank sides with  you.

I called a few times about it them early on when you could see it was clearly switched names and they stated you can't judge that though.  Which is true you can't.  It could be a gift , drop ship many other reasons and its not your job to decide.  You are getting paid for the item you sold and as long as you are covered you should ship the item.  They are the facilitator of the transaction and Ayden who they hired to handle their in house payments is the processor so really no reason not to complete the transaction especially when if you were to call they would tell you to complete the transaction as everything looks fine on their end.

Most of these the item has shipped and been delivered,  then the next higest percentage they are in transit,  very few get caught from time of payment to shipping and they aren't telling you to ship it per se , I was jsut stating that if you don't it leaves the transaction in limbo which does hurt your metrics as you can't cancel it with a chargeback open and I damn sure am not taking a hit on metrics for no reason.  

It does make you wonder how many thousands are not getting caught by people that never check their statements.

 

[Pseudoty]

Got 2 more today:

9AM Dispute ID: 500556378X

2PM Dispute ID: 500556753X

That is 750 disputes per hour not sure if they get more on a Monday but still they all have been won by the bank. 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Pseudoty