Topic: Scammed on Ebay (Read 25717 times)

petermarrek · « **Reply #40 on:** May 15, 2009, 11:01:48 am »

Got scammed for $3000 last year, seller had good feedback, never sent the item. Paypal sent $200. Fortunately my credit card co. re-imbursed me for the full amount.

haefnerphoto · « **Reply #41 on:** May 17, 2009, 02:25:47 pm »

Peter, Which credit card was it? Discover tells me they have no responsibility in the matter. Jim

Shutterbug2006 · « **Reply #42 on:** May 22, 2009, 02:16:46 am »

I live in Canada, and the only real positive experiences I've had with eBay was when I purchased DSLR's from Canadian companies (Henry's and Robinson's Cameras) that maintain brick & mortar offices. I bought a open box Canon EOS 5D and a new Canon EOS 40D in the past.

Tonight, I bought an open box Canon EOS 5D Mark II from Henry's

I've never had any problems with either of those companies, but I've had bad experiences with other sellers, mostly to do with little white lies about the condition of the equipment they were selling, in the case of a couple of notebook computers, some scammers tried to make off with my money. Weeks of fighting with Paypal got all but 15% of my money back. I refuse to use paypal now as a result. Henry's lets you pay them directly by credit card, and there are no conversion fees.

I want to sell my 40D now, and a few lenses I won't have any use for now, like an EF 28-135mm IS and an EF 20-35mm. But I am very leery about selling them via eBay. I think I will post the sales locally and forget all about the eBay experience altogether.

haefnerphoto · « **Reply #43 on:** June 17, 2009, 10:28:07 pm »

I thought I'd report a happy ending to my fraud situation. Last Friday I found that Paypal had refunded 7400.00 to Discover who credited my account. It was like Christmas around the studio!! I did find out that the detective working on the case (for our local police) had identified the person and got some background on him. He hasn't been apprehended and there's always the possibility that someone else was using his laptop but here's what we know about Brian Olsen. This info came from an interview the detective had with his mother and the story is that he abruptly left his home, business and dog and disappeared. She thought he was living in a motel in Florida and that's what the detective was able to corraborate somehow. He actually had a 100% positive feedback with Ebay before this but apparently has decided to try to live dishonestly now. Paypal isn't giving me much info since they've refunded my money but it's my understanding that they paid out around 10,000.00 to the guy before he closed his account and disappeared again. The detective informed me that around 5 different people were victims of his scam (through subpoenaed Paypal documents). Anyways, it looks as though Paypal does stand behind their system! We feel very fortunate. Jim

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #44 on:** June 18, 2009, 12:10:33 am »

Jim,

That's great news! I'm so glad you finally got some satisfaction.

RobertJ · « **Reply #45 on:** June 20, 2009, 09:51:22 pm »

I sell camera gear to KEH.com, not eBay, or anywhere else.

Of course, they're also one of the best places in the world to BUY used camera gear, and they're very conservative with the condition ratings. A "mint" or "Like New" lens to the average person on eBay would probably be rated as "EX+" or "EX" at KEH, which are 3 and 4 levels down from their Like New rating.

bill t. · « **Reply #46 on:** June 21, 2009, 12:47:47 am »

Those feedbacks bear examination.

I was looking at an old 300mm Symmar lens on ebay. Was stated to be "mint" and in "perfect working condition!"

I went down the guy's sterling 100% feedback list and looked at the items...a couple dozen $0.50 postcards bought over just a few days and then...a 300mm Symmar described as "poor condition, hazy optics, sleeks on front element, shutter sticks at low speeds." Bargain basement price. The picture was exactly the same picture in the current ad I was looking at, but of course the additional closeup pictures in the original ad showing the hazing and sleeks were left out. The markup for this "flip sale" was several hundred percent.

schrodingerscat · « **Reply #47 on:** June 21, 2009, 02:27:01 pm »

Quote from: bill t.

Those feedbacks bear examination.

I was looking at an old 300mm Symmar lens on ebay. Was stated to be "mint" and in "perfect working condition!"

I went down the guy's sterling 100% feedback list and looked at the items...a couple dozen $0.50 postcards bought over just a few days and then...a 300mm Symmar described as "poor condition, hazy optics, sleeks on front element, shutter sticks at low speeds." Bargain basement price. The picture was exactly the same picture in the current ad I was looking at, but of course the additional closeup pictures in the original ad showing the hazing and sleeks were left out. The markup for this "flip sale" was several hundred percent.

That's the deal with ebait, got to do your homework. I've been buying and selling for close to ten years now with mostly good results. Heck, even bought a lens from a guy who linked to his auction here. Ebay's no worse than most things in society, and unfortunately there has always been an attraction to The Lazy Man's Way To Riches(remember Joe Carbo?). Their constantly changing policies can be aggravating, and they have also been skewing things towards the mass marketers to the detriment of the casual seller.

When asked by the FBI why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton supposedly replied, "That's where the money is".

Ken R · « **Reply #48 on:** July 23, 2009, 02:32:08 am »

I try to avoid EBAY altogether. I recently sold a few lenses through the buy and sell on the fred miranda forums. It was quite an easy and positive experience. Buyers paid using paypal and everything was fine.

Yes, I bet some scammers lurk on forums like those BUT they are usually spotted, people there are quite vigilant. (same in a forum like this one

michaelnotar · « **Reply #49 on:** July 27, 2009, 04:01:49 am »

i recently sold a $900 lens through CL and used paypal. didnt insure it, the one time in 5+ years of selling USPS didnt come through shipping it. refunded the guy the money after having spending it on a new lens. i called paypal, they only care if the buyer received the package or not. thats what they use to decide to refund the buyers money. if it has shipped and is being delayed beyond my control, they still refund, only accepting signature proof that the buyer received it. sucks to be me, i accept the responsibility. but dont like that policy. they say the find the buyers will usually resent payment if the item finally arrives or ship it back and i honestly believed PP, but its alot of faith.

i also sold a camera to a guy in west europe/russia who didnt have PP in his country, provided a CC through email, which i processed at the studio and it went fine. CC company ALMOST didnt pay me because they thought it was too risky, but came through.

plugsnpixels · « **Reply #50 on:** July 28, 2009, 03:06:03 am »

The OP said something about "Indonesia" which should have been warning enough...!

My wife and I had sold stuff on ebay for several years (not so much lately; turns out our return on items such as kids books wasn't worth the effort, though other odd items were profitable) without any fraud problems. Maybe had a non-paying bidder a few times, but again, no large ticket items. And the few times we actually bought something (games for the kid, etc.) all went well.

Now here is a funny story from a few years back that incorporates both CL and ebay:

We occasionally checked Craigslist for local garage sales so we could buy items to resell on ebay. One guy here in SoCal who was holding a garage sale listed (among other things) a vintage view camera. So since he had books and a camera, both of us were interested.

So we go to the sale, got some giveaway books and old newspapers (which was nice) and maybe my wife bought some books. I asked about the camera since I didn't see it. The guy went into the house and got it. Said he had sold it on ebay but the buyer never paid.

I forget the name of it but it was about 100 years old, in decent shape (a folding wooden view camera and large brass lens). I think I paid the guy $35 for it.

So I list it on ebay, and began getting bids. Suddenly, I get this angry, irate email from a guy in Canada who says, "Yeah, that sure was a rare find, but it's MY camera!" He sent along a copy of an older ebay auction proving he had purchased it from the garage sale guy, and never received it. The auction photos and details did indeed match up (!).

Obviously I was in a bit of a bind. I bought the thing in good faith. But now I see someone else had also paid for it. I did have the option of saying "Too bad", but felt this would cause trouble with my own auction since the original buyer would probably step in and contact my bidders. Not to mention the bad vibes.

I decided to reimburse the guy in Canada what he paid for the camera, $42 IIRC (turns out he actually made a bit on the deal since he already got some reimbursement from whatever payment method he had used, but I missed that detail at the time). I went on to sell the camera for over $100 (for a decent profit, all told).

Crazy story, but it ended well.

Oh, from checking out other ebay auctions posted by the garage sale guy I determined he had stiffed some other folks on ebay too – I remember seeing their paid-for-and-not-shipped items at the garage sale too. So I contacted them and referred them to the guy. I think he disappeared after that; I haven't looked for him lately. He was also selling property on Craigslist...

So yeah, I think I would avoid ebay purchases except for small items and use reputable dealers such as those mentioned earlier or local folks. And you do know they own Paypal? That explains their preference for it. (We never had any problems with PP on ebay, and still use it for other transactions, but tend to keep a low amount of cash on the card just in case something weird happens.)

Author Topic: Scammed on Ebay (Read 25717 times)