eBay scam or not?

[jnde_5381]

Hello.

I made a purchase today that was payed for at the time. I have received an email confirming my purchase from eBay.

I also received an email from what appeared to be the seller, with a slight deviation in name saying that shipping is expenses and can I please pay $12.99 for freight/shipping. 

The email on first glance looked like a legit eBay email, but didn't have a reply function and the eBay logo was slightly off. 

Has anyone had this happen to them? Do I have to pay extra for Freight after the sale has gone through?

Should I report this to eBay? If yes how?

Thank you for reading. 

[jellybirddesigns]

Was the message also in your Ebay inbox, or just sent to your regular email? Red flags are up for me.

Do not pay anything extra. Not your fault they haven't calculated postage correctly. However, this sounds more like they're just trying to get extra money off-site as they quickly contacted you after the sale with the request. If you agreed to this, they would probably want to send a Paypal invoice for this additional "postage", as there is no way to get more money from the buyer once the transaction is made. 

Can you provide the item number so we can take a look at the seller?

You do not need to report, but you can message the seller that you're not paying more than what is asked and they either need to send the item or cancel and refund.

[jnde_5381]

Hello 

Thank you for your reply.

The message is only visible on my email address not eBay.

Which had flags up for me too. 

The item number is 194367640691

The item is a portable rotary car polisher buffer Sandee polishing machine. 

Thank you so much for you help. 

[jellybirddesigns]

I can see several issues with the seller.

1) They have a neutral for asking for more freight from another buyer, so the seller definitely knows what they are doing - it's not a one off error.

2) If you look down the feedback list, they actually did create a specific listing so that someone COULD pay the extra freight cost of about US$26! If you click on that listing, it shows as "freight" in the description.

My feeling is that these are not genuine feedbacks, other than the neutral. Maybe from friends and family because nobody is going to give a positive for having to dish out extra for postage.

I would simply get them to cancel the item by saying you do not agree to the extra cost, and then leave a big fat negative. Keep it short and sweet and don't put anything in there that would get it removed.

[jnde_5381]

Oh wow. I didn't even look into their other listing before I purchased. Lesson learnt I guess and I need to be more vigilant. I just don't use eBay all that often and to be honest i am a bit lost as to what to do and who to trust when using it. 

I've sent them an email (replying to the email I got sent) refusing the added cost and asking for a refund. I also messaged them via the contact seller button on the listing requesting the same thing. 

The order is not coming up under purchases (yet?) So what do I do if they refuse to refund me or reply to messages? 

Thank you so much again for taking the time to help me out tonight. 

[jellybirddesigns · Accepted solution]

If they don't refund then after a certain period of time you will be able to open a dispute for "Not Delivered". This will again put the ball back in the sellers court as they will be unable to provide a tracking number to prove delivery.

Also, this seller is registered in China and whilst they "claim" to have stock in Aus, this is often not the case, so the item actually is sent from China and can a long time to be delivered. Whilst many buyers do manage to purchase successfully from Chinese sellers, unfortunately they do have a poor reputation for quality, delivery and customer service - it's just a question of doing your due diligence before purchasing. Oh, and NEVER buy anything electrical from a Chinese seller as their standards are far below ours and your risk of a fire is higher.

Before purchasing, always check where a seller is registered (this is on the feedback page in small type) and check  their overall feedback to see what kind of issues buyers are experiencing.

[repentatleisure1952]

Hopefully this China based seller will not send the item so that you will not be disappointed.

Cease all communication.,, read the eBay Money Back Guarantee.. keep your eye on the Estimated Delivery Date.

[jnde_5381]

Thank you so so much for taking the time to help me out tonight. You've relived some of my anxiety of being completely scammed.

I've learnt a lot that's for sure. I didn't even know to look, or where to look for where the seller is registered from, just saw that the item was coming from NSW and assumed it was an Australian seller. 

Hopefully I'm able to resolve this with a Refund fairly quickly and don't have to wait for a 'not delivered' dispute. 

I think I'll probably just stick to buying from actual Businesses in my town from now on though. 

Again thank you for your help. It's very much appreciated. 

[jellybirddesigns]

Always better to buy local and support our economy anyway.

Plus, you'll get a warranty with your purchases.

[springyzone]

Do everything jellybird said.

I really just came on to second it.

Only reply or write to a seller within ebay messages, if you can.

You've already paid and you have already sent a message to say you won't be paying more postage.

And no, you never do have to pay extra. This seller knows that which is why they have contacted you off ebay messaging. They are trying to take advantage of you. No need to communicate with them any more.

What you need to do now is have a look at your purchase listing and note the estimated date of arrival. If the parcel is not there by that date, open an ebay claim for item not received.

The seller will probably contact you at this point, offering a refund or saying they have posted it out and asking you to close the case. Don't, just don't. Just repeat, you have not received your item.  (If you close a case, you can't reopen it again if you find the seller lied to you.)

After a few days, you will then need to escalate the case to finalise the claim. That should see you get a full refund.

If for any reason, you were not able to make an ebay claim, you could make a paypal claim but never both at same time and always try ebay claim first.

Good luck.