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increase in scams and sellers not sending items | Buying | eBay Australia

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increase in scams and sellers not sending items

Summary: The discussion involves concerns raised by btecau about an increase in scams and sellers not sending items. twyngwyn, *casey*, and lezned-toycollector participate in the discussion by responding to btecau's initial post, sharing their experiences and possibly solutions or advice. Throughout the conversation, multiple participants engage and exchange information about the issue, highlighting its prevalence and possibly suggesting measures to protect against such fraud.

Hi All
of late I am finding the eBay platform seems to have an increase of bad seller behaviour and scams
of the last 6 transactions i have made on the platform, 2 went through without issue where i purchased the item and they dispatched and it arrived intact.

one arrived faulty so they sent out replacements, then wanted me to go to the post office and return the faulty items at my expense and then wanted to "fix me up outside ebay" I ended up contacting ebay to get a return label generated so it could go back properly so that the seller can throw the faulty products into his bin or more likely sell them to someone else.

one seller closed his account 2 days after i purchased the hardware and never shipped it

another one after about a week of waiting to dispatch the product I had to chase them up for to get a tracking number.

and the other one that is one of the most expensive being over $1000 has not shipped the product in a week despite their listing saying they dispatch within 3 business days. so it should have been dispatched beginning of last week. so i reached out to them for the tracking number and got no reply. reached out again on friday again no response. and the delivery date is expected tomorrow.

last lot of things i purchased where cisco phones and i had some negitive experiences there too, where i purchased 5 devices and he sent 1, didn't reply to communications so i ended up being forced to raise a dispute with ebay. he then ignored ebay until they where forced to step in. I then left negative feedback and he then successfully had that removed. I then had to reach out to ebay to get the feedback reinstated because it was accurate.

so given most recent experiences on the platform have been sub par why is the platform going this way?

it used to be a platform where had reasonable confidence that if I buy something from a seller with high feedback score i could reasonably expect a smooth transaction and any issues would normally be postage related. now its a platform where a large number of sellers act in bad faith to game the system eg using "buyer canceled the order" to bypass penalties for failures on their part.

its now at the point where i am actually second guessing if i even use the platform moving forward or if i should call the platform scambay and move on.

btecau

279 View listings

Posted 4 months ago·Last reply 4 months ago

25 comments

e_purchasing

·4 months ago

"one seller closed his account 2 days after i purchased the hardware and never shipped it"

More than likely eBay de-registered them , your funds would be safe.

I then left negative feedback and he then successfully had that removed. I then had to reach out to ebay to get the feedback reinstated because it was accurate.

eBay cannot re-instate removed feedback. I don't see a neg that you have left in the past 20 you have left

its now at the point where i am actually second guessing if i even use the platform

It is more to do with you and YOUR choices. You probably need to look at buying from reliable sellers rather than only looking at price.

I have quickly glanced at a lot of your replies on this thread and I must say that you are needlessly arguing and attacking members that are offering you opinion and advice.

*casey*

·4 months ago

Thanks so much for posting on this thread and bumping it to the top of the forum .

It would be great to always have it at the top as it indicates how extremely careful buyers have to be when

purchasing on eBay , due to eBay's lack of action in many areas.

btecau

OP4 months ago

@e_purchasing wrote:
"one seller closed his account 2 days after i purchased the hardware and never shipped it"
More than likely eBay de-registered them , your funds would be safe.
Very possibly but the end user experience was the same. it also doesn't invalidate what I'm saying here

I then left negative feedback and he then successfully had that removed. I then had to reach out to ebay to get the feedback reinstated because it was accurate.
eBay cannot re-instate removed feedback. I don't see a neg that you have left in the past 20 you have left
That's probably because it wasn't amongst the 20 most recent purchases that i made but thankyou for demonstrating the quantity of purchases i make. that should make it easier for people to see that i use the ebay system regularly.

its now at the point where i am actually second guessing if i even use the platform
It is more to do with you and YOUR choices. You probably need to look at buying from reliable sellers rather than only looking at price.
When you where snooping through my recent purchased items trying to find the vendor i left negitive feedback on, how many items did i buy from sellers with less than 90% feedback? how many did i purchase from low volume sellers?
This point is disingenuous at best

I have quickly glanced at a lot of your replies on this thread and I must say that you are needlessly arguing and attacking members that are offering you opinion and advice.
No what you are seeing is someone who has been using this platform for the last 16 years and who is rather seasoned with it defending his position from people who are blatantly trying to assert that the cause of the problem is the customer when it absolutely is not. Additionally i have been polite on this thread.

as i said in another post. having someone disagree with your someone else can look like an attack when you hold the same opinion. it doesn't make it the case and it absolutely doesn't make my position wrong.

What i don't get is why are there so many high volume sellers on here trying to defend the very obvious issues with the platform?

Why is it considered acceptable for a seller to cancel an order so they don't get a defect for failing to supply a product while also removing someone's ability to leave feedback?

Why do those same sellers then point to the feedback rating and say that the issue is the customers for not pulling out the Chrystal ball to see if the vendor at the other end is honest and genuine.

again like i said before when the system can be gamed that results in feedback not being left then the feedback system cannot be relied on. its actually at the point where when i see a high volume seller with a 100% positive feedback. no neutral no negative that's just not realistic you will always have at least one customer that was not happy.

lezned-toycollector

·4 months ago

A few points...

1. Despite what you may think, a seller can't close their account 2 days after making a sale.

2. Feedback is only ever removed if it breaches policy. Regardless of how many items you received, if the tracking showed as "delivered" and you mentioned not receiving the goods, the comment clearly breaches policy and will be removed 99.9% of the time - likewise if you mention a request, dispute or eBay stepping in. For such blatant breaches, the removal is usually done by the bots and requires very little to no seller involvement.

3. Once feedback is removed, it can't be reinstated.

4. Sellers use the reason that the buyer requested a cancellation because...

a) they don't receive a defect on their account for being out of stock...

and...

b) any neutral/negative feedback will be automatically removed by the bots.

5. Most of the issues you describe can usually be avoided by checking a seller's location, history and track record before purchasing.

btecau

OP4 months ago

@lezned-toycollector wrote:
A few points...

1. Despite what you may think, a seller can't close their account 2 days after making a sale.

2. Feedback is only ever removed if it breaches policy. Regardless of how many items you received, if the tracking showed as "delivered" and you mentioned not receiving the goods, the comment clearly breaches policy and will be removed 99.9% of the time - likewise if you mention a request, dispute or eBay stepping in. For such blatant breaches, the removal is usually done by the bots and requires very little to no seller involvement.

3. Once feedback is removed, it can't be reinstated.

4. Sellers use the reason that the buyer requested a cancellation because...
a) they don't receive a defect on their account for being out of stock...
and...
b) any neutral/negative feedback will be automatically removed by the bots.

5. Most of the issues you describe can usually be avoided by checking a seller's location, history and track record before purchasing.

"1. Despite what you may think, a seller can't close their account 2 days after making a sale."

Well its what happened so whatever mechanism that took the end result is the same

"2. Feedback is only ever removed if it breaches policy. Regardless of how many items you received, if the tracking showed as "delivered" and you mentioned not receiving the goods, the comment clearly breaches policy and will be removed 99.9% of the time - likewise if you mention a request, dispute or eBay stepping in. For such blatant breaches, the removal is usually done by the bots and requires very little to no seller involvement. "

Irrelevant and partially untrue. it is illegal under australian consumer law to manipulate true and honest feedback, that falls under deceptive conduct. so when you order 5 and 1 is delivered what ebay policy stipulates is irrelevant. and thats exactly what I informed ebay when it was removed and that failure to reinstate the feedback would result in escalation through legal channels. and it was reinstated.

"3. Once feedback is removed, it can't be reinstated."

Absolute garbage. Ebay support found a way to do it so it must be possible.

"

4. Sellers use the reason that the buyer requested a cancellation because...

a) they don't receive a defect on their account for being out of stock...

and...

b) any neutral/negative feedback will be automatically removed by the bots."

so manipulating the platform.

"5. Most of the issues you describe can usually be avoided by checking a seller's location, history and track record before purchasing. "

Feedback cannot be trusted when the above behaviour is happening. If they cancel the transactions as "customer requested" then they lock out negative feedback then the feedback system is not to be trusted.

I realise that sellers lash out against buyer protections on ebay but please stop gaslighting people

lezned-toycollector

·4 months ago

There's no gas lighting here... just the basic facts. Shooting the messenger will do you no favours at all.

After reading your post, I can see now that your entire issue is that you don't agree with eBay policy and you think it shouldn't apply to you.... well I hate to burst your bubble, but it actually does.

If you don't agree with eBay policy, then the most appropriate action for you is to cease using the site.

As long as you continue to use the site, you totally forfeit any right to disagree with the policies - the very policies that you MUST agree to before using the site.

And for your future reference... you should be aware that most regulars here understand how the site works, and can easily see through embellished facts 😉

lezned-toycollector

·4 months ago

@btecau wrote:
@lezned-toycollector wrote:
A few points...

1. Despite what you may think, a seller can't close their account 2 days after making a sale.

2. Feedback is only ever removed if it breaches policy. Regardless of how many items you received, if the tracking showed as "delivered" and you mentioned not receiving the goods, the comment clearly breaches policy and will be removed 99.9% of the time - likewise if you mention a request, dispute or eBay stepping in. For such blatant breaches, the removal is usually done by the bots and requires very little to no seller involvement.

3. Once feedback is removed, it can't be reinstated.

4. Sellers use the reason that the buyer requested a cancellation because...
a) they don't receive a defect on their account for being out of stock...
and...
b) any neutral/negative feedback will be automatically removed by the bots.

5. Most of the issues you describe can usually be avoided by checking a seller's location, history and track record before purchasing.
it is illegal under australian consumer law to manipulate true and honest feedback, that falls under deceptive conduct. so when you order 5 and 1 is delivered what ebay policy stipulates is irrelevant.

To add... it's your comment that is actually irrelevant. The only thing that matters here is eBay policy - and what you personally perceive as being legal or not, plays no part in creating their policies. To be clear... it's their sandbox - their rules.

If you ordered 5 and got 1, then the item is not as described - simples. Saying it wasn't received when tracking clearly shows it was, is just asking for trouble. That much is just basic common sense.

As for buyer protection... I think it's great. More people should use it. Advising people to do so is most definitely NOT lashing out.

And finally, there's no point in telling me that the facts are garbage. I don't write the policies - nor do I apply them. The entire process has nothing to do with me.

btecau

OP4 months ago

@lezned-toycollector wrote:
@btecau wrote:
@lezned-toycollector wrote:
A few points...

1. Despite what you may think, a seller can't close their account 2 days after making a sale.

2. Feedback is only ever removed if it breaches policy. Regardless of how many items you received, if the tracking showed as "delivered" and you mentioned not receiving the goods, the comment clearly breaches policy and will be removed 99.9% of the time - likewise if you mention a request, dispute or eBay stepping in. For such blatant breaches, the removal is usually done by the bots and requires very little to no seller involvement.

3. Once feedback is removed, it can't be reinstated.

4. Sellers use the reason that the buyer requested a cancellation because...
a) they don't receive a defect on their account for being out of stock...
and...
b) any neutral/negative feedback will be automatically removed by the bots.

5. Most of the issues you describe can usually be avoided by checking a seller's location, history and track record before purchasing.
it is illegal under australian consumer law to manipulate true and honest feedback, that falls under deceptive conduct. so when you order 5 and 1 is delivered what ebay policy stipulates is irrelevant.
To add... it's your comment that is actually irrelevant. The only thing that matters here is eBay policy - and what you personally perceive as being legal or not, plays no part in creating their policies. To be clear... it's their sandbox - their rules.

If you ordered 5 and got 1, then the item is not as described - simples. Saying it wasn't received when tracking clearly shows it was, is just asking for trouble. That much is just basic common sense.

As for buyer protection... I think it's great. More people should use it. Advising people to do so is most definitely NOT lashing out.

And finally, there's no point in telling me that the facts are garbage. I don't write the policies - nor do I apply them. The entire process has nothing to do with me.

Australian consumer law supersedes any platform or companies policy when they participate in the Australian market. if Ebay doesn't want to follow Australian consumer law than ebay doesn't have to participate in the Australian market space. while that are they must follow the same rules as any other business or shop.

To argue that anyone forfeits their consumer rights by interacting with a particular website that operates within that market just because the terms and conditions that by the way has nothing in it about accepting this garbage from sellers, is juvenile and given the fact you are a seller, you would know that very well.

and for the record the feedback i left said exactly what happened. "I ordered 5 phones and received 1, messaged seller got no response"

I will give you another scenario. you buy an iphone on ebay. you receive a package in the mail and it has nothing in it. but your tracking number shows delivered so ebay policy is against you. so by your own admission the platform will automatically remove negative feedback that says " I ordered and iphone and didn't receive it, I only got an empty box"

so tell me again how that instills trust in the feedback system?

Additionally to argue that someone should just accept that the eBay platform that has gone down hill since in recent years and that they are the problem for noticing and drawing attention to it actually shows where the problem really is.

additionally as another commentor has pointed out, Ebay does manipulate feedback of shonky sellers, so you absolutely are gaslighting me

I will let you think about this one.

If your customers on this platform end up walking away because there is less than a 50/50 chance that a transaction goes smoothly without any form of shonky behavior from the sellers then where will you get your customers?

lezned-toycollector

·4 months ago

So by your own admission, you breached the feedback policy which caused your comment to be removed. It's exactly what I suspected you had done, but thanks for the clarification. As you are fully aware, and as you have been reminded in this thread, you are NOT permitted to mention non-delivery when tracking shows as delivered. It really is that simple.

It's extremely obvious that you found out the policy actually does apply to you as well as everyone else, and you've come here to let everyone know.

You don't get an exemption from the policies because you think you should, or because you personally don't understand the difference between "not as described" and "not received". In fact, as you have now found out, you don't get an exemption from policy for ANY reason.

For your future reference... if you don't want your feedback removed, DON'T breach the feedback policy - problem solved.

As for your ridiculous accusations about gaslighting, you clearly have no idea of the meaning, so I suggest you put Google to use. Again, there is no gaslighting and never has been, and just because you say it, doesn't make it so.

All I've done here is point out the policies which apply to your situation - the very policies which you actually agreed to. Again, there's no point in shooting the messenger. I'm not responsible for eBay policy - nor am I in any way responsible for your understanding (or lack thereof) of same.

I will reiterate that it's eBay's sandbox, so eBay's rules... and if you don't agree with any of those rules, then your only option is to cease using the site.

btecau

OP4 months ago

@lezned-toycollector wrote:
So by your own admission, you breached the feedback policy which caused your comment to be removed. It's exactly what I suspected you had done, but thanks for the clarification. As you are fully aware, and as you have been reminded in this thread, you are NOT permitted to mention non-delivery when tracking shows as delivered. It really is that simple.

It's extremely obvious that you found out the policy actually does apply to you as well as everyone else, and you've come here to let everyone know.

You don't get an exemption from the policies because you think you should, or because you personally don't understand the difference between "not as described" and "not received". In fact, as you have now found out, you don't get an exemption from policy for ANY reason.

For your future reference... if you don't want your feedback removed, DON'T breach the feedback policy - problem solved.

As for your ridiculous accusations about gaslighting, you clearly have no idea of the meaning, so I suggest you put Google to use. Again, there is no gaslighting and never has been, and just because you say it, doesn't make it so.

All I've done here is point out the policies which apply to your situation - the very policies which you actually agreed to. Again, there's no point in shooting the messenger. I'm not responsible for eBay policy - nor am I in any way responsible for your understanding (or lack thereof) of same.

I will reiterate that it's eBay's sandbox, so eBay's rules... and if you don't agree with any of those rules, then your only option is to cease using the site.

It’s very interesting the hypocritical position you're taking on this matter of terms and conditions, considering your own live listings actively violate these very same policies.

You've spent this entire thread condescendingly explaining how the "sandbox" works, while blindly assuming I claimed an item wasn't received. I ordered five items and received one. Writing "Ordered 5, received 1" is an accurate description of a partial delivery, not a false claim of non-delivery. That's why eBay manually reinstated it.

But since you are so passionate about people following the rules or "ceasing to use the site," you might want to look at your own backyard. Your custom terms of sale—where you aggressively insult buyers and attempt to override eBay's standard dispute framework—are a direct breach of eBay's Listing Practices.

Given your hardline approach to eBay policy I'm guessing you wont mind someone bringing this to their attention?

*casey*

·4 months ago

" I ordered five items and received one. Writing "Ordered 5, received 1" is an accurate description of a partial delivery" ✔️

For any new buyers reading this thread:

If you buy multiple items from the same seller and one/some are missing when your order arrives

you open an 'item not received' claim > Reason > Items missing

If you buy a 'set' of items and one/some missing you open an 'item not as described' claim

lezned-toycollector

·4 months ago

As you are fully aware, abusing the report process is also a breach of eBay policy, so I must strongly advise you against doing so.

*casey*

·4 months ago

So in order to answer your question of:

"Increase in scams and sellers not sending items"

Since eBay removed their Trust and Safety teams , then YES over the years, steadily downhill !!!

And I can assure everyone that I have a great deal more knowledge about scams, scammers, fraudulent listings for non existent items ,hijacked accounts etc... than anyone who is pumping information into AI

I'm not sure if AI can report me for abuse of the report system !

lezned-toycollector

·4 months ago

As we all know, reporting policy violations - regardless of how many - is not abusing the report process.

domino-710

·4 months ago

LOL..................................

sandypebbles

·4 months ago

I realise people lash out when they don't get the responses they wanted to hear, but please stop attacking other members

btecau

OP4 months ago

@sandypebbles wrote:
I realise people lash out when they don't get the responses they wanted to hear, but please stop attacking other members

not attacking anyone.
pointing out the flaws in someone's logic may seem like an attack to people with similar opinions but in reality its not. sorry

*casey*

·4 months ago

Related more to the US and Chinese scammers but:

Also, I report very obvious high priced scam listings for non existent items, and have done so for many, many years.

In the last few months , if my reports aren't ignored , these scammers have been contacted by eBay, ended their own listings and negative feedback has been removed.

Added to this, although our boards are quiet, the US forums are flooded with fake tracking scams.

The items show delivered and the negative feedback is removed.

eBay consistently sides with the scammers and most buyers are advised to make an item not received claim through a chargeback with their bank, citing fraud.

btecau

OP4 months ago

@*casey* wrote:
Related more to the US and Chinese scammers but:

Also, I report very obvious high priced scam listings for non existent items, and have done so for many, many years.

In the last few months , if my reports aren't ignored , these scammers have been contacted by eBay, ended their own listings and negative feedback has been removed.

Added to this, although our boards are quiet, the US forums are flooded with fake tracking scams.

The items show delivered and the negative feedback is removed.

eBay consistently sides with the scammers and most buyers are advised to make an item not received claim through a chargeback with their bank, citing fraud.

sadly that's the problem when you have a platform that operates in this way it results in people like me who have traditionally made many purchases on the platform move away to a more reliable platform. and when enough customers move away from a merchant platform the platform dies.

*casey*

·4 months ago

Don't let bad sellers mess you around.

If you receive something that's not as described. eg faulty, open an 'item not as described' claim through eBay's Money Back Guarantee within 30 days of receiving it

The seller has 3 business days to send you a return label with tracking , the funding to return it, or a refund.

If the seller doesn't respond during that time, you can ask eBay to step in.

If you don't receive an item, you have 30 days after the last estimated delivery date to open an 'item not received' claim with eBay's MBG

Seller can't just 'close down' their accounts with recent transactions in place. eBay would have closed their account.

If eBay removes the item from your purchase history because a seller is NARU, , go to eBay Help (top of page) and ask to speak to an agent.

They can open a claim for you manually

https://pages.ebay.com.au/ebay-money-back-guarantee/

twyngwyn

·4 months ago

Are the sellers registered here or overseas?

btecau

OP4 months ago

Some have been registered here and some overseas.
The most reliable have been either registered in USA or local here Australia.

That being said I have had a number of issues even with Australian sellers

*casey*

·4 months ago

"using "buyer canceled the order" to bypass penalties for failures on their part"

Again, a reason used by shonky sellers.

If that 's the reason used for a cancellation, any negative or neutral feedback left for them will be removed.

Go to eBay Help and ask them to change the reason for the cancellation , letting them know the shonky seller lied.

*casey*

·4 months ago

Sorry, I replied to the wrong person in my last post

@btecau

To add, don't think for one minute that eBay only removes feedback when it breaches policy.

A couple of very regular posters have had their negative feedback left for bad sellers removed.

Their feedback didn't breach policy.

Also, I report very obvious high priced scam listings for non existent items, and have done so for many, many years.

In the last few months , if my reports aren't ignored , these scammers have been contacted by eBay, ended their own listings and negative feedback has been removed.