Potential eBay Scam, a word of warning!

[AmosMoses]

Hi all,

Posted this on TZ, but i thought it was worth sharing here for anyone who sells watches via eBay.

I recently sold a watch via eBay, it was brand new with all packaging, warranty card and receipt of purchase.

Item is received, buyer leaves me feedback "Sold an authentic watch to me, fastly shipped. Great person, polite and friendly!"

Now 2 weeks later the buyer has opened a refund request on the grounds that "The date and serial number on the warranty card are written with the different ink, which is suspicious and indicates that the watch is fake."

Image of warranty card:



This sent alarm bells ringing, firstly their claim is false and secondly why leave feedback and then 2 weeks later open a case?

I've had some back and forth with them and they have even spun a story that they went to a Swatch store and they advised them it was fake, which I don't believe.

Seems like buyers remorse or they are going to try and return a fake watch and scam me.

I opened a case with eBay to report the buyer.

I use eBay to buy and sell a lot of watches and this is the first time I've had something like this.

Now here comes the good part, when I package up watches I film the process so I have something to fall back on should this sort of thing happen.

I watched back the video and guess what I found?



Seems they have filled in the date on the card themselves...

I immediately called eBay and ran through the whole thing with them, supplied this evidence and they were happy that I had supplied a genuine watch and that the buyer was trying to commit fraud.

They advised to message the seller with this evidence and then process the return label but not offer a refund, then the buyer should ship me back the watch and I should film myself opening it and come back to eBay should it be fake.

Well after a few days of nothing it seems the watch is real after all.



So my advice is anyone selling watches/luxury goods on eBay. Keep copies of all your receipts and of course film yourself packing the item.

Thanks

Alex

[Jez m]

Did this sale not go via ebays Authentication service?

[AmosMoses]

Jez m said:

Did this sale not go via ebays Authentication service?

Nope, it was under the threshold so the buyer would have had the option to pay £99 for the service but opted not to.

[BiggaJ]

Excellent post ... I must admit that when I sell anything on eBay or buy anything and get it delivered, I always take photographs. I have sold some expensive Hi-Fi over the years so the packaging has to be good and I keep photos of the varying stages of packing etc.

[Sheepshanks]

AmosMoses said:

They advised to message the seller with this evidence and then process the return label but not offer a refund, then the buyer should ship me back the watch and I should film myself opening it and come back to eBay should it be fake.

So what would have happened if you got the genuine watch back - would it get sent back to the buyer again?

[Hoofy]

Report it to the police. It's fraud, not just a chancer trying his luck, just bants, haha, prank innit lol xox. Make the scumbag sweat a bit.

I know the likely reply is, "It's only £30." If so, what's the cutoff point where it counts?

Edited by Hoofy on Monday 9th November 14:56

[Bob_Defly]

I'm just amazed you can 'call' eBay!? I've never had luck trying to get in touch with tech companies.

[UKsandman]

Good advice for the other flippers out there who are looking to make a quick buck.

[Simon_GH]

Bob_Defly said:

I'm just amazed you can 'call' eBay!? I've never had luck trying to get in touch with tech companies.

I called eBay recently and they were really helpful. Vinted could learn a thing or two.

[Miguel Alvarez]

I know there are some horror stories about some companies so called customer service but I’ll give eBay their credit. Any issue I’ve had has been sorted very quickly. I won a bid on a bracelet for a watch and it didn’t turn up when it should have. They opened a case and refunded me within the week.

[The Goat]

Definitely needs reporting to Action Fraud.

[the-norseman]

This is the kinda thread I like to read! I've had a similar a few times.

I sold a watch recently on Chrono24, I filmed the whole process of boxing it up and wrapping it etc.

Edited by the-norseman on Friday 13th November 07:58

[skilly1]

I sold my son s cracked iPhone on Ebay. Buyer received it and decided to return it as he couldn t get a signal.

When I got it back, it s been stripped of the contents inside and it was just an empty shell. Took photos and sent to Ebay and they said as I couldn t prove the contents were inside the phone when I sent it they sided with the buyer and refunded the money.

You can see through the cameras here that there s nothing inside it.