ebay, another scam?
Discussion
Last week I purchased an item on ebay, it was supposed to be a quantity of 3. Package arrived this morning and there's only one in the box. Seller must have made a packing mistake I thought. I've just looked back on ebay and the listing has lost all reference to it being a quantity of 3, now it just looks like a single item! I'm pretty certain that the item title had stated quantity of 3 at the end of it (can't remember the exact wording, but it was quite unambiguous). Now the listing title has been changed so it's been padded out with "..." at the end of it. The listing was ended 2 minutes after they accepted my offer, with the reason 'there was an error in the listing'.
I've just checked my email notifications from ebay as well, and notice that they abbreviate the item titles in all their correspondence - it's cut short everywhere with "..." at the end of it. The difference is though, that the seller has put the ... further along than the ebay abbreviation. That's the only clue I have as to what's gone on really.
What I suspect has happened (if anyone can verify this is plausible?) is that immediately after accepting my offer (50p under the asking price), the seller has edited the listing title to remove the reference to it being 'x3', and then ended the listing early with the reason that there is an error in it. I knwo that normally, when a listing is altered after you've purchased, ebay highlights it and gives you the option to view the original listing. Does that not happen if the seller then cancels the listing immediately after editing it? Or have they pulled this scam in some other way? Or is it impossible, and I'm just losing the plot?
It's not a high value item - just some (now one!) bicycle lights. Was supposed to be 3 for £12, which seemed a decent price and not too good to be true (last year I bought pack of two for £9,). Now I've ended up paying £10 for one, while I wouldn't have intentionally bought at that price, It's probably more hassle to argue it and try and return it for a refund.
I've just checked my email notifications from ebay as well, and notice that they abbreviate the item titles in all their correspondence - it's cut short everywhere with "..." at the end of it. The difference is though, that the seller has put the ... further along than the ebay abbreviation. That's the only clue I have as to what's gone on really.
What I suspect has happened (if anyone can verify this is plausible?) is that immediately after accepting my offer (50p under the asking price), the seller has edited the listing title to remove the reference to it being 'x3', and then ended the listing early with the reason that there is an error in it. I knwo that normally, when a listing is altered after you've purchased, ebay highlights it and gives you the option to view the original listing. Does that not happen if the seller then cancels the listing immediately after editing it? Or have they pulled this scam in some other way? Or is it impossible, and I'm just losing the plot?
It's not a high value item - just some (now one!) bicycle lights. Was supposed to be 3 for £12, which seemed a decent price and not too good to be true (last year I bought pack of two for £9,). Now I've ended up paying £10 for one, while I wouldn't have intentionally bought at that price, It's probably more hassle to argue it and try and return it for a refund.
Few years back I had 2 identical items in picture. I had quantity of 2
A gentleman bought one off me and all was well
A few weeks later I had a similar listing and gentleman bought one
He then opened case on basis he was expecting 2. I messaged him back no reply. I rang e bay and spoke to someone who said chances were he would win the case.
A gentleman bought one off me and all was well
A few weeks later I had a similar listing and gentleman bought one
He then opened case on basis he was expecting 2. I messaged him back no reply. I rang e bay and spoke to someone who said chances were he would win the case.
drdino said:
It didn't mention an option 'to see the item I purchased', like your top picture. In that spot it was highlighted that the seller ended the listing early due to an error in the listing. It gave the date and time that he did it, and it was within 2 minutes of the time on my offer acceptance email. In the last couple of hours (since my OP), that highlighted bit has been removed also, and it now just says that the listing has ended. I did wonder if him ending the listing superseded the option to view the edit? You can see where the quantity text was at the end of the title, and it's now just substituted by three dots, after second the comma. The item description does only state 1x each component, and I can't remember if it said that originally or not, but I was going off the listing title.
The view all revisions doesn't show any changes close to the time of my purchase (17th March). So maybe I am going nuts!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Headlight-Taillight-Com...
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