Letterman-style - Top 20 reasons to realise you've been scammed on eBay

[*CountessA*]

Being scammed is a serious concern, but sometimes we can lighten the subject by taking a humorous (possibly black humour, but humour nonetheless) look at it.

Please remember to include the NUMBER at the start of your reply, and once we reach the #1 reason to realise you've been scammed on eBay, we can start another "Top 20".

To start things off...

#20: Your seller has told you his factory was burned down, but he promises his next shipment is on its way and it shouldn't be long now. (And it's only been 18 days...)  :alert:

[frangi]

#19  When your seller assures you in his Item Description, photos and several ebay messages  (in response to your exacting questions) .. that the emerald is 'natural' i.e., not lab created.

When he tells you in his Item Description and within several ebay messages, that the 'natural' emerald is 'huge'.  He says he doesn't have any way of measuring it right now, but it's 'huge', is a family heirloom from his Californian family's inherited estate jewellery.  Finally, he suggests it is approx. the size of a square which would fit comfortably within the boundaries of a 5 cent piece.

When the seller removes all the photos from his listing virtually simultaneous with receipt of payment.

When he begins sending private emails telling you now that your complaints are an insult to him, because not only is the emerald 'natural' .. he purchased it from a reputable jeweller in Townsville, Queensland .. and he swears he has the receipt somewhere, except his ex-wife might have taken it when she left.

When three genuinely reputable jewellers assure you that your suspicions are correct .. it is a lab-created emerald.  One jeweller is able to extract an identical ring from his showcase and provide you the name and details of the manufacturer.

When ebay (in response to your appeals for justice and assistance) send you endless automated emails which are no use whatsoever

When ebay fails/refuses to do anything at all about the seller, who is permitted to continue listing (and continues on his merry way, listing items on ebay for a further year, until finally, he's narued, after which he adopts a new selling ID)

When ebay reject your claims, because for them to be recognised, they must contain a copy of photos from the seller's listing.  And of course, this is impossible to achieve, because the seller removed all the photos the moment he had your money, lol.  It's like living within the pages of 'Catch 22'

Oh .. I forgot, the seller also stated 'Free Postage' in his Item Description.  He then attempted to charge me close to $15 postage.  But I won that one.  Wow.

[gr8-expectations]

.

[*Brum6y*]

#18  When the respondant to your dispute 'replies' by putting a full stop in the message text as their response.

[gr8-expectations]

#17 .... when your buyer notices

[shyer]

#20 Australia post is wrong the registered post number I sent was delivered last year to 3000 kms away

[low-enghooi]

#15 When your seller tells you he is hospitalized for the past few weeks and he will post your items in next few days.

#14 When you receive an empty envelope from your seller.

[Roo]

#19  When your seller assures you in his Item Description, photos and several ebay messages  (in response to your exacting questions) .. that the emerald is 'natural' i.e., not lab created.

When he tells you in his Item Description and within several ebay messages, that the 'natural' emerald is 'huge'.  He says he doesn't have any way of measuring it right now, but it's 'huge', is a family heirloom from his Californian family's inherited estate jewellery.  Finally, he suggests it is approx. the size of a square which would fit comfortably within the boundaries of a 5 cent piece.

When the seller removes all the photos from his listing virtually simultaneous with receipt of payment.

When he begins sending private emails telling you now that your complaints are an insult to him, because not only is the emerald 'natural' .. he purchased it from a reputable jeweller in Townsville, Queensland .. and he swears he has the receipt somewhere, except his ex-wife might have taken it when she left.

When three genuinely reputable jewellers assure you that your suspicions are correct .. it is a lab-created emerald.  One jeweller is able to extract an identical ring from his showcase and provide you the name and details of the manufacturer.

When ebay (in response to your appeals for justice and assistance) send you endless automated emails which are no use whatsoever

When ebay fails/refuses to do anything at all about the seller, who is permitted to continue listing (and continues on his merry way, listing items on ebay for a further year, until finally, he's narued, after which he adopts a new selling ID)

When ebay reject your claims, because for them to be recognised, they must contain a copy of photos from the seller's listing.  And of course, this is impossible to achieve, because the seller removed all the photos the moment he had your money, lol.  It's like living within the pages of 'Catch 22'

Oh .. I forgot, the seller also stated 'Free Postage' in his Item Description.  He then attempted to charge me close to $15 postage.  But I won that one.  Wow.

I don't care how many other write....in my opinion...YOU WIN!

Crikey!  Was that just one seller?

[wyzeguy60]

#13. when you buy something for your daughter for Xmas in September and put away. On Xmas day she opens it, plugs it in and it lasts 3 seconds.

oh the tears - she had waited for 12 months for a brand new stereo.

so you are out of pocket $200 plus and have to buy one the next day instead of watching the boxing day test at the "G"

[*smee*]

Wyzeguy , it moments like that when it is well worth investing an extra couple of hundred dollars if need be on an airfare to "hand deliver" the item back to the seller and deposit it fair up their rectum !!!!

[wyzeguy60]

ah smee - never thought of that. Trouble is it was BNIB old stock. No reason to doubt and it was 3 months later that we plugged it in. I reckon the seller knew something though, just a sneaking suspicion. Had probably been dropped or something similar
bugga

[Centuries]

12#

Buyer with feedback less than 5 checked postage with seller prior to bidding.

Won item and was immediately contacted by seller.

Seller stated it cost him $10.00 for petrol  to and from  the Post Office, and the postage (plus registration) he stated on listing (and via a query in messages) was not enough to cover his costs. He asked for further payment for postage to be added on to the original postage.


Seller was not aware that the buyer he was planning to scam had a second buying ID with quite high feedback


How many new buyers did he scam and have a nice little $20.00 (!) windfall?