I recently purchased a Mulberry bag on eBay.

The seller stated it was in great condition, although the postman's lock had a few scratches and to refer to the pictures for further detail.

The pictures clearly showed the back of the lock as having scratches but the front of the lock had none.

Now, when I received the bag the front of the lock has many scratches/chips (I.e. the metallic coating has come off). There are dark marks all over the back of the bag (possibly colour transfer from jeans?) and the sides have been stretched out where it has been used as a messenger bag and possibly overloaded. None of this was mentioned in the listing and the bag generally is in far from "great condition".

I contacted the seller who told me to open a dispute - which I did, with Paypal. This has now been escalated to a claim.

I received an email from Paypal on 3 August, instructing me I need to get a letter from an unbiased third party confirming the condition of the bag and that it is SNAD etc.

I've called around all the local places I can think that might offer this service - cobblers, bag shops, a leather bag repair shop and no-one is willing to provide this type of letter :(

I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience and can advise me where I might find someone to assess the bag? I only have until 13th August to do so and am very worried I won't be able to find someone in time.

I sent some pictures to Paypal which clearly shows the difference in condition from the listing and the actual bag but they say they can't accept photos as evidence! I thought Paypal were meant to protect buyers in circumstances like this with dishonest sellers. Unfortunately I didn't pay on credit card so cannot file a chargeback.

I've lost all faith in the eBay/PayPal system now - any help or advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.

provide its link, so we can see it here.

great condition expected to have some (that is why I am not purchased some thing when it comes to that word "great" condition).

excellent could be better condition

brand new should be NEW

What about caroldiva. I think she has branched out from Louis vuitton authentification.

I think this is getting more and more common on ebay. Similar happened to me and also friends where basically ebay and paypal seem to make it as difficult as possible for you to actually get your money back. I reckon its a fairly recent backlash from the period when Sellers had no rights at all and Buyers took the p**s without any comeback so now its swinging back but is totally hit and miss. systems completely screwed in my view and i wont buy or sell on fleabay now at all. just like a lottery which is fine if you like risk and have money to burn.
anyway, if you are being asked to provide a testimonial on the condition of the bag try one of the independants like fakespotters or authenticate4u as whilst this isn't there main service, perhaps they'd do this too as its likely to be a service more and more needed I reckon.

Would fakespotters/authenticate4u/carolsdiva need me to send the bag off to them?

I'm conscious I only have until 13th August to provide the letter and as I'm in the UK it would take longer than that :(

I'll post the link along with my photos later on (currently on my phone).

Part of me is tempted to just resell the bag and suck up the loss from listing disclosing its true condition, but then I really don't think the seller should be allowed to get away with it...

Originally Posted by TKM69

I think this is getting more and more common on ebay. Similar happened to me and also friends where basically ebay and paypal seem to make it as difficult as possible for you to actually get your money back. I reckon its a fairly recent backlash from the period when Sellers had no rights at all and Buyers took the p**s without any comeback so now its swinging back but is totally hit and miss. systems completely screwed in my view and i wont buy or sell on fleabay now at all. just like a lottery which is fine if you like risk and have money to burn. anyway, if you are being asked to provide a testimonial on the condition of the bag try one of the independants like fakespotters or authenticate4u as whilst this isn't there main service, perhaps they'd do this too as its likely to be a service more and more needed I reckon.

Thank you so much - I've been in contact with authenticate4u and looks like they'll be able to help!!! Yippee :)

yippee....

This is the first time I've heard of Paypal requesting something like this. I don't see what an independent "verifier" would tell them that comparing photos wouldn't.

It makes you wonder why they don't look to see what can be seen so easily...

The PayPal representative told me they no longer accept photos as proof of SNAD as the photos could be of anything and not necessarily the item in question...

Originally Posted by annaspanna33

The PayPal representative told me they no longer accept photos as proof of SNAD as the photos could be of anything and not necessarily the item in question...

I just don't get this. The photos the unbiased third party will be looking at could
also be of anything.

It just seems like paypal don't like looking at pictures and make up there own mind and prefer to read the conclusion the unbiased third party have made.

I know right, I thought exactly the same thing!

amazing isn't it????

Originally Posted by hotshot

amazing isn't it????

And scary :-/

Originally Posted by annaspanna33

Thank you so much - I've been in contact with authenticate4u and looks like they'll be able to help!!! Yippee :)

Thats really great, glad you will be OK with it in the end.