I'm so over selling on Ebay...

I just got a call from the NYC police department investigating a theft... said that my 'one of a kind' LV item that I was selling was reported stolen the day before I listed it and they were investigating the theft.

I was asked when & where I purchased the item... I asked if someone was accusing me of this theft.. apparently they were... I explained that it was impossible because 1) it was NOT a one of a kind item (the story was corrected to say rare) 2) I purchased the item over a year ago on Ebay 3) I hadn't been in NY in years (I was then informed I could have purchased stolen merchandise from someone else)

I was asked to provide a receipt proving I purchased it.. etc. I asked if the other seller of the same item was being contacted as well & was (sort of) assured they were...

I was thankfully able to procure the original ebay auction #, purchase date & seller name to provide the Detective (although I don't know what good that does since the pictures/auction are long gone).

Apparently Ebay's legal dept provided all my contact info the police without a warrant etc.. Nice to know, huh?!

Man... once I unload what I need to sell... I'm so done with Ebay... an honest seller (since 1999 & long before that under a different ID), 888 100% feedback and this accusation could ruin not only my ebay reputation but could cause me to lose my JOB!! Unbelievable!

Whoa! Were you even allowed to know who, how or why the accusation came about? What a headache, that really sucks. This is such crap, I'm sorry.

I did ask for the police report number but I don't know if I would be allowed to get a copy. I was simply told the accuser (female) had seen my item posted on eBay the day after hers was stolen. I suspect it was the 'very interested' buyer who asked if I had the receipt and box 'to prove authenticity'. Of course since I purchased it second hand I didn't.. She never responded and never submitted a bid.

did you get the detective's name and precinct / badge number? this almost has the smell of a social engineering scam to it...

in my experience, police do not just "call you up" to ask you questions about a pending investigation. i would have asked to see proof from the police that they had subpoena'd your contact info from ebay, and called to the precinct (by googling the number, not based on the number the detective gave you) to verify that this was indeed an active investigation.

I did check out the detective, precinct and call back number before giving them any additional info. It all checked out. I also called eBay who confirmed that the police had contacted their legal dept for my info... No subpoena necessary but apparently they provided them with the police report.

Wow! What a PITA this must be for you! I'm sorry you have to go through this. :-( I find it really hard to believe that just because something is for sale on ebay, however rare it may be - that anyone could claim that it was that specific item that was stolen from them. So, according to the accuser - you stole this item, ran home and photographed it, and immediately listed it for sale on ebay... Really?!? (IMO, you'd have to be a pretty dumb thief to do that...) Rhetorical question, but are you even in the same state as this person making the accusation? Really, it's not like there's only 1 bag in existence here... OP, I wish you the best with this, & hope things work out for you!!

Yep apparently that's exactly what I supposedly did... And no I'm not in the same state... Same region but about a 2hr drive away.

Originally Posted by TinksDelite

I'm so over selling on Ebay... I just got a call from the NYC police department investigating a theft... said that my 'one of a kind' LV item that I was selling was reported stolen the day before I listed it and they were investigating the theft. I was asked when & where I purchased the item... I asked if someone was accusing me of this theft.. apparently they were... I explained that it was impossible because 1) it was NOT a one of a kind item (the story was corrected to say rare) 2) I purchased the item over a year ago on Ebay 3) I hadn't been in NY in years (I was then informed I could have purchased stolen merchandise from someone else) I was asked to provide a receipt proving I purchased it.. etc. I asked if the other seller of the same item was being contacted as well & was (sort of) assured they were... I was thankfully able to procure the original ebay auction #, purchase date & seller name to provide the Detective (although I don't know what good that does since the pictures/auction are long gone). Apparently Ebay's legal dept provided all my contact info the police without a warrant etc.. Nice to know, huh?! Man... once I unload what I need to sell... I'm so done with Ebay... an honest seller (since 1999 & long before that under a different ID), 888 100% feedback and this accusation could ruin not only my ebay reputation but could cause me to lose my JOB!! Unbelievable!

Are you freaking kidding me?????

Originally Posted by TinksDelite

I did check out the detective, precinct and call back number before giving them any additional info. It all checked out. I also called eBay who confirmed that the police had contacted their legal dept for my info... No subpoena necessary but apparently they provided them with the police report.

Wow!! I'm so glad you did your checking, and I'm very surprised to hear that this all turned out to be "real."

I'm a bit concerned about ebay just handing over your info though. But then again, we all complain about how ebay is going downhill so I guess they aren't too big on user privacy.

Who knows, it would not shock me In the least is this were some new scam! I won't go any further as to give any lurking sociopathic trash any ideas, but it seems to me that these crooks are more and more just average lazy Joes and Josephine's who make up the ranks that is our most entitled society in the history of the world.... Why work when you can steal? Putrid.
I am so sorry OP, and even worse, I am almost ashamed that I would even suggest such a thing, but wow, the lengths that these obsessed crazed lunatics will go to obtain a freaking purse astounds me, and the lengths that greedy liars will go to pass off fakes also astounds me...it is so commonplace- front and center! (I guess I am showing my age 43 btw, but wow the world has changed)
I am flabbergasted and creeped out for you OP and sending you best wishes and hopes you have heard the last of this.

Wow. Sorry that happened to you. I'm surprised Ebay gave out your info (though I'm sure that's somewhere in their fine print) and also surprised the police actually investigated this. Can anyone just accuse w/o proof an ebay seller of stealing and have the police follow up?

omg.....just when I thought I'd heard it all.....I'm am so over ebay.....done.
Sorry this is happening to you OP.
Please let us know the outcome.

Originally Posted by queenofshopping

Who knows, it would not shock me In the least is this were some new scam! I won't go any further as to give any lurking sociopathic trash any ideas, but it seems to me that these crooks are more and more just average lazy Joes and Josephine's who make up the ranks that is our most entitled society in the history of the world.... Why work when you can steal? Putrid. I am so sorry OP, and even worse, I am almost ashamed that I would even suggest such a thing, but wow, the lengths that these obsessed crazed lunatics will go to obtain a freaking purse astounds me, and the lengths that greedy liars will go to pass off fakes also astounds me...it is so commonplace- front and center! (I guess I am showing my age 43 btw, but wow the world has changed) I am flabbergasted and creeped out for you OP and sending you best wishes and hopes you have heard the last of this.

I wouldn't call it "showing your age" ~ more like "showing your good morals"!!
(btw, I'm 32 and I feel the exact same as you ~ what the is happening to our society?!)

So the accuser is saying that her item was stolen and that you put it up for auction the day after? And all of this happened in 2012? Would you happen to have the emails from when you originally purchased? You know like the "congrats, you've won this item" or the "updates for your purchase"? Those emails should list the item and date to prove that you purchased it before it was stolen. And I would not be surprised if the accuser may know the "detective." And they are working together. This is too fishy.

Wow! eBay is really going downhill. I'm so sorry OP you have to experience. I have a pending issue with eBay/PayPal myself that I've been trying to get resolved and I have to say, once that's over, I'm done with them.