Have you ever been BURNED by ebay?

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#16
About a year ago I was new to ebay and I a bought a limited editition conte de fees LV handbag. It was my second transaction and I was reaaaally excited. The seller seemed very nice and friendly (he/she had 100% feedback) and I was very happy when finally my package arrived.
But when I opened it, I saw that inside there was a LV blois handbag(probably fake) and a small pen :amazed: :sick: :hrmm:
I was very disappointed but I very kindly contacted the seller and said that they probably had made a mistake. And guess what???? The seller had disappeared!! After many unanswered e-mails, I reported him to ebay and paypal refunded me with 100 GBP (it was ebay.co.uk) which was nothing compared with the money I lost! Apparently that's the most that Paypal can give you when you've been cheated by a seller.
The worst thing is that this seller also stole money from many other buyers (A LOT of money, I think he sold mostly LV pieces). Needless to say the probably fake bag I got is still in my closet since then. I didn't even bother to authenticate it, I just hid it and tried to forget all about it!

But can please someone explained WHY did that seller bothered to send me a fake bag that has nothing to do with the one I wanted if all he/she wanted was to steal my money and disappear?
Please, can someone help me solve this mystery? I'm still wondering..
 
#18
Nothing terirble, but the seller I just bought my Chanel from used multiple ebay accounts to raise te price of her bag! Grrr I was so mad but I wanted the bag so I coughed up the money anyway- hate myself for doing it but I'll love the bag!
 
#19
When I first started using Ebay to buy handbags (about 2.5 years ago) I jumped on a $65 BIN new listing for a black epi mabillon. Now I KNOW that it sounds obvious in retrospect, but at the time I was sooo new to LV and handbags and IF you could rationalize that a new-ish out-of-her-closet seller WOULD give a bag away, this would be the auction for you. She had listed this bag and one other - a Cartier more formal - looking. The pics showed this amazing dining room. I figured she was an upscale women who wanted to clean out her closet. Each for $65 BIN. I was THRILLED when I BIN'd and paid right away with Paypal. It didn't hit me until the next day that I had almost certainly bought a fake. :yucky:

It was a 'superfake' BARELY different from authentics, but the fake dustbag gave it away...there were workmanship differences too, but they were subtle. Mostly I could tell from the zipper, which was plated and thin.

I just put it under my bed and there it is....didn't know enough about PP then to bother getting a refund.

I have another Ebay bag that I would love to have autenticated. Its a Tods sold by one of the isoldit places, and while the bag itself seems perfect in every detail, the dustbag is not the same feel as the other Tods dustbags that I KNOW are authentic. Tortured by a dustbag. Psychologically I must be bothered by it more than I realize because I very, very seldom carry that bag. :shocked:

I also wonder if Ebay is worth it.
 
#20
ValleyOppressed said:
Nothing terirble, but the seller I just bought my Chanel from used multiple ebay accounts to raise te price of her bag! Grrr I was so mad but I wanted the bag so I coughed up the money anyway- hate myself for doing it but I'll love the bag!
Click to expand...

You should report her for shill bidding-someone I know was suspended for 7 days for doing that
 
#21
i have bought things (not fake) but mostly books anyways.... but the worst thing, I paid for a book (granted it wasn't very expensive) and 2 months later, i still do not have the book....
 
#22
The sad thing to me about all the eBay scamming is this--a few times when I've sold purses and listed them as "leather like Coach" or "similar fabric to Prada" just to describe the bag, I've gotten e-mails from eBay saying I was trying to dupe people into looking at my auctions and I'd be kicked off eBay if I continued doing it. Yikes! And I was just trying to give a complete and honest description, not pass a fake off as authentic.
I've received several fake bags but have always gotten my money back after threatening to turn the seller in to eBay. I'm a much better shopper after visiting this forum.
 
#23
My most expensive eBay faux-paux was the purchase of a diamond bracelet. One of those deals which I should have known was too good to be true, and it was. Seller wouldn't refund after I pointed out the fact the stones were not diamonds. I was out a few hundred bucks.

Conversely, I've conducted thousands of transactions on eBay, both as buyer and seller; mostly antiques and collectables, but jewelry, bags and clothing, as well. The money I've saved and rarities I've found far out-weigh the handful of disappointing transactions I've had.

I think you need to be very careful about knowing what it is you're buying, always check the feedback thoroughly down several levels (ie who is leaving feedback and what else have they purchased and from whom), and if there is the slightest doubt due to bad pics or lack of information or shady feedback, stay clear. These steps won't guarantee a good transaction (there are bad folks everywhere), but they will help minimize the disappointments.

Bottom line is eBay is a mine-field loaded with treasure if you can avoid the pitfalls.
 
#24
I agree with frye, the deals I've gotten on antique furniture and household accessories FAR outweigh the negatives. No more standing around at estate sales freezing in the rain....I've been a buyer on Ebay for seven years - hundreds of purchases - no items not rec'd and only three counterfeits (one bag, two clothing items)- each for $65 or less.

Overalll, it's been wonderful! Although I have basically stopped buying because I have NO MORE room in my house or closets. :hrmm:

I will say that handbags is the most competitive and dangerous category I played with. I've said this before, but I basically stick to a few trusted sellers. And I stopped recommending Ebay to friends after a girlfriend of mine hopped on and immediately BIN'd a fake Tods bag. This is 20 minutes after I left her alone while I picked up lunch. :oh:

She was able to bail out of the transaction after I told her it was fake (she argued with me that 'it SAYS it's authentic) and her dh sent a firm email that they wouldn't pay and would contact authorities, blah blah. I felt awful. They are both management consultants, very sophisticated, all that and ...it didn't work. You have to have an 'ebay mentality' to do well there. Hard to teach. :shocked:
 
#26
When I first started bidding on eBay I ended up with a bait and switch. Authentic bag pictured in the listing and fake bag shipped. The price was low so I should've known better - but I was new to eBay and didn't know about filing a claim and getting money back.

I know someone who won an X-box box in that scam that happened a while ago. Basically won an empty box for the x-box. He didn't get any money back because the listing actually worded it as the x-box box and eBay refused the claim since the seller was misleading but didn't actually say that the x-box itself was part of the auction.
 
#27
I've only ever bought one thing on ebay...my Ugg boots a couple of years ago. I was so nervous about it but they turned out to be fine. I will never buy anything on ebay again though. I feel like I've used up my good luck with ebay.
 
#28
I buy and sell on ebay constantly and have never had a problem. Cross my fingers, I guess! Occasionally there's some miscommunication and I've had a few nonpaying bidders, but that's about it. And like frye says, I've gotten tons of great deals on eBay, so I've had a positive experience overall. But I generally don't buy and sell high end designer items, mostly just Coach, and I can spot a fake Coach at 100 yards ;-)

As for Paypal, I've had my fair share of problems with it. Once my Paypal account got broken into and my bank account was completely drained...but thankfully I'm a grad student, so the thieves got a total of $1.37 (I'm not joking) and another $150 in overdraft protection. Both Paypal and my bank resolved the issue almost instantaneously. I ended up paying one of the overdraft fees, I think about $25, but it could have been a lot worse. Lesson learned - change your Paypal account password often and use a really random phrase! Other than that Paypal has been decent to me.
 
#29
When I first started on Ebay, I was not very designer brand savvy. I knew who they were, but never really purchased anything. I bought a pair of Chanel sunnies and left positive feedback. My friend who has almost 20 different pair of Chanel sunnies told me right away mine were fake. I compared mine to hers a sure enough they were fake. I was only out $60 so I didn't even fight Paypal. I started from then on reading everything I could to make sure I never buy anything fake again.

I did have a close call a couple months ago. I wasn't paying much attention and bid on a Panda agenda not realizing it was fake until after I bid. Luckily someone outbid me a few hours later.
 
#30
2 years ago I bought a keepall 50 off ebay before I ever got my first one at the store. The seller never sent it to me and deleted their account right after they got my $. Still have the emails, I filed a claim with the internet fraud security thing... still waiting on that... it was authentic and was only $200.00 believe it or not.
 
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