As an occassional seller on eBay, I can tell you that I have HUGE issues with the sales of obviously fake bags. The Gucci horsebit, Chloe Paddington, etc., are just crazy now. You have to "authenticate" when you list the item, yet people list them anyway! It reflects badly on those of us who have authenitic items to sell. The fake items are even coming with "receipts" now, so what do you do? I reported a seller to eBay and then got a very nasty e-mail from the seller...so I get yelled at and this guy is still selling his fake bags because eBay cares about profit more than policing. It used to be fun...now it's just scary.
Help! I Bought a Fake
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ETenebris said:
I know; my SO said the same thing! He gave up on eBay last year after a couple bad experiences. eBay has not kept up with the influx of sellers, many from Eastern Europe which is just a hotbed of crime right now from everything I read. I do feel bad for honest sellers, as well as sad for buyers who are looking for something unique, yet may now be scared off. eBay needs to start building in more protections for buyers (the feedback is a joke) and stop ignoring anyone who isn't a platinum seller, even if it means hiring more people to handle complaints.
As far as your nasty seller -- that seems to be the standard response: When a buyer is unsatisfied, attack them as hard as you can. Call them a liar, call them a deadbeat, whatever it takes. I guess many people are intimidated by that.
I don't expect to get my money back, but I certainly will cause her as much inconvenience over this as I possibly can.
I hope you get a refund from this scammer..judy1234 said:
Actually, since you paid through PayPal, you can file a dispute with them and I believe they will refund your money. Another thing to consider is paying for this type of item (even when using PayPal) with a credit card, so you have the CC's protection policies as well. I think you will be able to get your money back, but the seller will probably receive few repercussions.
You are absolutely right about feedback. I am afraid to leave negative feedback because the seller would retaliate and leave something bad for me, even when I have done nothing wrong. I don't want to risk my 100% positive. The other day I sold a Coach bag on eBay, listed as U.S. only, and a Hong Kong bidder won my auction and did not pay. I was able to sell it to the next bidder as a "second chance" but risked negative feedback from the HK bidder. She ultimately agreed to mutually cancel the transaction after I reported her to eBay, but why even have these policies if they don't protect us against them? I don't know of any eBay alternatives except for iOffer, and they seem to be a den of counterfeits, so I don't even want to go there.
ETenebris said:
No, I think iOffer is really scary. It seems very haphazard; I've seen people post questions there that never get answered and all the message board posters do is talk about their eBay experiences. It really seems like an afterthought if someone can't sell their item on eBay or gets banned from eBay.
Not to be mean; I'm sure there are plenty of legit sellers there. I tend to be interested in high risk categories like handbags. :suspiciou
judy1234 said:
I posted the entire articles here a couple of weeks back. As well as others that described 'supercopies' which in some cases were better made than originals, and have been aound since the late '90s.
My personal opinion? Unless you personally know the seller, stay off ebay. Too good to be true? It is.
"Authentic" is the most overused and abused lie since "I promise I'll call."