Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The Ol' Switch-a-Roo

So this will be kind of a boring post (no pictures), but I have some good info you might want to consider.

I have been doing alot of online chatting, and joining in various eBay groups... and there seems to be a common scam going on in the eBay world with buyers....

Buyers are buying items, opening up INAD cases (INAD= Item not as described), and sending back their "similar" item that is broken.

For example... One seller said that she sold a new without tags Vera Bradley purse on eBay. The buyer contacted her saying it had flaws. She was confused because the purse had never been used. She thought maybe she overlooked something so she accepted the return. When she received the return, it was the same style purse she sold.. but definitely not the same one. The inside was clearly worn, and covered in cat hair. The buyer was clearly trying to get a newer version of their purse.

There were lots of other stories of this happening! Its crazy.

***Update: Lorraine @ CLAMCO just informed me this situation just happened to Kimberly at Garage Sale Heaven. You can read the post HERE. Totally missed this post by Kimberly. Sorry this happend to you too Kimberly!!! 

There was alot of talk of how sellers are now secretly marking their items with black light pens so that in case of a return, they can verify that it really is the item they sold. Some sellers are even tying color coded zip ties with their own markings on it, and stating in the return policy that the item has to have the original zip tie on it in order to receive a refund.

I found this all interesting. And I have been thinking of ways to protect myself as a seller in case this happened to me.

Anyone hear of this happening, or have any experiences?

5 comments:

  1. This just recently happened to Kimberly at Garage Sale Heaven with a part for a food processor. I like the color coded zip tie idea. That's tangible evidence that will show in a photo to customer support if needed.

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    1. Totally missed Kimberly's post about her situation. Just updated my post to include this.
      I think your right about the zip ties. Its so crazy this is becoming a "thing."

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    2. Oh but I'm sure customer service will back us up if we can prove the buyer returned a different item, right? Heh heh.

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  2. I bought a black light. Haven't had it happen in a while, but it has been happening since the beginning of time. I think the goal is to scare dishonest buyers because my gut is that eBay StILL will rule in favor of the buyer. :/

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