Consumer Gets Burned Selling Used iPhone on eBay

by: Ming the Merciless

This is the likely the first in series of thousands of horror stories unsuspecting newbies will endure at the hands of Sleazebay.

Seller should keep calling ebay until their decision to aid and abet criminal fraud is reversed.

Seller should be persistent calling several times day if necessary and demanding to speak to both a supervisor (don't allow them to out you in hold) and a Trust and Safety.

Don't give up. Keep calling and calling and calling.

If all else fails, I can post John Donahoe's home telephone number for the buyer to try.

by: Xander

Anyone who has lost an item and money knows how this feels.

Is it right to loose your item and the money? You know the answer.

Should ebay do more to protect the sellers? Absolutely yes, they should.

This type of treatment by ebay is exactly why so many sellers are disenfranchised with ebay today.

I feel bad for the sellers who hope that ebay would treat them fairly like they did back when they were once only a venue.

There will most likely be hundreds of individuals who get burned selling used cell phones on ebay.

There is only one way to avoid getting screwed on ebay... simply avoid the platform for anything.

by: whino90211

Prediction : Massive threads on 4chan and Reddit where sellers who have the $10 minimum setting for automatic refunds are exposed and fleeced to the point of bankruptcy.

Anyways, Soccer mom gets ripped on on ebay. It's a sad story but just one of hundreds.... and that's just today.

You can always just sue the buyer. A judge will feel differently about the situation as she is left less than whole.  

by: iheartjacksparrow

I think everyone who posts regularly on this blog knew that eBay's cellphone promotion was going to end badly for the sellers.  

by: elpereles

Every time I found that stupid cellphone promotion in my e-mail or eBay inbox. I just erase it.  

by: sundance

I'm not at all surprised that this backfired and that sellers are out not only the item, but the $$'s.  Sad to say, eBay will side with the customer 99% of the time no  matter what the item, especially if they see the buyer is a regular to the site.

by: comet

Preaching to the choir I know but--IF we had the ability to OUT these bad buyers OURSELVES via NEGATIVE FEEDBACK there would be no NEED for claims courts etc.  

by: bunny

look at the buyer's user name. has bought 57 items in only 3 months and left 6 negs/neutrals ... a very high %. clearly a professional scam artist.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&fta
b=FeedbackLeftForOthers&userid=papaginos2014&iid=-1&de=off&items=25&mPg=2&page=2

by: pace306

Except for the "commercial" angle, there's nothing new here.

1) on eBay there's no such thing as. "No returns"!  No returns simply means that the thief - oops BUYER gets to keep the item if SNAD is claimed (like it is here)

2) eBay ALWAYS finds for buyers PERIOD in almost every case.

3) product details are no longer relevant. Condition, restocking fees, notes, details - none mean anything anymore.

4) SNAD trumps all claims and issues and is the condition eBay uses to encourage bad buyer behavior.

5) "silly you" if you thought that eBays tv commercials were about ecommerce, they aren't as eBay isn't an ecommerce company. It's a theft enabling, money transferring company. eBays function is simply to strip money and resources from buyers and redistribute them to buyers.

6) the tv commercials are there to attract new suckers for eBay to steal from. Whether sellers left due to the high frequency returns program, or the 90 day holiday returns, paypals 180 days seller stealathon - sellers are leaving. These commercials are there to find new suckers to put their expensive previous phones on eBay so that eBay could steal them for the new buyers it so desperately needs to stay afloat.

Why spend money attracting new buyers when you can simply lure in hapless sellers to give up THEIR phones as bait instead?

Selling your smartphone new OR used on eBay is theft waiting to happen.  

by: pace306

Oops typo

5) "silly you" if you thought that eBays tv commercials were about ecommerce, they aren't as eBay isn't an ecommerce company. It's a theft enabling, money transferring company. eBays function is simply to strip money and resources from SELLERS and redistribute them to buyers.  

by: Marie

And if it isn't Ebay it is going to be PP that gets them with this 180 day policy.  I was told by a PP CSR this was geared to bring their policy more in line with most credit card companies.

So that begged the question.  Oh so PP is only applying this to transaction paid with a CC?!?!?  Well NO!  It is across the board.  But it was established to protect buyers that purchase something like electronics.  They apparently get a lot of complaints from people that buyer something, then a couple months later it is no longer working but the have no recourse against a Ebay seller.

So that begged another question.  So if I sell one of my TVs that I no longer need.  It's a couple years old, but still works very well.  I sell it to someone, they have it for 5 months and it suddenly stops working or has some issues, PP will stand behind the buyer for a return & refund to a seller?!?!?!  The answer was YES!

So sellers of electronics of any kind can get really screwed by this new rule.  So sellers of electronic, office equipment, computers and the like are the sellers at most risk on Ebay.  Between the rules of Ebay and the rules of PP, I don't know how they will survive the holiday season.

by: The End

"
If all else fails, I can post John Donahoe's home telephone number for the buyer to try. "
POST IT ANYWAY.

by: Philip Cohen

"Cindy Kuglar told the publication she sold an iPhone 5S on eBay, listing it as damaged, non-working, parts only, and non-refundable, but that when the buyer filed a complaint with eBay, it ruled against her and let him keep her phone and her money."

So, what's new?

Under the direction of the cretinous Johnny Ho and his gaggle of other headless turkeys, the eBay marketplace has developed into the most clunky, incompetent, disingenuous marketplace on the planet; hopefully, not for too much longer as it is clearly dying, and its underpinning “PreyPal” will soon enough begin to atrophy also …

Goodbye unscrupulous eBay and clunky “PreyPal”, it has not been nice knowing either of you of late … http://bit.ly/1nSA1Zl

by: bitbybit

I agree with Marie that sellers of electronics will be most at risk. Of course with ebay and paypal's sweep of ''one size fits all'' pretty much ALL categories will become endangered. Buyer breaks, wears, loses interest, changes decor, has a mood swing...item can be returned in six months.

This ebay iphone scam is just that a scam..aided and abetted by ebay. Well what does JD care? He is just biding his time until ''No Touchy Jack Ma'' aka Alibaba buys eBay. By the way, 60 minutes just did an interesting interview with Jack Ma. Good to know he is helping small businesses which is a foreign concept to Donahoe.  

by: maxmad

Ebay policies are so flawed, they go against almost every standard practice of business,

They have become so desperate to make every penny of profit, they are burning everything in their path, as well as burning themselves to the ground, it's quite obvious the CEO needs to be terminated, but unfortunately I believe they are at the point of no return, so it might not make any difference, who takes over.

ebay is failing , no doubt about it, they have been doing way too many wrong things, for way too long, and in turn have left the door wide open for all their competitors,

ebay is finished.

   

by: Rexford

The more this shows up in the main stream press the better, but we all know that the mainstream press are a bunch of weenies.  They are too concerned with losing money from their advertisers to actually report real news.

Still hoping at some point Michael Moore will blow this company out of the water.

by: Rexford

Isn't there a law against aiding and abetting fraud and theft?  If so, seems like eBay has some 'splaining to do.

What a bully of a company.

by: Maui5150

SELLERS NEED TO BAND TOGETHER AND DO A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.  

Ebay has too many slanted policies and in many cases potentially violate accounting standards

An example EBay BUCKS vs FINAL VALUE FEES

When you buy something on eBay, you not get your eBay bucks UNTIL you pay for the item.  i.e. the REVENUE RECOGNITION is recognized WHEN PAYMENT IS MADE.

For a seller, FINAL VALUE FEES are charged WHEN AN ITEM SELLS, even though it may not be paid for a month, or may never be paid.  It requires a seller to either cancel the transaction or file for a non-paying bidder.  In many cases a Sellers Credit Card or Pay Pal will be charged for the transaction in one month, and credited in another.  

Like eBay Bucks, Final Value Fees should ONLY BE CHARGED at the time a BUYER PAYS.  

There are other scenarios like this.  We need a Sellers Bill of Rights.  

by: WhatWas

eBay Execs thought that if they could get a few thousand casual sellers in the game, sell an iPhone to get a $100 in their account it would drive traffic, spur sales and convert casual sellers (more traffic) into new buyers.

In practice it will drive more sellers and buyers away - to (enter platform here).

Well played and brilliant move Johny boy, sheesh! What's next sell an outdated laptop. Gotta love those simple minded idiots with half baked ideas err, B school grads.

I'll bet he was held back a year in grade school and B school  

by: Basset

I would not sell a phone on eBay. Basset family members get personal device hand-me-downs. Haven't received a return or complaint yet.

Finally saw an ad on eBay I could relate to - Wawa sandwiches.