# Ontario scammer on Ebay



## warriaga (Feb 23, 2020)

Hi everyone. This is more about an Ebay scammer and new scamming strategies allowed by Ebay. Ebay user "mprotege" from Ontario Canada bought a Seiko SRPD25 brand new, see photos below, from me in February 2021. Upon receiving it, he claimed the cyclop was crooked and he wanted to return. I accepted the return and he demanded that I sent him a return label. I explicitly wrote in the ad that Labels will not be provided and that I accepted returns provided the buyer send the itemback to me. He never did of course and opened a case on Ebay and waited a few weeks until crooked Ebay mothers sided with him and automatically extended a full refund. He thus kept the watch and the money. I tried to contact the police and stuff to no avail. The watch was a gift from my wife and I really am saddened about the way we parted. This is most unfortunate and tells us about how cautious we must be when selling (not buying) stuff on Ebay. The thing is getting worse by the minute. Much love everyone.


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## cbr2012 (Apr 14, 2013)

What a horror story. I'm trying to work out what is worse here - the scammer who played the system and stole your watch or the idiots in Ebay who enabled the process to occur. Never bought anything from Ebay and probably never will.


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## Aspartame (Feb 23, 2020)

Yeah after selling a few more items this year on ebay I figured I need to be more careful, some buyer with 100% review does some really ****ty things... Good thing is I sold two watches under $200 without any issue, but for sure in the future I need to be more selective about buyer 

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk


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## Watchman83 (Dec 19, 2015)

Sorry to hear about this its terrible .
Just had one returned from ebay myself after 4 weeks !??? 
What the hell was he doing with it ! 
No more ebay sales for me from now on 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## warriaga (Feb 23, 2020)

Watchman83 said:


> Sorry to hear about this its terrible .
> Just had one returned from ebay myself after 4 weeks !???
> What the hell was he doing with it !
> No more ebay sales for me from now on
> ...


No more Ebay at all for me! Ebay are a Bunch of crooks!


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## warriaga (Feb 23, 2020)

cbr2012 said:


> What a horror story. I'm trying to work out what is worse here - the scammer who played the system and stole your watch or the idiots in Ebay who enabled the process to occur. Never bought anything from Ebay and probably never will.


Ebay will never side with a seller. Better get da hell out! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻


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## Clinkinfo (Oct 14, 2016)

Ebay is a buying/selling platform. It’s not evil or good, it’s just a process. You need to understand the process if you’re going to use it. 

for example, why did you refuse to provide the return label? You realize that by doing that you ended up opening yourself up to this issue, right? If you’d provided the label and nothing ever shipped against that label, the buyer can’t win.

I’m sorry for your loss, but all of these stories about the horrors of eBay seem to have a similar theme to them. It’s people that decide they want to do things THEIR way, and not follow the eBay process. When you do that, YOU are opening the door for these kinds of issues.

yes, eBay will almost always side with the buyer, no question. BUT, if you do it the way they prescribe, you must be returned the item before payment is refunded. If you refuse to agree and follow their process, then you end up with these messes.

it’s kinda like sellers who try and write “SHIPPING INSURANCE IS OPTIONAL AND EXTRA” in their listings. No it’s not. You as the seller are bound to deliver the item you list. Saying “insurance is extra” means nothing in your listing, you’ll lose every time. You better ship it insured no matter WHAT the buyer selects.

eBay generally produces the highest selling prices, because it’s got the most members buying. You’re unlikely to get the same final prices here for example. But it’s also an expensive platform because it understands the value it brings (lots of buyers). And part of the reason it has so many buyers is because of the safety mechanisms built into the process. If you decide to use it, just understand how it works and Follow the prescribed process.


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## Jbrowland (Oct 2, 2020)

I always hate reading about these situations. Up front, I’m not defending eBay as there is some fault to be had with them at times, but I also don’t understand how someone ends up in a position where they sell something and the buyer ends up keeping both the item and the money. I have bought and sold several hundred things on eBay in the last 20+ years without a single major issue that couldn’t easily be resolved as a seller. Maybe I’m getting lucky. Maybe I’m also meticulous with the rules and making sure my listings are honest and clear. I have had a few issues as a buyer where the seller flaked out or what was received wasn’t even close to the listing. Now those pesky and ever rising selling fees are another thing and I can see why some would choose to avoid eBay for that reason. 

On a side note not related to the OP’s unfortunate situation, I agree wholeheartedly with the statement just above about shipping insurance. That‘s for the seller’s protection, not the buyer and should never be charged to the buyer. If the item doesn’t make it to the buyer, it’s the seller’s responsibility to return the buyer’s money. You don’t get your item you purchased, even if it’s the post office’s fault, you don’t pay for the item and you get a refund. No item, no pay. Period. I won’t buy from sellers on eBay or here who tell me that shipping insurance is for my protection and charge me for it. That’s the cost of doing business and selling a watch, even privately, is a business transaction where the seller promises the buyer a good. I have yet to find a store anywhere in the world who has sold me something and didn’t give me a refund if it never arrive in the mail. It‘s not my fault there are dishonest idiots out there.


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## G-Shocky (Apr 13, 2013)

I am just about done selling on eBay. The fees have gone up yet again and seller protection keeps going down.


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## Rolexplorer (Sep 6, 2018)

Lawsuit time.


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## bloody watches (Nov 25, 2014)

warriaga said:


> The watch was a gift from my wife


The watch was a gift from your wife - _*and you sold it*_ OMG good luck to you.


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## warriaga (Feb 23, 2020)

bloody watches said:


> The watch was a gift from your wife - _*and you sold it*_ OMG good luck to you.


well actually i sold the free copy they sent us, i have way too many monsters. the watch was, however, a gift.


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## warriaga (Feb 23, 2020)

Clinkinfo said:


> Ebay is a buying/selling platform. It's not evil or good, it's just a process. You need to understand the process if you're going to use it.
> 
> for example, why did you refuse to provide the return label? You realize that by doing that you ended up opening yourself up to this issue, right? If you'd provided the label and nothing ever shipped against that label, the buyer can't win.
> 
> ...


i would agree, however ebay provides the seller with the choice of not producing a label. thats up to the seller my friend. they violate their own rules.


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## warriaga (Feb 23, 2020)

Jbrowland said:


> I always hate reading about these situations. Up front, I'm not defending eBay as there is some fault to be had with them at times, but I also don't understand how someone ends up in a position where they sell something and the buyer ends up keeping both the item and the money. I have bought and sold several hundred things on eBay in the last 20+ years without a single major issue that couldn't easily be resolved as a seller. Maybe I'm getting lucky. Maybe I'm also meticulous with the rules and making sure my listings are honest and clear. I have had a few issues as a buyer where the seller flaked out or what was received wasn't even close to the listing. Now those pesky and ever rising selling fees are another thing and I can see why some would choose to avoid eBay for that reason.
> 
> On a side note not related to the OP's unfortunate situation, I agree wholeheartedly with the statement just above about shipping insurance. That's for the seller's protection, not the buyer and should never be charged to the buyer. If the item doesn't make it to the buyer, it's the seller's responsibility to return the buyer's money. You don't get your item you purchased, even if it's the post office's fault, you don't pay for the item and you get a refund. No item, no pay. Period. I won't buy from sellers on eBay or here who tell me that shipping insurance is for my protection and charge me for it. That's the cost of doing business and selling a watch, even privately, is a business transaction where the seller promises the buyer a good. I have yet to find a store anywhere in the world who has sold me something and didn't give me a refund if it never arrive in the mail. It's not my fault there are dishonest idiots out there.


true


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## casper461 (Oct 14, 2018)

warriaga said:


> i would agree, however ebay provides the seller with the choice of not producing a label. thats up to the seller my friend. they violate their own rules.


Sorry dont see how this could have happend as Ebay will not refund until proof of items return which is down to the buyer As to the label issue if something is faulty you are responsible for return postage as well so it is better to use the Ebay Label system as it is tracked by Ebay .


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## COPO (Nov 30, 2007)

Exact reason I stopped selling on eBay. There are idiots running eBay. It’s a buyers market. A buyer could complain to eBay that the box had a rock in it rather than a watch and blame the postal service. Meanwhile the buyer gets his money back and gets to keep the watch.


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## demof1 (Apr 3, 2018)

Ebay are just one big disaster movie thesedays. They have outsourced all of their customer support. I believe this is for users outside of North America. So the first thing I have noticed is if cases do arise the US support are very one sided and will always chose the American user over anyone else. Plus when I have to use customer support, it is a struggle. They are in the Phillipines I believe. I had a case recently where a parcel was taking a while to be delivered, it arrived in the destination country pretty quickly but the final stage took a month. I was worried I would lose my money as the buyer opened up a dispute. Luckily ebay extended the case for ten days to allow the package time to arrive. Initially it was three days, which is simply not enough time.

I have been on ebay for 20+ years. The only issue I ever had was when I returned a misrepresented watch and the seller claimed I sent them an empty box. The seller then literally listed and sold the exact same vintage watch the follow day (it had very distinctive patina). I sent ebay they listing to prove I had returned the watch (tracking wasnt enough apparently) and what did they do? Closed my account. I lose my money, but I gave the seller a nice surprise a few months later when I got the money back via my card company. That was sweet. They were American sellers and the case was dealt with so unfairly, you could tell there was this us and them mentality with customer service. 

I listed a few watches last night and I took them down. I dont need the money and I dont need the stress. I will sell them in a few years time. I also will never list multiple watches again, too much money moving around.


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