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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

PayPal/eBay Nightmare for sellers!!! Tips and big warning!!

Quick shout at everyone in this thread:

I am so, so gracious for all of you who responded to this -- I felt like the battle had been lost, and was simply just trying to help everyone out! Oddly enough -- the universe brought those good vibes back to me! In the form of some really great solutions!!!

So there's some major hope because of you guys out there. Thank you.

---

I had no plans of (and was actually quite terrified) of mentioning any names of anyone in this thread, we're all aware of how important it is to keep a good name in this business, and how easy it is for clients to look us up. More so-- having that backfire because of a situation like this is usually only asking for a public display of conflict and dirty laundry....

I wasn't going to say anything until (because of this thread) I looked up his ebay account and noticed someone else recently sold him a red evf. Naturally, I sent the seller a message, and I'm crossing my fingers for the guy. Maybe it'll be a one-time-incident. Hopefully. but-- Had I posted this sooner, maybe it wouldn't happen again.

With this being said though, and after going through his 'bought items' it's safe to say the guy is buying incredibly cheap AND AMAZING (I'm being totally sarcastic) Chinese camera gear, ($150 hand held rig) and high$ stuff like a $1,000 monitor and another 1k evf... The math just doesn't add up.

Regarding the guy's name, I tried finding his reduser account but to no prevail I'm having immense difficulty doing so. I hadn't thought much of it at the time I imagine, but I do recall looking him up and remembering he was a new user and I pegged him as one of the BT jump-on-the bandwagon types... I went back in my paypal, and looked up his name -- and this alias is ridiculous; (it HAS to be an alias) ... that's five names!

Jhonatan Andres Eliano Delgado Toledo .... If only I had actually taken the time to look at what I was doing, before I hit 'accept'

Lesson learned the hard way.

I'll keep you guys updated! At least something good came of it! (I might have prevented it from happening again, AND I'm genuinely enthralled at the responses I've received.)

Thank you again for all of your help!


graciously,

-Joshua!
 
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I got burned in a similar way selling a camera on ebay, though I eventually got it back and sold it to someone else. Ebay/Paypal sided entirely with the buyer, even though he was entirely wrong (from my point of view). Money sucked back from my bank account (it was about $5000). But I still use ebay (though with more caution). Live by the sword, die by the sword. It is an imperfect market place, but useful when it works. Your story (and mine) are reminders though, that the system is swift and merciless if it decides against you and right or wrong seems to have nothing to do with it. I would bet, though, there are probably lots of stories of people on the other end, who have been sold junk but got their money back because of the system. But as in all of life, you have to be careful not to put your dick in the garbage disposal...
 
Joshua D. Lassing said:
I went back in my paypal, and looked up his name -- and this alias is ridiculous; (it HAS to be an alias) ... that's five names!

Jhonatan Andres Eliano Delgado Toledo .... If only I had actually taken the time to look at what I was doing, before I hit 'accept'
Click to expand...

That's probably a legit name. Long names like this are pretty common in some countries. Especially Central and South America. It does make it really hard to find him online though.

What's his eBay nickname?
 
why don't you just get his address and go and kick his ass, take justice into your own hands
 
KETCH ROSSi said:
This is why I NEVER buy nor sale anything on either place.

Paypal had died for me few years ago, as they are simply worthless other then for taking your money, and while I understand the service to some, it only really works with people you know and trust, and at that point why not use the bank system and avoid giving them a percentage of your moeny for nothing.

As far as ebay, (scambay) I never used and never will.


Sorry for your experience Joshua.
Click to expand...

Same here.

I no longer accept paypal for any transaction unless I know the person personally.
 
I've been lucky when it comes to Ebay and Paypal, but it is pathetic how little they do to try and prevent this kind of crap.

One of the things that I do is I have a separate bank account I use just for paypal so I can withdraw the funds immediately. Just another suggestion.
 
You do have his address - since you have shipped the monitor to him. If You are unable to visit him in person - just tell us the city and I am sure someone will step up and offer to have a word with him. They could then PM you for full address...
 
Honestly, in your place I would call the local (to him) police and report a theft. Maybe they will take the case and maybe not, but it's worth a shot. Even if they don't they there's a chance he'll get a phone call from a detective. If they refer you to the FBI, since it crossed state lines (I'm assuming), then file a report with them. Start local though.
 
Definitely a matter for the authorities. I would file a report and start proceedings there, or possibly with an investigative attorney. You can't depend on eBay / PayPal to help you out in these cases, their own buyer-protection steps are so heavily lopsided that fraud of this nature is running rampant. I can't hardly sell anything on ebay these days without jumping through lots of hoops, it's often more hassle than it's worth. I only take PayPal payment from people I know I can trust or for small enough amounts that I can risk it.
 
As a buyer I had the opposite happen. Guy was selling a smoke machine which he said was in "great shape" and "only used a couple of times."
He claimed it was $1600 new - in fact it was a $900 roscoe rebranded as a Tempest Shadow.
I won the auction at $100. Weeks passed and nothing. So I message him, and being from West Virginia, he cries poor and claims that Ebay messed up on the shipping charges - charged too little. Asked how much extra and sent him another $26.
It came and had obviously been stored in a wet areas as the chassis was pretty rusty. Plugged it in, it heated up and NOTHING. It had been used A LOT.
We email back and forth. He says it was working fine, but sometimes the nozzle gets clogged. Long story short, he talked me into
trying some fixes. Nothing worked and I found that heater unit was bad - $375 for a new one to put in an old rusted chassis?
More emails before I finally contested it with EBAY and their so called "buyer protection plan". Sent them all the back and forths
and the ruled on HIS SIDE: "Based on information provided in the case, the item may no longer be in the same condition you received it. You won't be able to return this item for a refund." In trying to be a nice guy, I had tried to fix it. Yeah, EBAY and PAYPAL don't really care about their customers and you are taking a real big chance with either.

There is definitely a a biz opportunity in establishing a business that oversees and righteously shepherds expensive used equipment transactions.
 
Antony M said:
But buyers can also get scammed on eBay.
I bought 5 lasers from a seller. On arrival only 1 of them worked properly, so I contacted the seller, they told me to send them back recorded delivery and they would replace.
I kept chasing them for updates. Eventually they denied that the package had arrived, so I reported it to eBay who said it was now too late to lodge a complaint.
So no refund.
Click to expand...

So true, I have a similar story, but I want to urge you never to send anything recorded delivery. It is a charter for thieves. I've had packages sent recorded vanish in the system and the Post Office doesn't care. This is especially bad at christmas when Royal Mail hire a lot of temporary labour and you are really lucky if a recorded package makes it there at all.

Special Delivery is the way to go!
 
Joshua D. Lassing said:
Quick shout at everyone in this thread:

Regarding the guy's name, I tried finding his reduser account but to no prevail I'm having immense difficulty doing so. I hadn't thought much of it at the time I imagine, but I do recall looking him up and remembering he was a new user and I pegged him as one of the BT jump-on-the bandwagon types... I went back in my paypal, and looked up his name -- and this alias is ridiculous; (it HAS to be an alias) ... that's five names!

Jhonatan Andres Eliano Delgado Toledo .... If only I had actually taken the time to look at what I was doing, before I hit 'accept'
Click to expand...

All of the "BT jump-on-the bandwagon types" I have come across have been lovely people.

I've never heard of this Toledo fellow, and havn't seen him post on the Red One forum here.
I think any anger towards BT MX'rs might be misdirected.

Also something I would suggest in the future is to message the buyer on Red User as well as on ebay, just to be sure they are the same person.

Freya
 
Ugh, this thread really hits me hard right now.

I have my highest price item ever for sale on eBay right now, a 6k c100 camera, and I'm really worried about it.

I already sold it once to a guy who didn't pay. Now there are bidders so it will definitely sell again, but I'm a bit terrified now. I have always trusted it when people had high feedback and 100% feedback, but man if you pull someone's number who really wants to scam you, you are dust, just dust. It's that double whammy that would be a killer: losing the 6k and losing the camera too. Ouch!

i will ride it out because I do have faith in people. You have to have faith in people to use eBay. But there will be a lot of hand-wringing for sure.
 
I bought a higher end mic preamp from ebay a few years back When it arrived, there was a dumbbell in the box instead of the preamp.
Man I was pissed at the seller! He had no clue as to what happened.
Turns out that the UPS driver saw that it was insured for $4000 so he opened it and took the preamp and left the dumbbell.
He was arrested as he had done it a few times.
I got my funds back about 2 months after.
Scary crap is everywhere!
 
Chris Luker said:
I bought a higher end mic preamp from ebay a few years back When it arrived, there was a dumbbell in the box instead of the preamp.
Man I was pissed at the seller! He had no clue as to what happened.
Turns out that the UPS driver saw that it was insured for $4000 so he opened it and took the preamp and left the dumbbell.
He was arrested as he had done it a few times.
I got my funds back about 2 months after.
Scary crap is everywhere!
Click to expand...

Wait, why the hell wasn't he fired the first time he did it!?!
 
I really wish there were a better alternative to Ebay and Paypal. There is so much they could do to cut down on this kind of crap.

Has anyone else also noticed how they have jacked up their fees to 9% recently?

Ebay could easily go the way of AOL IMO. How long will they continue to get away with this kind of thing I wonder? Someone needs to offer an alternative.
 
I think they should implement an escrow system in place so when you purchase/sell something the money is held up for x days until both parties are satisfied with positive feedbacks, then release the funds and walla you have some sorta piece of minds.
**By the way i have a DP4 EVF and Zeiss Zf.2 50mm for sale that i will have to use their services because i need it gone asap.
 
Protect yourself in the way I described earlier in this thread and you won't have any issues.
In addition, you can also chose to ask that the winner of an auction provide not only telephone number, but a copy of ID with the receiving address, or the sale will be cancelled and the money refunded. Tell him that you will do the same in terms of providing personal info. When both buyer and seller are willing to do this, generally good faith is established. An honest person, doesn't usually have a problem with touching base, in fact just the opposite it, it is reassuring for him/her as well.

Here is an example of a successful sale I made recently, even though the buyer didn't have great feedback. If I am ever in his area I would have no hesitation looking him up. In fact I have met several people whom I now work with regularly through the sale of things on several sites, including ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130845466903?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649

Shanon Fernald said:
Ugh, this thread really hits me hard right now.

I have my highest price item ever for sale on eBay right now, a 6k c100 camera, and I'm really worried about it.

I already sold it once to a guy who didn't pay. Now there are bidders so it will definitely sell again, but I'm a bit terrified now. I have always trusted it when people had high feedback and 100% feedback, but man if you pull someone's number who really wants to scam you, you are dust, just dust. It's that double whammy that would be a killer: losing the 6k and losing the camera too. Ouch!

i will ride it out because I do have faith in people. You have to have faith in people to use eBay. But there will be a lot of hand-wringing for sure.
Click to expand...
 
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