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Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by crazygringo on Monday December 26, 2022 @06:01PM (#34142903)
> The only fraud you still get is friendly fraud from buyers.

Nope, I've had 3 different sellers run the exact same scam on me.

Each time it was an item not even close to as described -- e.g. damaged and used when advertised as new, an old inferior model different from the one advertised, etc. No problem, I can understand people make mistakes so I ask for a return and they send a prepaid label, I ship it back.

But turns out they've manually entered a totally different tracking number in eBay's system for the return label tracking info. I ship the item back but obviously it never shows to eBay as delivered or even sent in the first place, and there's no way in the user UX to correct the tracking info to the label you sent.

The only way to resolve it is to call eBay, except that's almost impossible because it has to be a callback initiated through a link on their website, and if you've called too many times before, they stop showing the link. (Turns out there's still a way to do it, clicking through several links in the support center, as long as you're not logged in so they don't know you're the one "using up" their phone support.)

Because the actual return label is in their message to me, a customer service rep eventually decides I'm right, they can manually see that label was delivered, and so they'll initiate a full refund but it will take several days. But every time, the refund doesn't go through. You have to wait a couple of weeks, call them again, explain the whole process again, and then the refund will go through on the second attempt. (All 3 cases, it required the second try.)

Three times, three different sellers trying to offload junk on me instead of the actual new item, and using this "wrong return label tracking number" scam so not only does it not get refunded but they get the original (albeit crappy) merchandise back too! Definitely a full hour of work to deal with eBay after each one to get the return fixed and actually refunded, and I imagine most people can't even get someone on the phone to do it. (Chat and messages simply didn't work or get responded to, or they were unhelpful autoresponses.)

Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by treis on Monday December 26, 2022 @06:51PM (#34143241)
I've lost out on buyer's protection through similar eBay shenanigans. I opened a dispute and the seller didn't respond. But that doesn't mean you win as a buyer. There's an additional step you have to take in order to claim your victory. Some arbitrary clock ran out by the time I noticed it was too late.
Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by veltas on Monday December 26, 2022 @07:40PM (#34143549)
Believe it or not this is still better than the Amazon experience.
Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by crazygringo on Monday December 26, 2022 @07:45PM (#34143596)
I use Amazon a lot and I've never received a single incorrect or previously used item, and every return has been accepted without problem.

(They're not perfect -- I've had leaking shampoo bottles, occasional delayed shipments, broken mirrors, and broken packaging leading to missing parts, but at the same rate as any other retailer.)

So Amazon definitely wins over eBay here. But sometimes Amazon is out of stock but there's a listing on eBay, so...

Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by midoridensha on Tuesday December 27, 2022 @12:45AM (#34145532)
Yeah, buying anything 3rd-party through Amazon is basically like gambling, and I don't recommend it. Ebay is MUCH better and safer than Amazon 3rd-party: you can look at seller feedback easily and see if a seller is a trustworthy, long-time seller or not. Amazon is only good if you're buying from Amazon itself.
Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by FireBeyond on Tuesday December 27, 2022 @11:46PM (#34157635)
My "new" (and I don't claim this is unique at all) rule for Amazon is that I no longer buy 1) anything that goes in or on my body, 2) is a safety device (carabiners, rope, flashlights, etc.), 3) is a fire hazard (charging bricks, etc.), or 4) high counterfeit risk/low barrier (SD cards, etc., as I do wedding photography professionally).

And that's even from the "Manufacturer Store", "from Amazon". Still not worth the risk of co-mingling (which I'm skeptical even happens, even if Amazon says a seller can opt out of co-mingling).

Re:eBay, Etsy and Other Markets Now Have to Disclose Seller ... by roflyear on Monday December 26, 2022 @08:15PM (#34143823)
Last three things I bought from eBay had issues. Just didn't work. I am waiting for the last return refund but the other two did work ok.