PSA…My very bad experience reselling jewelry online

[jeaniefish]

Hi All,
I want every PS member to know what happened to me because you might want to think twice about selling your preloved pieces on eBay or similar websites. In August ‘2023 I sold a lovely 14k yg abalone pendant to a buyer in Las Vegas. It is a really well made piece, very detailed, 10 gms of gold and even has a little pearl in the underside of the shell. Buyer was thrilled with it and left me 100% positive seller feedback . Then, out of the blue and one year later , she isn't happy with the pendant, says its not as described and is doing a charge back via her credit card company! I have been an ebay member for 25 years and have worked very hard to maintain a 5 star rating as both a seller and a buyer.
EBay can do nothing to protect me from this buyer. Her credit card company ( IDK which one) has all the power in this situation and eBay has none. Two different ebay customer service reps have told me that eBay can’t stop the credit card company from proceeding with the charge back.The buyer knew better than to try to process a return through ebay because it had been a year since buying and she was happy with her purchase, as shown by her feedback.
I fear that when I receive the returned pendant, that it is either going to be an empty box or will be something she substituted for the original pendant. If I got the original shell pendant back, in the same condition as I sold it, I would be happy to have it back.I’m not holding out much hope for that outcome though. I’m adding a picture here. Who wouldn’t love this? So cute!
Anyway, just wanted you all to know and learn from my experience. I won’t be listing things on eBay again , or buying ( planning to close my account after this dispute is all settled) and Loupetroop is fun to browse but I dont see very many “sold” items there. That just leaves other websites that also take credit cards and that makes the seller vulnerable to a charge back scam just like what I am experiencing right now on eBay. Wish we had some kind of venue for safely trading our preloved pieces with other PS members instead of cash or credit cards being involved! My absolute favorite ring was the result of a swap with a fellow Diamondbistro member several years ago.
Thanks for reading this long post. Stay safe out there!

 

[Slickk]

Gosh @jeaniefish that’s ridiculous after a year!? I’m so sorry and hope you get your piece back or they refuse to refund. Unbelievable!! Thank you for the warning.

ETA you should have this thread moved to Hangout or Preloved as I think more members will see it there. Use report concern at the bottom of your post, if you would like to have it moved.

 

[jeaniefish]

Gosh @jeaniefish that’s ridiculous after a year!? I’m so sorry and hope you get your piece back or they refuse to refund. Unbelievable!! Thank you for the warning.

ETA you should have this thread moved to Hangout or Preloved as I think more members will see it there. Use report concern at the bottom of your post, if you would like to have it moved.

Hi Slickk,
Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to get it moved to Hangout. Other PS members need to be aware of this chargeback scam and I’d also be curious to know if it has happened to anyone else.

 

[yssie]

Ugh. You can even do a chargeback after a year!?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Hi All,
I want every PS member to know what happened to me because you might want to think twice about selling your preloved pieces on eBay or similar websites. In August ‘2023 I sold a lovely 14k yg abalone pendant to a buyer in Las Vegas. It is a really well made piece, very detailed, 10 gms of gold and even has a little pearl in the underside of the shell. Buyer was thrilled with it and left me 100% positive seller feedback . Then, out of the blue and one year later , she isn't happy with the pendant, says its not as described and is doing a charge back via her credit card company! I have been an ebay member for 25 years and have worked very hard to maintain a 5 star rating as both a seller and a buyer.
EBay can do nothing to protect me from this buyer. Her credit card company ( IDK which one) has all the power in this situation and eBay has none. Two different ebay customer service reps have told me that eBay can’t stop the credit card company from proceeding with the charge back.The buyer knew better than to try to process a return through ebay because it had been a year since buying and she was happy with her purchase, as shown by her feedback.
I fear that when I receive the returned pendant, that it is either going to be an empty box or will be something she substituted for the original pendant. If I got the original shell pendant back, in the same condition as I sold it, I would be happy to have it back.I’m not holding out much hope for that outcome though. I’m adding a picture here. Who wouldn’t love this? So cute!
Anyway, just wanted you all to know and learn from my experience. I won’t be listing things on eBay again , or buying ( planning to close my account after this dispute is all settled) and Loupetroop is fun to browse but I dont see very many “sold” items there. That just leaves other websites that also take credit cards and that makes the seller vulnerable to a charge back scam just like what I am experiencing right now on eBay. Wish we had some kind of venue for safely trading our preloved pieces with other PS members instead of cash or credit cards being involved! My absolute favorite ring was the result of a swap with a fellow Diamondbistro member several years ago.
Thanks for reading this long post. Stay safe out there!

(some) people really sux
im so sad and angry this has happened to you
its just uneithical, very bad form indeed
kama is coming ......

i hope you get it back and its undamaged
ive never seen a little paua before as its illegal to harvest the little ones here

 

[jeaniefish]

Ugh. You can even do a chargeback after a year!?

Apparently, different credit card companies have different policies on time limits. The very nice ebay customer service person warned me that this could happen on any resale sight that processes credit cards payments, and of course, they all do.
I believe in karma, and I hope it comes back to this buyer and kicks her in the pantalones!

 

[jeaniefish]

(some) people really sux
im so sad and angry this has happened to you
its just uneithical, very bad form indeed
kama is coming ......

i hope you get it back and its undamaged
ive never seen a little paua before as its illegal to harvest the little ones here

Thanks for your kind words, D&D.
The shell pendant is not a real shell. It’s 14k gold but very realistic..

 

[Mreader]

Has the chargeback actually been completed? Typically even cc companies do an investigation to see if it’s merited - though they often do the chargeback first and then reverse it if they find in the sellers favor. Also didn’t eBay send a payout? So how did $ get removed from your account - was eBay still involved and that they removed money from your account after the chargeback?

I am so sorry this happened.

 

[glitterata]

When you receive it, take a thorough video of the package as you open it. That way if it's empty or contains a damaged or different item, you'll at least have some evidence.

 

[Calla-lilies]

This is terrible - sorry it's happening to you. Like others, I'm surprised that you can reverse a charge 1 year after the fact.

This is another reason why I really dislike selling anything online -- but I do (on occasion) -- then I hold my breath b/c you just don't know if the buyer is as honest as you are.

 

[Rfisher]

Do you think there’s the possibility communication from the buyer to you disappearing in the ether?

The only communication you have from the situation is chargeback notification from eBay/cc ?
A year later?

Sucks all around.
I hope you get more information, and your item back in like condition.
Willy nilly buyers remorse/not as described a year later is strange as a no questions asked refund situation from the cc to a buyer. Low dollar selling amount benefit to the cc’s customer as a quick cost effective (to the cc company) measure? No help to you as the seller who gets the short end of the stick tho.

 

[jeaniefish]

Good Morning Fellow PSers,
I’m just adding one general follow up here but I appreciate all of your sympathy, empathy and suggestions.
The buyer never communicated with me ,except to say how much she loved the pendant when she first received it. The credit card company hasn’t issued their decision and may not do so until early November. That leads me to believe that there must be tons of these charge back claims waiting to be decided.
In the meantime, ebay has frozen the funds I have in my eBay seller’s account , from other sales, and I can’t access them. That dollar amount won’t cover the refund for the pendant. I’m assuming the remainder will be taken from my bank account ,which is just my personal mad money account. There is usually so little $ in it that I should call it my “ won’t-take-much-to-overdraft-it” account!
When the dust settles on all this, I will post here again. There is always the remote possibility that I messed up in the listing description, but IDK how that would have happened. I’m only human and anything is possible. What has really shaken me up is that someone can do a charge back a whole year after purchasing something.

Like many other PS members, I have lots of other lovely pieces to sell. I’ve never been inside a pawn shop.Maybe I’ll try that!

 

[seaurchin]

Trying to get a refund a year later is beyond ridiculous! I hope it works out in your favor. But yeah, even if it does, you've still been put through all this.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I also hope it works out in your favor. This is beyond sad and really speaks to the buyer's character. I could understand the buyer's expectations no being met when they first received the item, but a year later? That is IMHO someone who needs money and is either desperate or just shady. That should not be your problem.

My experiences buying and selling have been mixed. So much so that I just let my pearl collection and unset colored gemstone collection rest because I just don't want to deal with selling issues at this time in my life.

 

[lala646]

I'm honestly shocked the CC company is even willing to entertain a chargeback at this stage. I had a non-jewelry related issue earlier this year where I ordered some custom made dresses from a company I've ordered from many times in the past. Long story short, I placed the order and paid in full in February, and still had no dresses in May, and the company wouldn't give me any timeline of when I would receive them, so I asked to cancel the order multiple times, and the company routinely ignored me. When I finally reached out to Capital One, I was told the limit to file a chargeback is typically 60 days, and they only agreed to pursue my claim because I had a very clear paper trail spanning months worth of emails, complaints, and requests to cancel the order. So for her to have gone radio silent for a year, then suddenly request a chargeback baffles me. Hopefully they will find in your favor, @jeaniefish

And just to confirm, the seller is going to be required to return the pendant to you, right??

 

[jeaniefish]

I'm honestly shocked the CC company is even willing to entertain a chargeback at this stage. I had a non-jewelry related issue earlier this year where I ordered some custom made dresses from a company I've ordered from many times in the past. Long story short, I placed the order and paid in full in February, and still had no dresses in May, and the company wouldn't give me any timeline of when I would receive them, so I asked to cancel the order multiple times, and the company routinely ignored me. When I finally reached out to Capital One, I was told the limit to file a chargeback is typically 60 days, and they only agreed to pursue my claim because I had a very clear paper trail spanning months worth of emails, complaints, and requests to cancel the order. So for her to have gone radio silent for a year, then suddenly request a chargeback baffles me. Hopefully they will find in your favor, @jeaniefish

And just to confirm, the seller is going to be required to return the pendant to you, right?

yes, as far as I know, I will get a return package from the buyer. What, if anything ,will actually be in it, I have no idea!

 

[jeaniefish]

I also hope it works out in your favor. This is beyond sad and really speaks to the buyer's character. I could understand the buyer's expectations no being met when they first received the item, but a year later? That is IMHO someone who needs money and is either desperate or just shady. That should not be your problem.

My experiences buying and selling have been mixed. So much so that I just let my pearl collection and unset colored gemstone collection rest because I just don't want to deal with selling issues at this time in my life.

I told my DH that the buyer must suddenly be in need of money. I just really am in shock that someone would do this and that her credit card company would allow it. If she had contacted me right away, I would have taken the pendant back and refunded her money.
However, the biggest shock is that eBay is powerless to do anything to protect me or even to find out what her “not as described “ claim is really all about. As I said in my original post, I’ ve been an ebay member for 25 years. I had no idea that sellers have no protection in situations like this. That is what I want other PS members to take away from this. eBay seems to be more of a “ seller beware” website than I ever realized. Live and learn!

 

[MissGotRocks]

ebay seems to protect buyers on all fronts and sellers get nothing but the fee deducted and the 1099 at the end of the year for taxes. A few years back, I had sold something under a no refund sale and yet the buyer wanted to return it. I said ok because I wouldn't want to get stuck with something I didn't want. I had a message from ebay, checked it was ok for refund, and they sent the money back to the seller. I had not received the merchandise back! I contacted ebay and they said I should have not checked ok for refund. Did they tell me that? No!! I was just stuck but fortunately the person did return the item. She could have kept it though and I would have been out the item and the money! Between this experience and the exorbitant fees they charge for selling jewelry, I said never again. They have priced and policied themselves out of the market as far as I am concerned.

@jeaniefish, I hope the buyer is responsible enough to return your item in the condition she received it. Faith is a hard thing to hold onto when someone has your item and their money!!

 

[kenny]

eBay's too risky for me.
If you don't gamble, you can't lose.

 

[Lookinagain]

@jeaniefish are you able to communicate with the credit card company to find out why a year out, this could happen? I assume Ebay could tell you which credit card company was used? this seems so off to me, and you should at least be able to get an explanation of the reason for the return and why a year is okay.

 

[Bron357]

Visa has a 120 day limit for chargebacks. Chargebacks with credit cards aren’t for change of mind, didn’t like it, they require a specific reason such as not the item ordered (different model or colour for eg) or never received.
Chargebacks for fraud have a longer time line. The buyer has to inform Visa they don’t recognise the charge ie not them. How can the credit card owner decide after 1 year that it wasn’t them who ordered it and received it. If it was not them ie fraud, who received it and left feedback? It just doesnt make sense.
Go back to eBay. Tell them you should be protected as a seller under their money back guarantee. You can prove you sent the item to the eBay registered address and that the item was delivered. Heck, the eBay buyer left feedback. That means eBay should cover you, the seller.
eBay should be asking Visa the basis of the chargeback, if eBay has allowed the linking of a credit card that is not the same name as eBay account holder then that’s on them.

 

[Mreader]

Visa has a 120 day limit for chargebacks. Chargebacks with credit cards aren’t for change of mind, didn’t like it, they require a specific reason such as not the item ordered (different model or colour for eg) or never received.
Chargebacks for fraud have a longer time line. The buyer has to inform Visa they don’t recognise the charge ie not them. How can the credit card owner decide after 1 year that it wasn’t them who ordered it and received it. If it was not them ie fraud, who received it and left feedback? It just doesnt make sense.
Go back to eBay. Tell them you should be protected as a seller under their money back guarantee. You can prove you sent the item to the eBay registered address and that the item was delivered. Heck, the eBay buyer left feedback. That means eBay should cover you, the seller.
eBay should be asking Visa the basis of the chargeback, if eBay has allowed the linking of a credit card that is not the same name as eBay account holder then that’s on them.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. That eBay should be the one eating the cost. And the fact that they froze your funds is just ridiculous

 

[Dreamer_D]

What a bizarre situation over what cannot have been a large value purchase in the first place!